BX  7343   .02  R42 
Richardson,  Robert,  1806- 
1876. 

Memoirs  of  Alexander 
Campbell 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2014 


https://archive.org/details/memoirsofalexandOOrich 


\ 


MEMOIRS 


OF 

Alexander  Campbell, 

EMBRACING 


A  VIEW  OF  THE  ORIGIN,  PROGRESS  AND  PRINCIPLES 
OF  THE  RELIGIOUS  REFORMATION 
WHICH  HE  ADVOCATED. 


By  ROBERT  RICHARDSON. 


More  sweet  than  odors  caught  by  him  who  sails 
Near  spicy  shores  of  Araby  the  blest, 

A  thousand  times  more  exquisitely  sweet, 
The  freight  of  holy  feeling  which  we  meet. 
In  thoughtful  moments,  wafted  by  the  gales 
From  fields  where  good  men  walk,  or  bow'rs  wherein  they  rest. 

Wordsworth. 


VOL.  I. 


CINCINNATL 
STANDARD  PUBLISHING  COMPANY. 
I913 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  he  year  1897, 

ROBERT  RICHARDSON, 

In  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  United  Stales, 
for  the  District  of  West  Virginia. 


ADVERTISEMENT. 


This  edition  of  the  Memoirs  of  A.  Campbell  is 
designed  to  meet  the  wishes  of  many  who  desire 
to  have  the  work  in  a  more  condensed  form  and 
at  a  less  price  than  the  fine  edition,  in  two  volumes, 
on  toned  paper.  The  Memoirs  are  here  given 
entire,  without  abridgment,  in  one  volume  ;  from 
which,  for  the  sake  of  compactness,  the  Preface, 
Appendix  and  Table  of  Contents  are  omitted,  the 
place  of  the  latter  being  supplied  by  a  full  Index, 
as  well  as  by  the  headings  of  the  chapters  and  the 
pages.  The  opportunity  has  been  taken,  also,  to 
correct  some  inaccuracies  which  escaped  notice  in 
the  former  edition. 


MEMOIRS 


OF 

Alexander  Campbell 

 o  

CHAPTER  I. 

Birth  and  parentage- -Lineage  of  his  mother — His  father's  ancestry—^  na- 
racter  and  early  life  of  Thomas  CampbelL 

ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL,  the  subject  of  the 
following  memoir,  was  born  in  the  countv  of 
Antiim,  Ireland.  His  father,  Thomas  Campbell,  hav- 
ing been  united  in  marriage  with  Jane  Corneigle,  in 
June,  1787,  their  first  child,  Alexander,  was  born  Sep- 
tember 12,  1788,  where  they  then  resided,  near  Bally- 
mena,  in  the  parish  of  Broughshane,  and  about  one 
mile  from  the  site  of  the  ancient  and  once  beautiful 
Shane's  Castle,  whose  mouldering  towers,  upon  the 
northern  shore  of  Lough  Neagh,  still  attract  the  notice 
of  the  passing  traveler. 

Plis  mother's  ancestors  were  French  Huguenots,  who, 
having  fled  from  their  native  country  upon  the  revoca- 
tion of  the  Edict  of  Nantes  by  Louis  XIV.,  sought 
refuge,  it  appears,  first  in  Scotland,  from  whence  they 
subsequently  migrated  to  Ireland.  The  entire  connex- 
ion, the  Corneigles  and  Bonners,  seem  to  have  moved 
in  a  body,  and,  being  pleased  with  the  fertile  and  gently 
undulating  lands  in  county  Antrim,  are  said  to  have 
purcliased  conjoint^  an  entire  townland  upon  the  bor- 

19 


20         MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL, 


ders  cf  Lough  Neagh,  where  they  devoted  themselves 
to  agriculture,  and  established  schools  in  which  the 
Bible  was  carefully  taught,  and  where  the}^  strictly 
maintained  the  forms  and  services  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church.  It  was  here  that  Thomas  Campbell,  while 
engaged  in  teaching  school,  and  in  preparing  himself 
for  the  ministry  in  the  Secession  Church,  became  ac- 
quainted with  the  descendants  of  these  exiles,  and  was 
subsequently  married,  in  his  twenty-fifth  year,  to  Jane, 
an  only  daughter  of  tlie  family  of  the  Corneigles.  In 
personal  appearance  she  was  tall,  but  well  proportioned, 
exceedingly  erect  and  dignified  in  her  carriage,  but,  at 
the  same  time,  modest  and  remarkabl}^  retiring  in  her 
manners  and  disposition.  Her  features  were  strongly 
marked,  and,  in  this  respect,  her  son  Alexander  bore  a 
striking  likeness  to  her.  The  Roman  nose,  the  ex- 
pression and  color  of  the  eyes,  surmounted  by  promi- 
nent frontal  developments,  the  outline  of  the  mouth, 
and  the  general  form  and  character  of  the  face,  so 
characteristic  of  the  son,  were  equally  so  of  the  mother, 
though  softened  by  the  greater  delicacy  of  the  feminine 
features.  Her  complexion  was  extremely  clear  and 
fine,  contrasting  agreeably  with  her  abundant  dark 
brown  hair.  She  had  been  left  an  orphan  in  her  sev- 
enth year  by  the  death  of  her  father,  and,  as  the  only 
daughter  of  a  pious  mother,  had  been  brought  up  with 
tender  afiection  and  in  the  nurture  and  admonition  of 
the  Lord  from  her  early  infancy,  so  that  she  had  be- 
come noted  for  her  sincere  devotion  to  religious  duties. 
At  the  time  of  her  marriage  she  was  in  her  twenty- 
fourth  year,  having  been  born  September^  1763. 

Her  husband,  Thomas  Campbell,  was  of  medium 
stature,  compactly  built,  in  form  and  feature  eminently 
handsome.    His  forehead  was  somewhat  square  and 


PATERNAL  ANCESTRY. 


21 


massive,  his  complexion  fair  and  ruddy,  his  soft  gray 
eyes  full  of  intelligence — the  whole  expression  of  his 
countenance  indicative  of  deep  reflection  and  of  kindly 
fe(!lino[".  His  ancestors  were  oriffinallv  from  the  West 
of  Scotland  ;  on  this  account  claiming  clanship,  if  not 
kindred,  with  the  race  of  Diarmid,  the-  Campbells  of 
Argyleshire,  from  whence  the  famiU^  are  supposed  to 
have  emigrated  at  some  former  period.  His  grand- 
father, Thomas  Campbell,  it  is  know^n,  was  born  in 
Ireland,  near  Dyerlake  Wood  in  county  Down,  and  lived 
to  the  great  age  of  one  hundred  and  five  years.  His 
own  immediate  father,  Archibald,  was  in  early  life  a 
Romanist,  and  served  as  a  soldier  in  the  British  army 
under  Gen.  Wolfe.  After  the  capture  of  Quebec  he 
returned  to  his  native  country,  and,  abjuring  Romanism, 
became  a  strict  member  of  the  Church  of  England,  to 
w^hich  he  adhered  until  his  death  in  his  eighty-eighth 
year.  He  is  said  to  have  been  somewhat  eccentric,  but 
peculiarly  social  and  genial  in  his  habits  and  warm  in 
his  feelings.  He  had  a  fair  complexion,  with  remark- 
ably clear  blue  eyes,  was  energetic  and  brisk  in  his 
movements,  and,  though  of  a  quick  and  passionate 
temper,  was  readily  appeased.  He  lived  in  county 
Down,  near  Newry,  and  gave  to  his  four  sons,  Thomas, 
James,  Archibald  and  Enos,  an  excellent  English  edu- 
cation at  a  military  regimental  school  not  far  distant. 
He  had  also  four  daughters,  who  all  died  in  their  in- 
fancy, and,  what  is  rather  unusual,  each  one  of  Ihem 
was,  in  succession,  called  Mary. 

Of  the  sons,  Thomas,  who  was  the  oldest,  having 
been  born  in  county  Down,  February  i,  1763,  seems 
to  have  been,  from  his  mild  and  thoughtful  disposi- 
tion, particularly  dear  to  his  father,  a:vd  to  have  had 
considerable  influence  over  him,  yet  not  to  have  him- 


22         MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


self  always  escaped  the  effects  of  his  father*s  hasty 
temper.* 

Of  the  remaining  brothers,  James  and  Archibald 
engaged  in  teaching,  along  with  Thomas,  when  quite 
young,  near  Sheepbridge,  two  miles  from  Newry,  and 
both  of  them  became  members  finally  of  the  Secession 
Church.  James  'seems  afterward  to  have  led  rather 
an  unsettled  life,  emigrating  finally  to  Canada.  Archi- 
bald and  Enos,  however,  devoted  themselves  to  the 
business  of  teaching  in  the  town  of  Newry — a  profes- 
sion in  which  they  w^ere  eminently  successful. 

As  the  life  and  labors  of  the  oldest  brother,  Thomas, 
blend  themselves  so  intimately  with  those  of  his  son 
Alexander  that  it  is  impossible  to  separate  them,  it  will 
be  necessary  to  detail,  with  some  minuteness,  the  earlier 
history  of  this  remarkable  man,  and  to  give  a  succinct 
but  definite  account  of  those  religious  struggles  which 
occupied  the  greater  part  of  his  long  and  laborious 
career. 

It  appears  that,  in  his  early  youth,  he  became  the 
subject  of  deep  religious  impressions,  and  acquired  a 
most  sincere  and  earnest  love  for  the  Scriptures.  The 
cold  formality  of  the  Episcopal  ritual,  and  the  apparent 
want  of  vital  piety  in  the  Church  to  which  his  father 
belonged,  led  him  to  prefer  the  society  of  the  more 
rigid  and  devotional  Covenanters  and  Seceders,  and  to 
attend  their  religious  meetings.  As  he  advanced  in 
years,  his  religious  impressions  deepened.    He  began 

*  It  is  related  that  Thomas,  when  preparing  himself  for  the  ministry,  had 
been  permitted  to  conduct  worship  in  his  father's  family,  and  that,  on  one 
occasion,  when  he  had  prayed  unusually  long,  the  old  man,  whose  kneeling 
posture  had  become  painful  to  him  on  account  of  his  rheumatism,  was  no 
sooner  upon  his  feet  than,  in  a  sudden  gust  of  passion,  he  began,  greatly  to  the 
surprise  and  scandal  of  all  present,  to  belabor  poor  Thomas  with  his  cane 
becarse  he  had  kept  them  so  long  upon  their  knees. 


RELIGIOUS  IMPRESSIONS. 


23 


to  experience  great  concern  for  his  salvation,  and  the 
various  doubts  and  misgivings  usually  presenting  them- 
selves when  the  sense  of  sin  is  deep  and  the  con- 
science tender,  pressed  very  heavily  upon  his  mind. 
For  a  long  time  his  distress  seemed  continually  to 
increase.  By  earnest  and  diligent  prayer,  and  the  con- 
stant use  of  all  the  means  prescribed  by  sympathizing 
and  pious  friends,  he  sought,  apparently  in  vain,  for 
those  assurances  of  acceptance  and  those  tokens  of 
forgiveness  which  were  regarded  as  necessary  accom- 
paniments of  a  true  faith  and  evidence  of  *' effectual 
calling."  While  in  this  state,  and  when  his  mental 
distress  had  reached  its  highest  point,  he  was  one  day 
walking  alone  in  the  fields,  when,  in  the  midst  of  his 
prayerful  anxieties  and  longings,  he  felt  a  divine  peace 
suddenly  diffuse  itself  throughout  his  soul,  and  the  love 
of  God  seemed  to  be  shed  abroad  in  his  heart  as  he 
had  never  before  realized  it.  His  doubts,  anxieties  and 
fears  were  at  once  dissipated,  as  if  by  enchantment. 
He  was  enabled  to  see  and  to  trust  in  the  merits  of  a 
crucified  Christ,  and  to  enjoy  a  divine  sense  of  recon- 
ciliation, that  filled  him  with  rapture  and  seemed  to 
determine  his  destiny  for  ever.  From  this  moment  he 
recognized  himself  as  consecrated  to  God,  and  thought 
only  how  he  might  best  appropriate  his  time  and  his 
abilities  to  his  service. 

It  is  unnecessary  to  pause  here  in  order  to  consider 
the  nature  or  the  value  of  such  a  religious  "experi- 
ence" as  is  here  related,  as  this  subject  will  hereafter 
come  under  review  in  its  appropriate  place.  The  facts, 
at  least,  w^ere  as  above  stated ;  and  it  is  certain  that 
Thomas  Campbell  believed  himself  to  have  been  spe- 
cially "called"  at  this  time,  and  that  he  regarded  the 
feelings  and  the  sudden  change  which  he  then  ex- 


^4 


MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


perierced  as  proceeding  from  a  direct  divine  influence^ 
which  imparted  to  him  a  saving  or  justifying  faith. 

Having  a  strong  desire  to  devote  himself  to  the  min- 
istry in  the  Secession  Church,  the  matter  was  broached 
to  his  father,  who  proved  by  no  means  favorable  to  it. 
He,  indeed,  had  but  Httle  sympathy  in  his  son's  rehg 
ious  change,  being  attached  to  the  Church  of  England, 
and  determined,  as  he  used  to  say,  "to  serve  God  ac- 
cording to  act  of  Parliament."  Having  also  rathei 
extreme  views  of  paternal  authority  in  religious  as  well 
as  in  other  matters,  it  may  well  be  supposed  that  his 
son's  position  was  rather  embarrassing.  So  excellent 
was. the  young  m.an's  character,  however,  and  so  ex- 
emplary his  conduct,  that  opf)osition  to  his  fixed  pur- 
pose could  not  long  continue.  Meanwhile,  pending 
any  positive  decision,  filled  with  ardent  desire  to  benefit 
his  tellow-beings,  and  hearing  sad  accounts  of  the  un- 
enlightened condition  of  the  people  in  certain  portions 
of  the  south  of  Ireland,  Thomas  Campbell  resolved  to 
make  an  effort  in  their  behalf;  and  having  procured  the 
necessary  means  of  introduction,  he  went  down  into 
one  of  the  most  benighted  parts  of  the  province  of 
Connaught,  and  established  there  an  English  academv. 
He  obtained  a  large  number  of  pupils,  and  applied 
himself  to  their  improvement  and  elevation,  intellect- 
ually, morally  and  religiously,  with  the  greatest  assi- 
duity. In  the  midst  of  his  labors,  however,  he  was 
suddenly  and  peremptorily  summoned  by  his  father  to 
return  ;  and  as  soon  as  he  could  free  himself  trom  his 
existing  engagements,  he  bade  adieu  to  his  friends  and 
pupils,  who  gave  him  the  parting  hand  with  many  tears, 
so  much  had  he  endeared  himself  to  them  by  his  in- 
cessant efforts  for  their  education  and  happiness. 

ITiDon  his  return  to  the  Xorth,  a  good  school  was 


MINIS  TERIA  L  ED  UCA  TION. 


25 


ublained  for  him  at  Sheepbridge,  near  Newry,  through 
the  influence  of  Mr.  John  Kinley,*  who  resided  there, 
and  who  conceived  so  high  an  opinion  of  INIr.  Camp- 
bell's abihties,  that,  after  some  time,  he  urged  him 
to  carry  out  his  design  of  entering  the  ministry,  and 
kindly  profl^ered  the  necessary  means  to  defray  tht 
expense.  His  father  having  finally  acquiesced  in  his 
purpose,  he  soon  afterwards  proceeded  to  Glasgow, 
where  he  became  a  student  in  the  University.  Here, 
with  that  exact  punctualit}-  and  strict  attention  to  method 
which  characterized  him  through  life,  he  devoted  him- 
self to  the  prescribed  studies,  which,  for  students  of 
divinity,  then  occupied  three  years.  He  also,  during 
his  stay  at  the  University,  attended  the  medical  lec- 
tures, it  being  regarded  proper  for  ministers  to  have,  in 
addition  to  a  knowledge  of  their  own  particular  profes- 
sion, such  an  acquaintance  w^ith  medicine  as  would 
enable  them  to  render  necessary  aid  to  their  poorer 
parishioners  who  might  not  have  the  services  of  a 
regular  medical  attendant. 

After  having  completed  his  literar}'  course  at  the 
University,  it  became  necessary  for  him  to  enter  the 
theological  school  established  by  that  branch  of  the 
Secession,  the  Anti-Burghers,  to  which  he  belonged. 
As  the  number  of  those  preparing  for  the  ministry  was 
not  great,  the  class  usually  consisting  of  from  twenty  to 
thirty  members  at  this  period,  this  school  was  under  the 

*  Mr.  Kinley  was  a  Seceder,  and  married  a  sister  of  Thomas  Carr,  of  Newry. 
Thomas  Campbell's  brother  Archibald  afterwards  married  a  daughter  of 
Thomas  Carr,  and  one  of  James  Campbell's  sons,  also  named  Archibald, 
mairied  another  daughter,  so  that  the  families  were  thus  connected.  While 
Thomas  Campbell  taught  at  Sheepbridge„  one  of  Mr.  Kinley's  daughters  was 
a  pupil,  and  became  in  the  year  1800  the  wife  of  Robert  Tener,  whose  useful 
labors  in  promoting  the  cause  of  relitjious  reformation  may  be  hereafter 
noticed. 


26         MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXA  NDER  CAMPBELL. 


charge  of  a  single  professor,  who  \las  appointed  by  the 
Synod.  In  order  to  admission  into  Divinity  Hall,  it 
was  required  by  the  Synod  that  the  candidates  should 
be  first  examined,  as  to  their  proficiency  in  Latin  and 
Greek,  b}'  tlie  Presbytery  within  whose  bounds  they 
resided.  They  were  examined,  likewise,  on  the  various 
branches  of  philosophy  they  had  studied  at  the  Uni- 
versity :  and  also  on  personal  religion.  The  appointed 
course  of  attendance  at  the  Hall  was  five  annual  ses- 
sions of  eight  weeks  each,  with  some  exceptions  in  the 
case  of  missions  and  of  a  scarcit}'  of  preachers.*  Mr. 
Archibald  Bruce  was  at  this  time  the  Doctor  of  Divin- 
ity, and  the  school  was  at  Whitburn,  where  Mr.  Bruce 
officiated  as  minister  to  a  congregation,  it  being  then 
the  custom  to  transfer  the  Divinity  Hall  to  the  place 
where  the  professor  appointed  was  living  at  the  time.f 

*  The  course  of  business  in  Di\dnity  Hall  was,  with  occasional  variations, 
as  follows  :  One  meeting  a  day  at  twelve  o'clock.  On  Monday,  a  miscella- 
neous lecture  by  the  Professor.  On  Tuesday,  discourses  by  the  students. 
On  Wednesday,  a  lecture  by  the  Professor,  in  Latin,  on  the  system  of  The- 
ology, using  Markii  Medulla  (a  treatise  on  Systematic  Theology  by  the 
celebrated  Mark  of  Leyden)  as  a  text-book.  On  Thursday,  examination  of 
the  students  on  the  Theology  taught.  On  Friday,  discourses  by  the  students. 
On  Saturday  a  lecture  on  the  Confession  of  Faith,  with  conference  on 
some  practical  subject  stated  by  the  Professor.  In  addition,  the  students  had 
debating  and  other  societies  among  themselves,  in  which  theological  ques- 
tions were  discussed. 

t  Mr.  Bruce  was  a  professor  highly  qualified,  ver}'  pious  and  amiable,  and 
greatly  venerated  by  the  students.  He  was  the  second  Professor  of  Divinity 
since  the  division  of  the  Seceders  into  Burghers  and  Anti-Burghers,  having 
been  preceded  by  Mr,  \Villiam  Moncrief,  who  was  appointed  loth  February, 
1762,  and  died  4th  August,  1786.  Mr.  Bruce  was  appointed  September, 
1786,  and  held  the  office  for  twent}'  years,  up  to  1806,  at  which  time  he  sepa- 
rated from  the  General  Associate  .Synod,  and  superintended  the  theological 
class  connected  with  the  "Constitutional  Presbyter)',"  until  February  28. 
1816,  when  he  suddenly  expired,  after  the  exercises  of  the  pulpit,  in  his  sev- 
entieth year.  For  the  number  and  variety  of  his  publications,  he  holds  a 
high  place  among  Secession  authors.  D*".  McCrie  says  of  him:  "For 
solidity  and  perspicacity  of  judgment,  joined  to  a  lively  imagination  ;  fbi 


OFFICE  OF  PROBATIONER. 


27 


After  having  completed  the  course  required,  and  sub- 
mitted to  the  usual  examination  and  trials  for  license 
oefore  the  Presbytery  in  Ireland,  Thomas  Campbell  be- 
came what  is  called  a  probationer,  whose  office  was  to 
preach  the  Gospel,  under  the  supervision  of  the  Synod,* 
in  such  congregations  as  were  destitute  of  a  fixed  min- 
istry. So  far  as  can  now  be  ascertained,  it  was  prior  to 
his  engaging  in  these  labors,  and  while  passing  to  and 
fro  to  attend  his  studies  in  Scotland,  or  while,  during 
vacations,  he  occupied  himself  in  teaching,  that  he  be- 
came acquainted  with  tlie  descendants  of  the  Huguenots 
who  had  settled  on  the  borders  of  Lough  Neagh,  and 
ultimately  married  one  of  them.  Miss  Jane  Corneigle,  as 
already  stated  in  the  early  part  of  the  present  chapter. 

profound  acquaintance  with  the  system  of  Theology,  and  with  all  the 
branches  which  are  subsidiary  to  it,  and  which  are  ornamental  as  well  as 
useful  to  the  Christian  divine ;  for  the  power  of  patient  investigation,  of 
careful  discrimination  between  truth  and  error,  and  of  guarding  against  ex- 
tremes, on  the  right  hand  as  well  as  on  the  left ;  and  for  the  talent  of  recom- 
mending truth  to  the  youthful  mind  by  a  rich  and  flowing  style,  not  to  men- 
tion the  qualities  by  which  his  private  character  was  adorned, — Mr.  Bruce  has 
been  equaled  by  few,  if  any,  of  those  who  have  occupied  the  chair  of  Divin- 
ity, either  in  late  or  in  former  times." 

*  The  Associate  Synod  of  Ireland  was  first  constituted  at  Monaghan, 
October  20,  1779,  eight  or  nine  years  before.  When  organized,  it  consisted 
of  three  Presbyteries — those  of  Monaghan,  Down  and  Derry. 


CHAPTER  II. 


Boyhood — Schooling — Religious   training — Influence  of  his  fathei's  cha- 
racter. 

A  FTER  the  birth  of  his  son  Alexander,*  Thomas 
Campbell  remained  but  a  short  time  in  county 
Antrim.  He  seems  then  to  have  returned  to  the 
neighborhood  of  Sheepbridge,  where  he  resumed  the 
business  of  teaching  school,  preaching  also  for  the 
Seceder  congregations  in  the  vicinity.    After  some  years 

*  It  is  ]-»r(i])er  to  notice'  here  a  slight  discrepancy  that  exists  in  relation  to 
the  age  of  Alexander  Caniphell.  The  records,  it  api)ears,  were  lost  in  a 
Bhi])\vreck  when  the  family  were  emigrating  to  the  United  States,  and  long 
afterward  some  were  inclined  to  put  his  birth  in  the  year  1786.  Even  his 
father,  in  an  account  written  about  1847,  gives  the  date  17S6.  l^ut  at  this 
time  his  father  was  eighty-four  years  old,  and,  with  a  memory  always  very 
defective  as  to  tlates  and  names,  could  not  be  regarded  as  decisive  authority. 
On  the  other  hand,  the  evidences  in  favor  of  his  Iiaving  been  born  in  1788  are 
numerous  and  conclusive  :  I.  All  agree  that  his  father  was  born  February  i, 
1763,  and  that  he  was  in  his  twenty-fifth  year  when  he  married,  which  could 
not  have  been,  therefore,  until  1787,  and  Alexander  was  born  the  year  after, 
1788.  2.  The  birth  of  Jane  is  recorded  in  Thomas  Campbell's  diary  as 
occurring  in  1800,  and  she  (still  living)  states  that  it  was  always  the  under- 
standing in  her  father's  family  that  she  was  about  twelve  years  younger  than 
her  brother  Alexander  :  this  again  gives  1788.  3.  Jatiies  Foster,  who  is  yet 
living  in  the  full  exercise  of  his  faculties,  and  who  has  always  been  remark- 
able for  his  power  of  memory,  states  that  the  first  time  he  saw  Alexander  was 
at  Rich-IIill,  and  that  he  was  then  a  mere  lad  of  fifteen  or  sixteen  years  of 
age,  and  engaged  in  boyish  sj^ort,  having  in  his  hand  a  long  i)ole  with  a  net 
attached,  with  which  he  was  catching  small  birds  along  the  eaves  of  the 
thatched  houses  in  the  outskirts  of  the  town.  James  Foster  himself  was,  he 
says,  then  a  young  nian  grown,  and  he  knows  he  could  not  have  been  less 
than  three  and  a  half  or  four  years  older  than  Alexantler.  James  Foster  was 
born  March  1,  1785,  and  adding  to  this  three  and  a  half  years,  we  are  brought 
28 


CALL  TO  AH  ORE  r. 


29 


spent  thus,  finding  Market  Hill,  in  county  Armagh,  a 
more  convenient  place  of  residence  while  engaged  in 
the  labors  of  a  probationer,  he  removed  to  that  town, 
where  he  occupied  himself,  it  would  appear,  for  a  por- 
tion of  the  time,  as  a  teacher  of  private  classes  in 
families.  Meanwhile,  another  son,  James,  was  born, 
who  died  in  infancy  ;  and  afterward,  a  daughter,  who 
was  called  Dorothea,  a  name  which,  like  the  corre- 
sponding "Theodore"  given  to  males,  and  Dieudonne 
in  French,  signifies  God's  gift.  About  the  year  1798 
he  accepted  a  call  from  a  church  recently  established 


to  September,  1788.  4.  In  confirmation  of  these  evidences,  there  is  direct 
and  positive  proof  from  a  diary  which  Alexander  kept  while  in  Glasgow,  It 
begins  in  these  words  :  "I,  Alexander  Campbell,  in  the  twentieth  year  of  my 
age,  being  born  on  the  12th  of  September,  1788,  do  commence  a  regular 
diary  from  the  ist  of  January,  1809,  and  intend  prosecuting  it  from  this  time 
forward,  at  least  for  some  time,  Deo  volente.  Glasgow."  Now,  admitting  that 
the  family  records  were  lost  in  the  shipwreck  which  had  occurred  but  a  few 
weeks  previous,  it  is  not  likely  that  he  would  so  soon  have  forgotten  the  year 
of  his  birth,  especially  so  near  majority — a  period  which  young  men  are  wont 
to  mark  with  accuracy.  Besides,  his  mother  and  brothers  and  sisters  were 
all  with  him,  and  he  had  all  the  means  necessary  for  exact  information,  had 
he  felt  any  doubt  on  the  subject.  He  entered  it  down  carefully,  probably 
because  the  records  had  been  lost,  and  the  slight  error  he  makes  in  using  the 
ordinal  instead  of  the  cardinal  number,  only  serves  to  make  the  case  stronger. 
He  says,  "  in  the  twentieth  year  of  my  age,"  when  he  was  in  fact  in  his 
twenty-first.  He  had  been  twenty  on  the  12th  of  the  preceding  September, 
and  did  not,  at  the  moment,  notice  that  he  had  passed  into  his  twenty-first. 
To  say  that  he  had  been  born  in  1786  is  to  suppose  that  he  had  come  of  age 
more  than  a  year  before  in  Ireland,  without  knowing  anything  at  all  abozit  it, 
and  with  the  family  records  before  him  ;  which  is  an  absurd  supposition.  From 
these  and  various  other  proofs  which  might  be  adduced,  there  can  remain  no 
diiubt  that  he  \Aas  born  in  September,  1788,  the  date  which  he  himself  en- 
tered down  in  his  own  family  Bible  at  Bethany.  In  this,  the  following  are 
the  entries  with  respect  to  his  father's  family :  Thomas  Campbell,  born  in 
county  Down,  in  1763  ;  Jane,  wife  of  Thomas  Campbell,  died  at  Jane  Mc- 
Keevers,  aged  seventy-two;  Alexander  Campbell,  born  at  Ballymena,  Sep- 
tember, 1788;  Dorothea,  born  July  27,  1793;  Nancy,  September  18,  1795; 
Jane,  June  18,  1800;  Thomas,  May  i,  1802;  Archibald,  April  4,  1804; 
Alicia,  April,  1806. 

3» 


30         MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


at  Ahorey,  four  miles  from  the  city  of  Armagh,  ta 
become  its  pastor,  and  accordingly  removed  to  a  farm 
near  Rich-Hill,  which  is  about  ten  miles  from  the 
flourishing  town  of  Newry.  This  region  is  one  of  the 
most  beautiful  portions  of  Ireland.  The  soil  is  rich, 
the  farms  are  highly  improved,  and  the  roads  are  ex- 
cellent, though  the  face  of  the  country  is  much  more 
broken  and  diversified  than  in  county  Antrim.  It  is 
said  that  William  the  Third,  upon  reaching  the  neigh- 
borhood of  Belfast,  was  greatly  pleased  with  the  appear- 
ance of  Ireland  :  but  that  when  he  had  advanced  to 
Newry,  on  his  way  to  the  Boyne,  he  was  so  delighted 
with  the  fertility  of  this  region,  with  the  rich  green  of 
the  earth,  with  the  beauty  of  the  scenery,  and  with  the 
bays  and  rivers  so  admirably  suited  to  commerce,  that 
he  exclaimed  to  his  officers  :  "This  is  indeed  a  country 
worth  fighting  for !"  The  country  about  Rich-Hill, 
where  Thomas  Campbell  now  settled,  is  particularly 
admired.  From  a  high  hill  near  his  farm  a  magnifi- 
cent prospect  presents  itself,  extending  over  several 
counties,  and  embracing  landscapes  of  the  most  varied 
and  picturesque  character,  the  beauty  of  which  is  en- 
hanced by  a  distinct  view  of  the  waters  of  Lough 
Neagh,*  which,  toward  the  north,  exhibit  their  silvery 
brightness  in  the  distance. 

It  was  in  this  charming  region  that  Thomas  Camp- 
bell now  fixed  his  abode,  and  was,  in  due  time,  with 
the  usual  solemnities,  ordained  as  the  pastor  of  the 

*  This  lough  is  the  largest  body  of  fresh  water  in  Europe,  except  the  Lake 
of  Geneva  and  one  or  two  of  lesser  note  in  Russia,  being  twenty-two  miles 
long  and  seven  or  eight  miles  wide.  A  canal,  constructed  for  the  first  nine 
miles  in  the  bed  of  the  river  Bann,  passes  from  its  southern  extremity  to 
Newry,  and  thence  to  the  sea,  an  entire  distance  of  twenty-four  miles.  The 
waters  of  the  lough  are  celebrated  for  their  power  of  petrifying  wood  and 
other  organic  substances  placed  in  its  waters  or  buried  near  its  shores. 


rOUTHFUL  PURSUITS. 


congregation.  It  was  here,  also,  that  the  youthful  days 
of  Alexander  were  chiefl}'  spent.  For  some  timje  he 
was  continued  at  an  elementary  school  in  Market  Hill» 
where  he  boarded  in  the  family  of  a  Mr.  Gillis,  mer- 
chant of  that  place.  He  spent  also  some  two  or  three 
years  of  his  boyhood  at  school  in  the  town  of  Newry, 
where  his  uncles,  Archibald  and  Enos,  had  opened  an 
academy.  Upon  his  return  home,  his  father  endeavored 
to  superintend  and  continue  his  education.  He  found 
him,  however,  so  exceedingly  devoted  to  sport  and 
physical  exercise  that  it  was  difficult  to  fix  his  attention 
upon  books.  This  uncommon  activity  of  disposition 
seems  at  this  time  to  have  been  his  most  striking  trait. 
There  was  in  his  constitution  no  tendency  to  precocious 
mental  development,  nor  did  his  peculiar  intellectual 
powers  begin  to  manifest  themselves  strikingly  until  he 
had  nearly  attained  his  growth.  His  extreme  fondness 
for  sport  rendered  him  so  averse  to  the  confinement  re- 
quired in  order  to  acquire  learning,  that  study  became 
to  him  a  drudgery,  and  the  tasks  with  which  his  over- 
anxious father  constantly  supplied  him  became  dull 
and  wearisome.  About  his  ninth  year,  the  French  lan- 
guage was  added  to  his  other  studies,  but  in  this  he 
appears  not  to  have  made  a  very  satisfactory  progress, 
if  we  may  judge  from  the  following  anecdote,  which  he 
himself,  in  later  life,  used  to  relate  amongst  his  friends 
with  great  glee  :  Having  gone  out  on  a  warm  day  to 
con  over  his  French  lesson  in  ''The  Adventures  of 
Telemachus,"  under  the  shade  of  a  tree,  he  finally 
dropped  asleep.  A  cow  that  was  grazing  near  ap- 
proached, atid  seeing  the  book  lying  on  the  grass,  seized 
it,  and,  before  he  was  sufficiently  aw'ake  to  prevent, 
actually  devoured  it.  Upon  making  report  of  the  loss, 
his  father  gave  him  a  castigation  for  his  carelessness. 


32         MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


and  enforced  it  by  telling  him  that  "the  cow  had  got 
more  French  in  her  stomach  than  he  had  in  his  head," 
a  fact  which,  of  course,  he  could  not  deny.  Certain  it 
was,  at  least,  that  this  was  the  last  of  the  Adventures 
of  Telemachus  ! 

On  account  of  his  great  disinclination  to  confinement, 
his  father  at  length  concluded  to  put  him  to  work  on 
the  farm  along  with  the  laborers,  in  order  to  subdue 
his  love  of  sport,  and,  as  he  said,  '-to  break  him  in  to 
his  books."  He  seems  to  have  found  field-labor  much 
more  congenial,  and  to  have  worked  hard  for  several 
years,  until  he  had  become  a  stout  lad,  full  of  health 
and  vigor.  At  this  time  his  intellectual  nature  began 
to  assert  its  claims.  He  manifested  a  love  for  readincr 
and  less  inclination  to  outdoor  exercise  ;  and.  with  his 
fither's  approbation,  betook  himself  to  his  studies  again, 
filled  with  an  ardent  desire  for  literary  distinction,  and 
determined,  as  he  said,  to  be  "one  of  the  best  scholars 
in  the  kingdom." 

There  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  course  pursued  by  his 
father  in  this  case  was  extremely  wdse.  As  the  plant 
at  a  certain  period,  after  seeming  repose,  rapidly  throws 
up  its  flower-stalk,  whose  unfolding  buds  demand  its 
entire  resources,  so  there  is  a  time  in  youth  when  the 
rapid  development  of  the  body  demands,  and  seems  to 
monopolize,  all  the  energies  and  resources  of  the  brain 
and  nervous  system.  Nature  seems,  at  this  time,  to 
impel  to  bodily  activity,  in  order  to  assist  in  this  neci  s- 
sary  development  and  expansion  of  the  muscular  sys- 
tem and  of  the  framework  of  the  body,  and  to  deny, 
for  a  time,  to  the  brain  the  capacity  for  much  intel- 
lectual labor.  It  is  hard  for  boys,  in  this  transition 
state,  to  fix  their  attention  upon  study,  or  to  pursue  any 
tram  ot  connected  thought,  or  take  pleasure  in  c.nber 


MENTAL  A  C  TIVITY.  33 

learning.  The  memory  perhaps  suffers  less  eclipse 
than  any  of  the  other  powers  of  mind,  but  even  this  is 
sluggish  ;  and  if  this  or  any  other  faculty  be  now  artifi- 
cially forced  to  exertion,  most  serious  evils  are  likely  to 
arise,  not  only  in  regard  to  the  proper  growth  and  vigor 
of  the  body,  but  to  the  constitution  of  the  mind  itself. 
It  is  hence  important  that  parents  should  allow  their 
children,  at  this  period,  to  occupy  themselves  in  such 
labors  as  tend  to  unfold  and  invigorate  the  bodily 
powers,  and  defer  intellectual  toil  until  the  proper  period 
shall  be  indicated.  It  was  unquestionably  largely  due 
to  this  prudent  foresight  on  the  part  of  Thomas  Camp- 
bell that  his  son  Alexander  owed  his  almost  uninter- 
rupted future  mental  and  bodily  vigor. 

He  now  began  to  display  a  very  active  mind,  an 
eager  thirst  for  knowledge,  and  a  remarkabh"  ready 
and  retentive  memory.  On  one  occasion  he  is  said  to 
have  committed  to  memory  sixty  lines  of  blank  verse  in 
fifty-two  minutes,  so  that  he  could  repeat  them  without 
missing  a  word.  He  was,  from  this  time  forward,  ac- 
customed to  memorize,  frequently,  select  extracts  from 
the  best  authors,  as  well  in  compliance  with  his  father's 
wishes  as  from  his  own  appreciation  of  their  merit,  so 
that  his  mind  became  stored  with  the  finer  passages  of 
the  British  poets,  which  he  was  enabled  to  retain 
through  life.  He  was  extremely  fond  of  reading,  and 
became  gradually  quite  conversant  with  many  of  the 
standard  English  authors,  especially  with  such  as  were 
of  a  moral,  philosophical  or  religious  cast.  As  he 
advanced  in  age,  he  learned  greatly  to  admire  the  cha- 
racter and  the  works  of  Locke,  w^hose  "Letters  on 
T'oleration"  seem  to  have  made  a  lasting  impression 
upon  him,  and  to  have  fixed  his  ideas  of  religious  and 
of  civil  liberty.    The  "Essay  on  the  Human  Under- 

VOL.  I.— C 


34         MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 

standing"  he  appears  to  have  thoroughly  studied  under 
the  direction  of  his  father,  who  was  earnestly  desirous 
that  his  son  should  make  all  possible  advancement  and 
preparation,  trusting  that  he  would  be  able,  after  some 
time,  to  send  him  to  the  Universit}''.  Hence  he  labored 
to  perfect  his  son's  knowledge  of  the  preliminary  Eng- 
lish branches,  to  instruct  him  in  Latin  and  Greek, 
and,  as  time  wore  on,  even  to  anticipate  in  part  the 
usual  collefje  course. 

Although  thus  diligently  engaged,  under  his  father's 
guidance,  in  literary  and  grave  pursuits,  it  is  not  to  be 
supposed  that  Alexander's  natural  disposition  was  so 
much  altered  as  to  render  him  either  very  serious  or 
very  sedentary.  On  the  contrary,  his  naturally  active 
and  lively  temperament,  full  of  vivacity  and  sportive- 
ness,  still  demanded  a  sufficient  amount  of  physical 
exercise,  and  he  still  delighted  to  engage  occasionally 
in  the  games  and  amusements  of  vouth.  Having  an 
athletic  frame,  and  a  hand  unusually  large  for  his 
years,  he  soon  made  himself  noted  among  his  com- 
panions for  the  large  size  of  his  snow-balls  and  the 
force  with  which  they  were  Iiurled.  For  the  same 
reasons  he  was  expert  in  sowing  grain,  and  loved  to 
practise  the  art  with  the  neighboring  farmers  at  the 
proper  seasons.  He  was  extremely  fond  also  of  fre- 
quendng  the  streams  for  the  purposes  of  fishing  and  of 
bathing,  and  became,  by  dint  of  practice,  an  excellent 
swimmer.  But  his  ""reatest  delijjht  was  to  traverse  the 
fields  in  search  of  game,  to  capture  birds  with  nets,  or 
with  dog  and  gun  to  rouse  them  from  their  secret 
coverts.*    His  indulgent  parents  freely  sanctioned  such 


*  He  was  so  fascinated  with  the  sport  of  gunning,  and  his  ammunition  was 
at  times  so  scanty,  that  he  once  conceived  the  idea  of  manufacturing  gun- 
powder for  himself    Having  found  out  its  composition  and  ol)taincd  the 


FAMIL  Y  TRAINING. 


35 


recreations  at  proper  times,  believing  them  conducive, 
if  not  absolutely  necessary,  to  health  and  vigor. 

While  carefully  superintending  the  literary  education 
of  his  son,  Thomas  Campbell  was  by  no  means  negli- 
gent of  his  religious  training.  It  was  made  an  essential 
part  of  his  ministerial  duty,  as  it  was  no  less  the  dictate 
of  his  parental  affection, -to  bring  up  his  children  '*in 
the  nurture  and  instruction  of  the  Lord,"  in  order  that 
his  family  might  be  a  pattern  to  others.  To  this  end,  it 
was  prescribed  by  the  S3'nod  that  the  minister  "should 
worship  God  in  his  family  by  singing,  reading  and 
prayer,  morning  and  evening  ;  that  he  should  catechise 
arid  instruct  them  at  least  once  a  week  in  religion  ; 
endeavoring  to  cause  every  member  to  pray  in  secret 
morning  and  evening  ;  and  that  he  should  remember 
the  Lord's  day  to  keep  it  holy,  and  should  himself 
maintain  a  conversation  becoming  the  gospel."  Of  all 
these  obligations  Thomas  Campbell  was  carefully  ob- 
servant, and  in  all  his  regulations  and  efforts  for  the 
improvement  and  welfare  of  his  family  he  was  earn- 
estly and  ably  seconded  by  the  estimable  woman  he 
had  married.  Like  her  ancestors,  she  had  very  de- 
cided religious  convictions,  and  gladly  co-operated 
with  her  husband  in  the  moral  and  religious  instruction 
of  the  famil}".  It  was  their  rule  that  every  member 
should  memorize,  during  each  day,  some  portion  of  the 
Bible,  to  be  recited  at  evening  worship.  Long  pas- 
sages were  often  thus  recited,  but  if  only  a  single  verse 
was  correctly  repeated  by  the  smaller  children,  it  was 
received  with  encouraging:  appxahation .  Attention  was 


ingredients,  he  set  to  work  with  his  experiments;  and  finally,  while  drying 
the  mass  he  had  formed,  succeeded  in  producing  an  explosion,  from  which 
!ie  narrowly  escaped  personal  injury,  and  which,  of  course,  brought  his 
manufacturing  operations  to  an  abrupt  conclusion. 


36         MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL 


usually  called  to  the  important  facts  or  truths  presented 
in  each  recitation,  questions  were  asked  in  regard  to 
them,  and  appropriate  remarks  briefly  oflfered.  Finally, 
the  Scriptures  repeated  during  the  week  were  again 
rehearsed  on  the  evening  of  the  Lord's  day.  This 
sacred  day  also  was  faithfully  observed.  Every  mem- 
ber of  the  household  was  expected  to  go  to  meeting, 
and  it  was  understood  that  each  one  was  to  give,  upon 
returning  home,  an  account  not  only  of  (the  text,  but  of 
the  discourse  itself,  embracing  its  leading  points.  This 
was  designed  to  secure,  on  the  part  of  the  young  espe- 
cially, a  proper  attention  to  the  services  of  public  wor- 
ship, so  that  the  church  might  not  be  a  place  for  the 
observance  of  cold  and  lifeless  forms,  but  in  reality  a 
house  of  prayer  and  of  true  religious  edification.  In 
carrying  out  these  regulations,  as  in  all  his  family  dis- 
cipline, and  indeed  the  whole  conduct  of  life,  Mr. 
Campbell  was  most  punctual  and  methodical.  He  was 
by  no  means  exacting,  but  made  his  appeal,  as  far  as 
possible,  to  the  heart  and  conscience,  showing  the  most 
affectionate  interest  in  the  welfare  of  all  the  members 
(){  his  household.  When  called  away,  as  he  frequently 
was,  to  assist  other  ministers  at  a  distance,  his  pious 
wife  constantly  labored  to  keep  up  the  regular  order  of 
religious  worship  and  instruction  in  the  famih'. 

It  was  under  such  influences  in  the  domestic  circle 
that  Alexander  Campbell  passed  his  early  years  ;  and 
it  cajinot  be  doubted  that  they  had  a  most  impoitant 
bearing  on  his  future  life.  To  this  fact  he  himself  bore 
testimony  in  his  declining  years,  and,  long  after  the 
death  of  his  mother,  paid  to  her  memory  the  following 
tribute  of  affectionate  remembrance:  "Having  a  pecu- 
liarly ready  and  retentive  memory,  she  treasured  up 
the  Scriptures  in  early  life,  and  could  quote  and  apply 


I 


MATERNAL  INFLUENCE. 


37 


them  with  great  fluency  and  pertinency  from  childhood 
to  old  age.  She,  indeed,  also  possessed  a  mental  inde- 
pendence which  I  have  rarely  seen  equaled,  and  cer- 
tainly never  surpassed,  by  any  woman  of  my  acquaint- 
ance. Greatly  devoted  to  her  children,  and  especially 
to  their  proper  training  for  public  usefulness,  and  foi 
their  own  individual  and  social  enjoyment,  she  was 
indefatigable  in  her  labors  of  love,  and  in  her  attention 
to  their  physical,  intellectual,  moral  and  religious 
training  and  development.  ***** 
She  made  a  nearer  approximation  to  the  acknow- 
ledged beau  ideal  of  a  Christian  mother  than  any  one 
of  her  sex  with  whom  I  have  had  the  pleasure  of  form- 
ing a  special  acquaintance.  I  can  but  gratefully  add, 
that  to  my  mother,  as  well  as  to  my  father,  I  am  in- 
debted for  having  memorized  in  early  life  almost  all 
the  writings  of  King  Solomon — his  Proverbs,  his  Eccle- 
siastes — and  many  of  the  Psalms  of  his  father  David. 
They  have  not  only  been  written  on  the  tablet  of  my 
memory,  but  incorporated  with  my  modes  of  thinking 
and  speaking." 

While  the  character  of  Alexander  Campbell  was  thus, 
in  early  life,  moulded  in  a  large  degree  by  the  fjimily 
training  to  which  he  was  subjected,  an  important  forma- 
tive influence  was  also  exerted  by  various  other  circum- 
stances which  deserve  to  be  considered.  Among  these, 
his  father's  personal  character  and  example,  his  reli- 
gious views  and  his  public  ministerial  life,  may  be  par- 
ticularly mentioned.  This  excellent  man,  though  pos- 
sessed of  all  the  gravity  and  thoughtfulness  b^^coming 
his  position,  was  eminently  social  in  his  disposition, 
having  much  of  that  genial  warmth  of  temperament  so 
common  in  the  Irish  people,  and  along  with  it  a  ready 
flow  of  ideas,  which  rendered  his  conversation  and  his 

4 


38         MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


company  ver}^  agreeable.  There  was  nothing  in  his 
deportment  forbidding  or  austere.  He  preferred,  in- 
deed, serious  and  religious  topics  of  discourse,  and 
corstantly  contriv^ed  to  lead  the  conversation  in  that 
direction ;  and  though  he  seemed  to  enjoy  an  occasional 
polemical  discussion  with  his  friends,  his  favorite  themes 
were  the  completeness  of  Christ's  salvation  and  the 
infinite  goodness  of  God.  Nevertheless,  he  manifested 
great  interest  in  the  secular  concerns  of  his  parishioners, 
and  sympathized  with  them  in  tlieir  cares  and  labors. 
He  had  withal  an  excellent  relish  for  genuine  humor, 
and  was  himself  not  unskilled  in  the  use  of  jocular 
pleasantry,  with  which  he  sometimes  sought  to  enliven 
conversation.  In  his  manners  he  was  extremel}'  cour- 
teous and  refined,  blending  a  perfect  self-possession 
with  an  easy  and  graceful  afi'ability,  and  having  about 
him  a  peculiar  attractiveness  and  dignity^  which  secured 
the  respect  of  all  who  approached  him. 

It  is  the  unanimous  testimony  of  those  who  were 
familiar  with  his  labors  that,  as  a  pastor,  no  one  could 
be  more  faithful  or  diligent.  He  was  himself  "a  pat- 
tern of  good  works;"  "hospitable,  sober,  just,  holy, 
temperate,"  visiting  and  ministering  to  the  sick  and 
afflicted,  and  rendering  assistance  to  the  poor — duties  to 
which  Mrs.  Campbell  was  also  particularly  devoted. 
He  sought  to  introduce  into  all  the  families  of  the  con- 
gregation  the  same  course  of  regular  scriptural  instruc- 
tion and  worship  which  he  pursued  in  his  own  house- 
hold. In  addition  to  his  ordinary  visits,  he  made  a 
parochial  tour  regularly  twice  a  year,  in  company  with 
one  or  two  of  the  ruling  elders,  inquiring  into  the  state 
of  religion  in  every  family  ;  catechising  the  children  ; 
examining  the  older  members  upon  their  Bible-read- 


REVERENCE  FOR  THE  BIBLE. 


S9 


ings ;  praying  with  them,  and  giving  such  admonitions 
and  exhortations  as  seemed  appropriate. 

In  the  character  of  Thomas  Campbell  there  was  no 
one  feature  more  strongly  marked  than  his  exceeding 
reverence  for  the  Bible.  This  seems  to  have  made  a 
profound  impression  upon  the  mind  of  his  son  Alex- 
ander, even  in  his  boyhood  :  for  he  relates  that,  when 
entering  his  father's  study,  in  which  he  had  a  large  and 
well-assorted  librarv,  he  was  wont  to  wonder  on  seeinof? 
with  a  very  few  exceptions,  only  /i/s  Bible  and  Con- 
cordance on  the  table,  with  a  simple  outfit  of  pen,  ink 
and  paper.  "Whether,"  he  adds,  "he  had  read  all  these 
volumes  an^  cared  nothing  more  for  them,  or  whether 
he  regarded  them  as  wholly  useless,  I  presumed  not  to 
inquire  and  dared  not  to  decide."  Fettered  as  he  was 
by  his  theology,  he  was  thus  accustomed  to  consult  the 
Bible  itself,  and  to  bring  his  mind  into  direct  communion 
with  its  teachings.  The  bonds  of  doctrinal  and  eccle- 
siastical authority  were,  doubtless,  by  this  means,  to 
some  extent,  insensibly  relaxed  ;  but  he  remained  con- 
scientiously attached  to  Presbyterianism,  as  the  sim- 
plest and  most  orthodox  form  of  Christianity.  He  had, 
under  its  banner,  taken  into  one  hand  the  Gospel 
trumpet,  and  into  the  other  the  lamp  of  Divine  truth, 
which,  however,  was  enclosed  within  the  earthen  pitcher 
of  scholastic  theology.  The  time  had  not  yet  come 
when  this  pitcher  should  be  broken  and  the  light  be 
displayed  abroad.  Many  hours  of  darkness  were  yet 
to  pass,  and  many  trials  to  be  encountered,  before, 
under  the  guidance  of  Providence,  he  was  to  give  the 
signal  for  an  important  religious  reformation,  based  on 
the  Bible  alone.  It  is  worthy  of  record,  however,  that 
he  had  at  this  time  learned  to  prize  the  sacred  volume 
so  far  above  all  human  compositions,  and  recognized  so 


40         MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


fully  its  supreme  authority,  as  to  be  extremely  jealous 
of  any  departure  from  its  exact  expressions.  Hence  it 
was,  that  when  he  found,  after  some  time,  the  children 
of  the  congregation  confounding,  in  their  answers,  the 
language  of  the  catechism  with  that  of  Scripture,  he 
began  to  dispense  with  the  catechism,  fearing  lest  tliey 
should  assign  to  the  latter  a  degree  of  authority  equal 
to  that  of  the  Bible. 

As  a  preacher,  Thomas  Campbell  was  popular  with 
the  Seceder  denomination.  He  possessed  fine  didactic 
talents,  and  was  much  given  to  generalizing  his  sub- 
jects, so  as  to  refer  many  particulars  to  a  single  head 
or  principle.  He  was  brief  and  accurate  in  defining 
terms,  and  skilled  in  making  a  complete  and  exhaustive 
division  of  his  theme.  The  protracted  services  of  pub- 
lic worship  among  the  Seceders  naturally  led  to  a  habit 
of  frequent  and  sometimes  tedious  recapitulation  on  the 
part  of  their  ministers ;  but  Mr.  Campbell's  sermons, 
while  sufficiently  doctrinal  and  elaborate  to  suit  the 
taste  of  the  times,  were  enlivened  by  many  apt  though 
homely  illustrations,  and  he  was  able,  by  pointed  re- 
marks and  occasional  changes  of  manner,  to  keep  the 
attention  of  his  audience  constantly  engaged.  At  the 
same  time,  the  evident  and  heartfelt  earnestness  with 
which  he  spoke,  and  his  own  personal  piety,  gave 
weight  and  authority  to  his  teachings. 

In  his  intercourse  with  religious  society  he  manifested 
the  utmost  kindness  and  charity  for  those  who  differed 
with  him  in  their  views,  often  bewailing  the  unhappy 
divisions  that  existed,  and  striving  to  promote,  as  far  as 
practicable.  Christian  union  and  peace.  He  was  care- 
ful to  give  cause  of  offence  to  no  one,  to  speak  evil  of 
no  one,  and  was  prompt  to  repress  in  others  any  ap- 
proach to  detraction  or  tale-bearing.    In  regard  to  the 


POL  TTICAL  IS  OLA  TION, 


theme  of  conversation,  indeed,  as  well  as  to  all  other 
matters,  the  inquiry  with  him  was  ever,  "What  will  it 
profit?*'  and  nothing  could  receive  his  sanction  that  did 
not  at  least  promise  to  be  of  practical  utility. 

From  politics  he  kept  entirely  aloof,  a  position  at  that 
time  extremely  difficult;  for  his  ministry  in  Ireland 
extended  through  all  the  years  of  those  civil  commo- 
tions which  issued  in  the  rebellion  of  1798,  and  the 
attempt  of  Emmet  and  others  in  1803.  The  society  of 
Orangemen  was  first  formed  in  1795  in  county  Ar- 
magh, and  seemed  to  have  for  its  object  to  clrive  by 
threats  and  nocturnal  outrages  the  entire  Catholic  peas- 
antry from  the  country.  Great  alarm  seized  upon  this 
unprotected  class,  who  could  obtain  no  redress  from  the 
magistrates.  Many  of  them  were  compelled  to  abandon 
their  cabins  and  their  all,  and  seek  refuge  in  the  fields, 
and  the  utmost  consternation  was  excited  throughout 
the  country  by  threats  and  exaggerated  reports.  Vari- 
ous other  parties  of  contending  rioters,  as  the  "Defend- 
ers," the  "Peep-o'day  Boys,"  &c.,  disturbed  different 
parts  of  the  province  of  Ulster.  Numbers  went  about 
in  the  night  searching  houses  for  arms.  This  becom- 
ing generally  known,  the  houses  were  opened  upon  the 
first  summons,  and  this  easy  mode  of  admittance  was 
taken  advantage  of  by  common  robbers,  who  plundered 
the  people  of  their  property. 

In  the  midst  of  these  troubles,  and  chiefly  through 
the  agency  of  Theobald  Wolfe  Tone,  a  Protestant  and 
lawyer  in  Dublin,  a  remarkable  secret  association, 
called  the  "United  Irishmen,"  was  formed,  having  for 
its  object  to  erect  Ireland  into  a  separate  and  independ- 
ent republic.  By  an  ingenious  ascending  scale  of  rep- 
resentation from  decenaries  and  hundreds,  to  baronies, 
to  provinces,  and  thence  to  the  whole  kingdom,  such  a 

4* 


42         MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


combination  was  formed,  and  such  a  force  prepared,  as 
had  never  before,  in  modern  times,  been  accumulated 
in  the  face  of  an  existing  government.  Each  member 
was  bound  by  the  sanctity  of  a  solemn  oath,  and  the 
mysterious  workings  of  the  association  produced  an 
effect  more  marked  and  ijeneral  than  anv  of  those 
secret  tribunals  which,  for' a  time,  kept  a  portion  of 
Germany  in  awe.  The  Catholics  united  with  it  to 
obtain  protection  against  the  Orangemen  and  a  redress 
of  grievances,  and  the  Presbyterians  because  they 
were  earnestlv  desirous  of  effectincr  a  reform  in  Parlia- 
ment  and  securing  equal  representation  and  equal 
taxation.  These  political  objects,  however,  as  well  as 
others,  soon  became  perverted  to  insurrectionary  pur- 
poses. 

The  greater  portion  of  the  Presbyterians  became  con- 
nected with  this  secret  organization,  and  constituted, 
indeed,  its  chief  moral  strength,  owing  to  their  supe- 
riority in  intelligence  and  social  position.  In  the  six 
northern  counties  they  formed,  in  fact,  a  very  large  part 
of  the  population,  and  it  may  readily  be  conceived  that 
iVIr.  Campbell's  utter  refusal  to  take  any  part  in  the 
movement,  and  his  conscientious  opposition  to  secret 
associations,  were  well  calculated  at  a  period  of  such 
excitement  and  party  spirit  to  bring  him  into  disfavor 
with  his  people.  On  one  occasion,  amidst  the  heated 
discussion  of  these  subjects,  he  was  requested  to  dehver 
a  discourse  upon  the  lawfulness  of  oaths  and  of  secret 
societies.  Having  consented  to  do  so.  he  presented  so 
candidly  and  earnestly  his  views  in  condemnation  of 
them  tkat  a  large  portion  of  the  audience  became  ex- 
cited and  exasperated.  At  this  crisis,  however,  a  pro- 
minent member,  tearing  lest  he  should  be  insulted, 
courteouslv  took  him  bv  the  arm  and  conducted  him 


WISDOM  JUSTIFIED, 


43 


safely  through  the  crowd.  Such  was  his  character  for 
piety,  and  such  the  guardianship  of  Divine  Providence, 
that,  through  all  the  existing  troubles,  he  remained 
entirely  unmolested,  reta^ining  the  confidence  of  the 
community,  and  in  a  marked  degree  securing  the 
esteem  of  the  Governor,  Lord  Gosford,  who  had  him- 
self labored  to  check  the  persecution  of  the  Catholics, 
and  who  became  so  impressed  with  the  propriety  of 
Mr.  Campbell's  course,  and  with  the  excellence  of  his 
character,  that  he  importuned  him  to  become  the  tutor 
of  his  famil}',  with  a  large  salary  and  an  elegant  resi- 
dence on  his  estate.  This  offer,  however,  he  decHned, 
fearing  lest  his  children  should  be  ensnared  and  fasci- 
nated by  the  fashions  and  customs  of  the  nobility,  and 
preferring,  on  this  account,  his  comparative  poverty 
and  his  humble  ministerial  life.  » 

There  is  no  doubt  that  Mr.  Campbell's  complete  isola- 
tion from  all  political  agitation,  and  his  entire  devotion 
to  the  interests  of  religion,  had  a  most  beneficial  influ- 
ence.   The  Presbyterians  who  had  become  enlisted  as 

United  Irishmen"  began  themselves  to  fear,  from  the 
great  numerical  preponderance  of  the  Catholics  in  the 
island,  and  from  certain  intimations  they  received — 
among  which  may  be  mentioned  the  dying  declarations 
of  Dickey,  a  rebel  leader  executed  at  Belfast — that  if  the 
rebellion  should  even  prove  successful,  they  would  as  a 
minority  be  unable  to  obtain  the  liberty  and  toleration 
they  desired.  Hence  it  was  that  when  the  Catholics 
in  Wicklow  and  Wexford,  on  the  eastern  coast,  looking 
for  immediate  aid  from  France,  were  precipitated  into 
insurrection,  committing  the  most  shocking  barbarities 
in  retaliation  for  their  injuries,  the  United  Irishmen  of 
Ulster,  reckoned  at  150,000,  and  organized  for  rebel- 
lion, remained  quiet,  with  the  exception  of  some  insig- 


44         MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


nificant  risings,  which  were  quelled  in  a  few  days.  It 
was  at  this  period  of  excitement  and  military  violence 
that  Mr.  Campbell  was  one  day  preaching  to  a  congre- 
gation, when  the  house  was  suddenly  surrounded  by  a 
troop  of  Welsh  horse,  notorious  for  their  severities  and 
outrages  upon  those  they  conceived  to  be  rebels.  The 
captain,  conceiving  that  in  th^'s  remote  place  he  had 
come  upon  a  meeting  of  rebels,  dismounted  and  in  a 
threatening  manner  marched  into  the  church.     It  was 
a  moment  of  awful  suspense.     The  audience  were 
panic-stricken,  expecting  every  moment  to  be  subjectec 
to  the  fury  of  the  soldiers.    Just  at  this  crisis,  as  the 
captain  stalked  up  the  aisle,  casting  fierce  glances  upoi 
all  sides,  a  venerable  elder  sitting  near  Mr.  Campbel 
called  to  him  solemnly,     Pray^  sir Whereupon,  ir 
'response  to  the  call,  and  in  a  deep,  unfaltering  voice 
he  began  in  the  language  of  the  fort3-sixth  Psalm 
"  Thou,  O  God,  art  our  refuge  and  strength,  a  very  pre- 
sent help  in  trouble.     Therefore  will  not  we  fear, 
though  the  earth  be  removed  and  though  the  mountains 
be  carried  into  the  midst  of  the  sea."    No  sooner  was 
the  first  verse  uttered  than  the  captain  paused,  and 
apparently  impressed,  bent  his  head,  listened  to  the 
close,  then  bowed,  and  retracing  his  steps,  mounted  hij- 
horse  and  dashed  away  with  the  entire  troop. 

Another  incident,  which  tends  to  show  Mr.  Camp- 
bell's entire  trust  in  God  and  submission  to  his  dispen- 
sations, occurred  some  time  after  his  removal  to  Ahorey 
He  was  just  about  to  enter  the  meeting-house  on  th( 
Lord's  day  to  attend  to  the  public  services,  when  i 
messenger  arrived  in  haste  from  Newry,  to  inform  hin 
that  his  youngest  brother,  Enos,  w^ho  was  greatly  be- 
loved, had  during  the  night  lost  his  life  by  a  fall  intc 
an  open  excavation  in  one  of  the  streets.  Humbly 


SECRET  ASSOCIATIONS. 


45- 


resigning  himself  to  the  Divine  will,  he  passed  into  the 
church  and  proceeded  with  the  duties  of  the  day, 
giving  to  the  sympathizing  audience  no  evidence  of  his 
emotions,  except  in  the  deeper  solemnity  of  his  prayer 
and  the  pathetic  earnestness  of  his  sermon.  For  one 
of  feelings  so  tender,  it  was  no  small  trial  thus  to  calm 
all  perturbation  of  mind,  and,  in  view  of  his  ministerial 
office,  to  rise  superior  to  earthly  affections.  Unlike 
Aaron,  who  under  sudden  affliction  was  unable  to 
fulfill  the  duties  of  his  station,  Mr.  Campbell  neglected- 
no  part  of  the  usual  services  :  but  when  these  were 
fully  completed,  he  immediately  set  out  for  Newry, 
where  he  found  universal  mourning  and  his  father 
grieving  as  David  over  Absalom,  and  hardly  to  be 
comforted  He  wa§  already  eighty -five,  and  survived 
the  death  of  his  son  Enos  only  three  years.  Such  con- 
stant manifestations  of  unshaken  trust  and  of  exem- 
plary and  consistent  piety  on  the  part  of  Thomas 
Campbell  did  not  fail  to  fill  the  mind  of  his  son  Alex- 
ander with  the  utmost  reverence  for  him.  Nor  was  he, 
in  common  with  the  entire  community,  less  impressed 
with  his  father's  wisdom  in  opposing  political  agitation 
and  secret  societies,  when  the  unhapp\'  results  of  the 
rebellion  vindicated  the  correctness  of  his  principles. 
In  regard  to  secret  associations,  Alexander  fully  adopted 
his  father's  view^s,  and  continued  through  life  to  oppose 
everything  of  this  nature,  as  inconsistent  with  the  Chris- 
tian profession. 


CHAPTER  Til. 


Thomas  Campbell — Opens  an  Academy  in  Rich- Hill — Alexander  as  Assist- 
ant— Religious  awakening — Theological  studies. 

WHILST  Thomas  Campbell  was  thus,  amidst  civil 
commotions,  devoting  himself  to  the  care  of  his 
congregation  and  to  the  education  of  ins  children,  his 
family  continued  to  increase.  Soon  after  his  removal 
to  Ahorey,  a  daughter,  Nancy,  was  born  ;  and  about 
twenty  months  afterward,  June  ,25,  1800,  another, 
named  Jane.  To  these  were  added  subsequently  a  son, 
who  was  called  Thomas,  and  in  process  of  time  an- 
other son,  named  Archibald.  Finding  his  expenses 
greatly  augmented,  and  the  farm  he  had  leased  un- 
profitable, as  he  had  but  little  knowledge  of  farming, 
and  his  attention  was  almost  entirely  engrossed  by 
higher  matters,  it  became  necessaiy  for  him  to  adopt 
some  other  method  of  improving  his  circumstances  and 
making  up  the  deficiencies  of  his  ministerial  salary.* 
It  was  his  earnest  wish  that  his  son  Alexander  should 


♦  The  salaries  of  Seceder  preachers  were  usually  from  thirty  to  fifty 
pounds,  but  in  some  cases  so  scanty  that  the  Regium  Donum  became 
almost  the  entire  source  of  support  for  the  ministers.  This  fund  originated  in 
the  act  of  that  uise  and  just  sovereign,  William  the  Third,  who,  on  his  \\%\\ 
to  Ireland,  in  June,  1690,  authorized  the  Collector  of  Customs  at  Belfast  to 
pay  every  year  twelve  hundred  pounds  into  the  hands  of  some  of  the  princi- 
pal dissenting  ministers  of  Down  and  Antrim,  who  were  to  be  trustees  for 
their  brethren.  This  fund  which  was  afterward  increased,  when  distributed 
among  the  ministers  of  Ulster,  }-ielded  to  each  some  fifty  or  sixty  pounds 
annually. 


SCHOOL.  IN  RICH- HILL. 


47 


be  well  educated,  and  his  sincere  hope  that  he  would 
be  led  to  devote  himself  to  the  ministry  of  the  Gospel. 
Finding  that,  with  all  his  sportiveness,  he  possessed  a 
marked  conscientiousness  and  a  sincere  reverence  for 
Divine  things,  he  was  the  more  encouraged  in  this  fond 
hope,  especially  when  he  observed  in  him,  as  he  grew 
older,  evidences  of  increasing  seriousness.  His  own 
time  being  already  considerably  occupied  in  teaching 
his  family,  he  concluded  it  would  be  most  advantageous 
to  open  a  public  academy,  in  which  his  own  children 
might  be  pupils  ;  and  as  Alexander,  now  .n  his  seven- 
teenth year,  had  by  this  time  become  quite  proficient  in 
the  ordinary  branches,  he  thought  he  would  be  compe- 
tent to  act  as  assistant.  These  matters  beincj  conse- 
quently  arranged,  and  a  suitable  house  procured,  the 
whole  family  removed  to  the  town  of  Rich-Hill,  two 
miles  distant. 

This  town  is  situated  upon  a  very  high  but  fertile 
hill,  and  commands  on  all  sides  charming  and  extensive 
prospects.  Upon  the  broad  summit  there  is  a  neat 
public  square,  around  which,  upon  three  sides,  the 
houses  of  the  village  are  built.  Upon  the  remaining 
or  north-eastern  side  of  the  square,  appears,  surrounded 
by  beautiful  shrubbery,  an  ancient  and  capacious  man- 
sion, at  that  time  the  residence  of  the  Hon.  William 
Richardson,  M.  P.,  and  lord  of  the  manor.  These 
beautiful  grounds  are  separated  from  the  public  square 
oy  an  elegant  iron  railing,  before  which  at  a  little  dis- 
tance stand  some  magnificent  trees.  On  the  opposite 
side  of  the  square,  at  the  corner,  Mr.  Campbell  had 
found  a  plain  two-story  house,  which  served  as  a  resi- 
dence for  his  family,  and  also  afforded  room  for  the 
academy.  His  character  and  his  ability  as  a  teacher 
being  well  known,  he  soon  had  a  flourishing  school 


^         MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


which  brought  him  an  income  approaching  two  hundred 
pounds  per  annum,  and  was  regarded  as  an  important 
benefit  to  the  town  and  its  neighborhood.  To  carry  on 
such  a  school,  in  connection  with  his  usual  pastoral 
labors,  was,  indeed,  an  undertaking  of  no  small  magni- 
tude ;  but  his  son  Alexander  entered  into  the  work  with 
so  much  spirit  and  success  that  he  proved  a  most  valu- 
able assistant,  while  with  unflagging  energy  he  con- 
trived to  pursue,  as  usual,  his  own  special  course  of 
studies  under  his  father's  guidance. 

While  thus  engaged,  his  growing  years  and  the  cir- 
cumstances of  his  position  as  a  teacher  gave  to  him  a 
more  manly  character  :  and,  though  still  full  of  sportive- 
ness  when  with  his  youthful  friends,  he  was  observed 
to  be  much  more  thoughtful  upon  religious  subjects  and 
to  have  a  deeper  religious  feeling.  These  indications 
were  extremely  gratifying  to  his  father,  who  did  not 
fail  to  urge  upon  him,  with  affectionate  solicitude,  the 
importance  of  his  becoming  a  communicant  and  mem- 
ber of  the  church.  As  he  had  an  excellent  knowledge 
of  the  Scriptures,  and  as  the  chief  points  in  the  divine 
plan  of  salvation  had  been  long  familiar  to  him,  he,  in 
the  course  of  his  meditations,  became  awakened  to  a 
livelier  consciousness  of  their  importance,  and  began  to 
feel  an  unwonted  personal  and  individual  interest  in 
them.  As  his  convictions  deepened,  he  underwent 
much  conflict  of  mind,  and  experienced  great  concern 
in  regard  to  his  own  salvation,  so  that  he  lost  for  a  time 
his  usual  vivacity,  and  sought,  in  lonely  walks  in  fields 
and  by  prayer  in  secluded  spots,  to  obtain  such  evi- 
dences of  Divine  acceptance  as  his  pious  acquaintances 
were  accustomed  to  consider  requisite  ;  it  being  uni- 
versally held  by  the  Seceders  that  '  an  assured  persua- 
sion of  the  truth  of  God's  promise  in  the  Gospel,  with 


RELIGIOUS  A  WAKENING. 


49 


respect  to  one's  self  in  particular,  is  implied  in  the  very 
nature  of  saving  faith."  Of  this  particular  period  in 
his  religious  history  he  himself  gave,  many  years 
afterward,  the  following  account:  "From  the  time 
that  I  could  read  the  Scriptures,  I  became  convinced  - 
that  Jesus  was  the  Son  of  God.  I  was  also  fully  per- 
suaded that  I  was  a  sinner,  and  must  obtain  pardon 
through  the  merits  of  Christ  or  be  lost  for  ever.  This 
caused  me  great  distress  of  soul,  and  I  had  much  exer- 
cise of  mind  under  the  awakenings  of  a  guilty  con- 
science. Finally,  after  many  strugglings,  I  w^as  enabled 
to  put  my  trust  in  the  Saviour,  and  to  feci  my  reliance 
on  him  as  the  only  Saviour  of  sinners.  From  the 
moment  I  was  able  to  feel  this  reliance  on  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,  I  obtained  and  enjoyed  peace  of  mind. 
It  never  entered  into  my  head  to  investigate  the  subject 
of  baptism  or  the  doctrines  of  the  creed." 

Shortly  after  this  he  was  received  as  a  regular  com- 
municant in  the  church  at  Ahorey,  and  being  aware  of 
his  father's  wish  that  he  should  devote  himself  to  the 
ministry,  though  he  had  not  as  yet  fully  made  up  his 
own  mind  upon  this  subject,  he  began  to  bestow  a  con- 
siderable portion  of  his  attention  upon  theological  stud- 
ies, and  particularly  ecclesiastical  histor}'.  While  thus 
engaged,  he  was  filled  with  wonder  at  the  strange  for- 
tunes of  Christianity,  and  at  the  numerous  divisions  oi  ^ 
parties  in  religious  society.  He  found  the  Catholics^ 
numerous  in  his  own  country,  for  the  most  part  an 
ignorant,  priest-ridden,  superstitious  people,  crushed^ 
as  it  were,  to  the  earth,  as  well  by  their  own  voluntary 
submission  to  an  unrestricted  spiritual  despotism,  as  by 
the  pressure  of  the  social  and  political  burdens  resting 
upon  them,  and  which  were  esteemed  by  the  Protestant 
and  Anglo-Saxon  part  of  the  population  as  necessary 
VOL.  I. — D  5 


50         MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL, 


safeguards  against  the  repetition  of  such  abuses  of  power 
as  had  occurred  during  the  rule  of  James  the  Second  and 
his  deputy,  Tyrconnel.  The  young  student,  in  contem- 
plating the  whole  system  of  Romanism  in  its  supersti- 
tions, its  ceremonies,  its  spirit  and  its  practical  effects, 
conceived  lor  it  the  utmost  abhorrence — a  feeling  which 
remained  with  him  through  life.  On  the  other  hand, 
the  lordly  and  aristocratic  Episcopalians,  who  looked 
down  upon  the  dissenters,  and  seemed,  with  some  ex- 
ceptions, to  have  but  little  piety,  and  to  be  fond  of  en- 
joying the  pleasures,  fashions  and  follies  of  the  world, 
were,  notwithstanding  their  Protestantism,  scarcely  less 
disliked  as  a  religious  party.  It  was,  however,  when 
he  came  to  consider  the  history  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church,  with  its  numerous  divisions,  in  one  of  which  he 
was  himself  a  member,  that  he  was  enabled  to  form  a 
clearer  conception  of  the  power  and  prevalency  of  that 
party  spirit  which  it  became  afterward  the  labor  of  his 
life  to  oppose  and  overthrow.  As  his  relations  to  some 
of  these  divisions  were  important,  it  seems  necessary 
here  to  take  a  brief  glance  at  certain  points  in  their 
history. 

The  martyrdom  at  St.  Andrew's  on  29th  of  February, 
1528,  of  the  youthful  friend  of  Luther  and  Melancthon, 
the  devoted  Patrick  Hamilton,  who  first  introduced  tlie 
Lutheran  Reformation  into  Scotland,  followed,  in  1545, 
by  that  of  Wishart,  and,  in  the  following  year,  the 
assassination  of  Cardinal  Beatoun,  were  among  the 
earliest  of  those  scenes  of  violence  which  marked  the 
progress  of  the  Reformed  doctrine,  until  it  was  at  length, 
about  the  year  1560,  firmly  established  through  the 
influence  and  labors  of  the  intrepid  Knox.  No  sooner, 
however,  had  this  triumph  been  attained,  than  a  pro- 
tracted and  almost  equally  fierce  struggle  commenced 


ABSOLUTISM  OF  STATE  RELIGIONS.  5 1 


between  the  two  forms  of  Protestantism  itself — the  Pres- 
byterian and  the  Episcopal.  James  the  First  and  his  suc- 
cessors, the  first  and  second  Charles,  disregarding  the 
fact  that  the  Scottish  people  were  strongly  attached  to 
that  form  of  the  Reformation  which  had  been  first  set 
up  among  them,  and  that  the  nation  had,  as  was 
pleaded  in  their  public  memorials,  "reformed  from 
Popery  by  presbyters,"  endeavored  repeatedly  to  impose 
upon  them,  in  whole  or  in  part,  the  system  of  English 
Episcopacy  or  Prelacy.  For  a  brief  period,  during  the 
civil  wars  with  Charles  the  First,  Presbyterianism  was 
predominant ;  but  it  was  not  until  the  accession  of  William 
the  Third  that  the  Scottish  Estates  or  Parliament,  in 
1690,  secured  the  permanent  abolition  of  Prelacy,  by 
placing  a  clause  to  this  effect  in  the  "Claim  of  Right" 
submitted  to  that  monarch  as  the  terms  of  Scottish 
allegiance. 

When  Presbyterianism  had  thus  attained  the  suprem- 
acy it  so  long  had  sought,  it  began,  in  a  short  time,  to 
furnish  a  fresh  illustration  of  the  fact  that  all  established 
national  religions,  whether  Greek  or  Mohammedan, 
Papal  or  Protestant,  have  in  them  the  essence  of  Popery 
— the  principle  of  absolutism.  Conscious  of  power,  and 
confident  in  the  possession  of  glebe  and  manse,  the 
Parliament  as  well  as  the  General  Assembly  managed 
affairs  in  so  arbitrary  a  spirit  that  many,  even  of  their 
own  party,  became  disaffected,  and  the  minds  of  a 
large  portion  of  the  community  were  alienated  from  the 
ecclesiastical  establishment.  Oaths  of  office  and  of 
abjuration  were  required,  which  were  thought  to  abridge 
Christian  liberty,  and  acts  were  passed  which  seemed 
to  many  to  set  aside  the  national  covenant*  which  they 


*  This  famous  covenant  was  entered  into  by  the  greater  part  of  ths 
Scottish  people  in  1560,  and  engaged  its  subscribers,  by  oath,  to  maintain 


52         MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


regarded  as  the  true  constitution  of  the  empire,  and  for 
which  the  forefathers  of  many  of  those  now  connected 
with  the  National  Church  had  formerly  bravely  fought 
under  the  name  of  Covenanters,  and  for  adhering  to 
which  the}'  had  undergone  the  most  cruel  persecutions. 
A  considerable  number,  indeed,  of  those  stern,  uncom- 
promising Presbyterians,  who  strenuously  adhered  to  the 
covenant,  had  refused  to  consent  to  the  settlement  made 
by  King  William,  or  to  admit  in  anywise  the  right  of 
civil  rulers  to  meddle  in  religious  matters.  These  were 
termed  Society-men,  as,  being  without  a  ministry  for 
some  time,  they  formed  themselves  into  societies.  Thev 
were  also  termed  Cameronians,  Mountain-men,  Cove- 
nanters, &c.  After  somxC  years  a  Mr.  John  ^McMillan, 
a  minister  in  the  National  Church,  united  with  them,  for 
which  act  he  was  deposed  by  the  General  Assembly. 
He  continued  afterward,  however,  to  labor  among  the 
Covenanters,  who  increased  in  number,  and  formed  con- 
gregations in  various  parts  of  Scotland,  as  well  as  in  the 
north  of  Ireland.  From  the  worthy  pastor  who  had 
thus,  first  after  the  revolution,  gathered  the  scattered 
flock  into  the  fold  of  Churchdom,  thev  were  sometimes 
called  McMillanites,  but  the  title  they  themselves  adopt 


their  religion  free  from  all  innovations.  After  having  been  at  various  periods 
again  and  again  subscribed,  and  \\ith  unusual  unanimity  and  zeal  in  1638,  it 
was  afterward,  during  the  civil  war  with  Charles  the  First,  presented  to  the 
English  Parliament  by  the  then  dominant  Presbyterian  party  in  Scotland, 
who  insisted  on  its  being  signed  by  the  English  Parhament  as  a  preliminaii 
to  the  granting  of  assistance  by  Scotland.  This  was  finally  acceded  to,  after 
some  modification  in  the  terms  of  the  covenant,  in  order  to  satisfy  the  Inde- 
pendents, who,  under  the  leadership  of  Vane  and  Cromwell,  were  then  rising 
into  power ;  and  it  was  accordingly,  on  25th  September,  1643,  signed  by  the 
members  of  both  Houses,  and  also  by  the  members  of  the  Assembly  of 
Westminster  Divines,  then  sitting  in  London.  From  this  time  the  national 
covenant  of  Scotland  was  known  as  "  The  Solemn  League  and  Covenant"  of  . 
the  three  kingdoms.  , 


ORIGIN  OF  THE  SECESSION. 


53 


is  that  of  '•Reformed  Presbyterians."  They  have,  how- 
ever, become  nearly  extinct,  having  in  1819  only 
sixteen  small  congregations  in  Scotland,  six  in  Ire- 
land, and  nine  in  the  United  States,  according  to  Black- 
wood. 

The  National  Church,  meanwhile  continuincr  its  im- 
popular  proceedings,  attempted  at  length,  in  17 12  and 
subsequently,  to  enforce  the  existing  law  of  patronage, 
so  as  to  deprive  congregations  of  the  privilege  of 
choosing  their  pastors.  It  having  been  settled  by  the 
early  Reformers,  and  inserted  in  the  first  Book  of  Disci- 
pline, that  "no  minister  should  be  intruded  upon  any 
particular  kirk  without  their  consent,"  this  course,  and 
the  violent  scenes  to  which  it  gave  rise,  naturally  occa- 
sioned great  dissatisfaction  amongst  pious  and  consci- 
entious members.  Remonstrances  and  arcruments,  on 
the  part  of  several  eminent  ministers,  having  been  re- 
peatedly presented,  with  no  other  effect  than  to  provoke 
new  acts  of  oppression,  four  of  the  ministers,  with 
Alexander  Erskine  at  their  head,  formally  seceded  from 
the  prevailing  party  in  the  Establishment  in  the  year 
1733,  and,  forming  themselves  into  a  Presbytery  under 
the  designation  of  the  Associate  Presbytery,  became 
the  nucleus  of  a  new  part}'  called  Seceders.  They 
were  soon  joined  by  two  other  ministers,  Ralph  Erskine 
and  Thomas  Mair.  and  rapidly  increased,  chiefly  by 
defections  from  the  National  Church,  until  in  a  short 
time  they  numbered  more  than  forty  congregations. 
As  there  were  many  Presbyterians  in  the  north  of  Ire- 
land, and  the  division  extended  to  them  likewise,  an 
application  from  Lisburn  for  ministerial  aid  was  sent 
over  to  Scotland  as  early  as  1736.  It  was  not.  how- 
ever, until  1742  that  the  Synod  was  able  to  comply 
with  the  request,  when  Mr.  Gavin  Beugo  was  sent  as  a 

5  » 


54         MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


missionary?  through  whose  labors,  and  those  of  others^ 
a  number  of  churches  were  formed  in  Ireland. 

This  secession  was  the  Ji^'st  great  schism  in  the 
Church  of  Scotland.  Soon  after  its  occurrence,  how- 
ever, and  for  similar  reasons,  Thomas  Boston,  author 
of  ''The  Fourfold  State,"  separated  from  the  National 
Church,  and,  uniting  with  Messrs. Gillespie  and  Collier, 
constituted  a  distinct  part}'  and  Presbytery,  called  the 
•'Presbytery  of  Relief,"  professedly  organized  "for  the 
relief  of  Christians  oppressed  in  their  Christian  privi- 
leges," especially  in  reference  to  the  violent  induction 
of  ministers  into  parishes.  This  party  differed  scarcely 
at  all  from  the  Seceders,  except  in  being  more  liberal 
in  their  views  in  reg-ard  to  communion.  Thev  increased 
rapidly,  and  have  since  constituted  a  very  respectable 
body  of  dissenters. 

The  "Associate"  or  Secession  Church,  previously 
mentioned,  continued  in  a  prosperous  condition  until 
1747,  when  it  became  divided  into  two  parties,  upon 
the  question  whether  certain  oaths  required  by  the 
burgesses  of  towns,  binding  them  to  support  "the  re- 
ligion presently  professed  within  the  realm,"  did  not 
sanction  the  ver}'  abuses  in  the  National  Church  against 
which  the  seceders  had  constantly  protested.  Both 
divisions  of  the  Synod  claimed  to  be  the  true  Church, 
but  those  who  considered  the  oath  unlawful  came  to  be 
called  Anti-Burghc7's^  the  other  party  being  termed 
Burghers.  This  division  spread  at  once  through  the 
churches  in  Scotland  and  Ireland,  and  the  controversy 
was  maintained  with  considerable  bitterness  for  many 
years. 

These  two  parties  of  seceders  continued  for  more 
than  half  a  century  to  maintain  each  its  separate 
"testimony"  and  its  distinct  organization.    The}^  were 


BURGHERS  AND  ANTI-BURGHERS. 


55 


distinguished  for  the  tenacity  and  zeal  with  which  they 
maintained  the  ground  they  had  respectively  assumed, 
for  the  strictness  of  their  religious  life,  and  for  the 
rigidity  of  their  discipline.  That  hatred  of  prelacy 
which  prevailed  amongst  them  in  common  with  all 
Presbyterian  parties  was  at  first  intense,  and  gave  rise 
to  some  singular  decisions  ;*  but  it  became  gradually 
softened  down,  and  after  the  lapse  of  thirty  or  forty 
years  gave  place  to  the  milder  spirit  of  toleration.  But 
the  disposition  to  confound  matters  of  opinion  and 
questions  of  expediency  with  the  things  of  faith  and 
conscience  still  continued  to  display  its  power ;  and  in 
1795  a  question  arose  among  the  Burghers  as  to  the 
power  of  civil  magistrates  in  religion,  as  asserted  in  the 
twenty-third  chapter  of  the  Westminster  Confession, 

*  A  case  of  discipline  came  under  the  consideration  of  the  Associate 
(Burgher)  Synod  in  October,  1750,  which  shows  the  sentiment  entertained 
by  the  Secedcrs  and  other  Presbyterians  in  regard  to  Episcopacy  :  A  stone- 
mason, Andrew  Hunter,  who  was  a  Seceder,  had  undertaken  in  the  exercise 
of  his  calling  to  build  an  Episcopal  chapel  in  Glasgow.  This  gave  great 
offence  to  his  brethren,  who  called  him  to  account  for  it.  As  he  still  per- 
sisted, however,  the  case  came  at  last  before  the  Synod,  which  decided  that 
the  building  of  an  Episcopal  meeting-house  was  at  least  equal  to  the  build- 
ing of  the  "  high  places"  mentioned  in  the  Old  Testament ;  and  after  rehears- 
ing the  judgments  denounced  against  those  who  assist  in  setting  up  a  false 
worship,  the  "deliverance"  of  the  Synod  proceeds  as  follows  :  ''And  further, 
•considering  that  by  the  National  Covenant  of  Scotland,  and  by  the  Solemn 
League  and  Covenant  of  the  three  kingdoms,  we  are  bound  to  reform  from 
Popery,  Prelacy,  superstition,  and  whatever  is  contrary  to  sound  doctrine  and 
the  power  of  godliness,  and  to  endeavor  the  preservation  of  the  Reformed 
religion  of  the  Church  of  Scotland,  in  doctrine,  worship,  discipline  and 
government ;  and  that  Seceders,  in  a  particular  manner,  profess  to  own  these 
soleniT  obligations  ;  and  the  said  Andrew  Hunter,  by  his  above  practice,  is 
so  far  from  endeavoring  reformation  from  Prelacy  and  superstition,  that  he  is 
encouraging  the  same,  contrary  to  his  profession  and  solemn  ties,  therefore, 
for  all  the  above  reasons,  the  Synod  were  unanimously  of  the  judgment  that 
he  said  Andrew  Hunter  was  highly  censurable,  and  particularly  that  he 
ought  not  to  be  admitted  to  any  of  the  seals  of  the  Covenant  till  he  profesi 
'his  sorrow  for  the  offence  and  scandal  that  he  has  given  and  been  guilty  of." 


5^ 


AfEMOTRS  OF  ALEXAXDER  CAMPBELL, 


and  also  in  regard  to  the  perpetual  obligation  of  the 
Solemn  League  and  Covenant."  This  controversy 
had  the  usual  effect  to  subdivide  them  into  two  parties, 
distinguished  from  each  other  as  the  Original"  or 
"Old  Light  Burghers"  and  the  "  Xew  Light  Burghers.*^ 
About  the  same  period  this  controversy  prevailed  also 
among  the  Anti-Burghers,  the  "Old  Light"  party  being 
headed  bv  Archibald  Bruce,  Thomas  Campbell's  former 
teacher  of  theology,  who,  with  some  other  ministers, 
organized  in  August.  1806,  a  new  Presbytery,  called 
the  Constitutional  Associate  Presbytery.  There  were 
thus  at  this  tinie  no  less  than  four  different  bodies  of 
Seceders,  each  adhering  to  its  own  "testimony,"  but 
all  prol'essing  to  adopt  the  Westminster  Confession.  In 
addition,  there  were  not  wantincj  various  minor  defec- 
tions  of  those  who,  during  the  heated  discussions  of 
Synods  and  Assemblies,  flew  off  like  sparks  from  the 
iron  heated  in  the  Ibrge.  but,  as  these  were  transient  and 
of  little  moment,  it  is  unnecessary  to  detail  them. 

Schooled  amidst  such  schisms  in  his  own  denomina- 
tion, and  harassed  by  the  triviality  of  the  differences 
by  which  they  were  maintained,  it  is  natural  tt>  suppose 
that  one  of  so  catholic  a  spirit  as  Thomas  Campbell 
conceived  the  greatest  antipathy  to  party  spirit  in  all  its 
workings  and  manifestations,  and  that  his  son  Alex- 
ander fully  sympathized  with  him^  in  these  feelings. 
The  existino-  division  between  the  Buroher  and  Anti- 
Buroher  Seceders  had,  indeed,  been  to  him  a  source 
of  so  much  regret  that  he  had  often  urged,  as  oppor- 
tunity offered,  upon  these  parties,  the  duty  of  attempt- 
ing a  reunion. 

?kIoved  bv  his  representations,  and  those  of  others 
favorable  to  such  a  measure,  an  effort  was  at  length 
made  to  accomplish  this  desirable  obiect.  and  a  com- 


EFFORTS  TO  EFFECT  UNION. 


57 


miltee  of  consultation  having  met  at  Rich-Hill,  in  Octo- 
ber, 1804,  a  jreport  with  propositions  of  univ^n  was 
prepared  by  Mr.  Campbell,  and  presented  to  the  Synod 
at  Belfast,*  by  which  it  was  very  favorably  received. 
In  March,  1805,  a  conjoint  meeting  was  held  at 
Lm-cr^in,  and  there  seemed  to  be  a  unanimous  desire, 
on  both  sides,  for  a  coalescence,  based  particularly  on 
the  ground  that  as  the  Burgher  oath  was  never  required 
in  Ireland,  there  was  therefore  nothing  in  the  state  of 
things  existing  there  to  warrant  any  division.  The 
General  Associate  Synod  in  Scotland,  however,  hear- 
ing of  the  incipient  movements  in  reference  to  union, 
took  occasion  to  express  their  dissent  in  advance  of  any 
application,  and  the  measure  consequent! v  failed  for 
the  time  being. 

In  the  following  year  an  application  was  made  to  the 
Scottish  Synod,  by  members  of  the  Provincial  Synod 
of  Ireland,  requesting  them  to  consider  whether  it 
would  not  be  expedient  to  allow  the  brethren  in  Ireland 
•  to  transact  their  own  business  without  being  in  immedi- 
ate subordmation  to  that  court.  It  appears  that  Thomas 
Campbell  was  -deputed  to  visit  Scotland  and  lay  this 
matter  before  the  General  Synod.  When  he  set  out 
on  this  journey,  Alexander  seems  to  have  accompanied 
him  as  far  as  Belfast,  which  he  then  visited  for  the  first 

*  The  Anti-Burghers  had  constituted  a  S\Tiod  in  Ireland  in  May,  17SS,  at 
which  time  the  Scottish  Synod  concluded  to  establish  different  S\Tiods  in 
subordination  to  one  General  Synod,  and  accordingly  arranged  the  different 
Presbxteries  in  connection  with  the  association  into  four  Sx-nods,  viz.  :  Siree 
in  Scotland  and  one  in  Ireland.  The  Irish  Synod  was  formed  of  the  four 
Presbyteries  of  Belfast,  of  Market  Hill,  of  Derry,  and  of  Temple-Patrick, 
which,  the  usual  elders,  formed  the  Associate  S}-nod  of  Ireland.  At 
that  time  the  Presbytery  of  Market  Hill  consisted  of  the  ministers  of  the 
congregations  of  Market  Hill,  Tyrone's  Ditches,  Xewry  and  Morrah,  with  a 
ruling  ^der  from  each  of  the  sessions.  The  church  at  Ahorey  was  f  )rmed 
at  a  subr-equent  pe/  "od,  and  Thomas  Campbell  became  its  minister  in  1798. 


58         MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


time.  His  father,  proceeding  to  Glasgow,  fulfilled  the 
dut}'  assigned  him,  and  presented  the  case  to  the  Synod 
with  great  earnestness  and  force.*  The  Synod,  how- 
ever, decided  that  it  w-as  inexpedient  to  entertain  the 
proposal,  and  matters  were  accordingly  left  as  before. 
These  movements,  nevertheless,  were  not  without  some 
effect.  The  question,  having  been  thus  brought  up, 
was  generally  discussed,  and  the  propriety  of  union 
gradually  became  more  and  more  evident,  while  a 
greater  amount  of  fraternal  intercourse  took  place  be- 
tween the  two  parties.  Finally,  some  of  the  town 
councils  abolished  the  religious  clause  of  the  Burgher 
oath  :  and  it  may  be  added  that  on  the  5th  of  Septem- 
ber, 1820,  long  after  the  Campbells  had  abandoned  all 
sectarian  establishments,  and  were  diligently  engaged 
in  the  New  World  in  promoting  the  cause  of  a  uni- 
versal Christian  union,  the  two  Synods,  Burgher  and 
Anti-Burgher,  formed  a  cordial  reunion  amidst  general 
rejoicings  and  impressive  exercises.  This  event  was 
consummated  in  Bristo-street  church  in  Edinburgh,  in 
the  very  house  where  the  division  had  occurred  seventy- 
three  years  before. 


*  While  Alexander  was  in  Glasgow  as  a  student,  four  5'ears  afte  rward,  he 
wai  one  day  returning  from  church,  when  he  was  interrogated  as  to  his 
parentage  by  a  gentleman  who  accompanied  him.  Upon  naming  I\is  father, 
the  latter  said :  "  I  listened  to  your  father  in  our  General  Assembly  in  this 
city,  pleading  for  a  union  between  the  Burghers  and  Anti-Burghers.  But,  sir, 
while  in  my  opinion  he  out-argued  them,  they  out-voted  him." 


CHAPTER  IV. 


Independency — Toleration — Missionary  moven  ents. 

NATURAL  history  teaches  that  there  are  certair. 
species  of  polyps  which  reproduce  themselves 
by  a  gradual  division  of  their  bodies  into  parts,  and 
that  these  parts  speedily  acquire  all  the  deficient  organs 
and  become  distinct  and  perfect  individuals.  There 
are  others  among  these  singular  creatures  propagating 
their  race  by  buds,  which  appear  upon  the  body  of  the 
parent,  and,  after  a  sufficient  degree  of  development, 
become  separate  and  complete  animals.  Speaking  ana- 
logically, it  would  appear  that  religious  sects  combine 
both  these  methods  of  increase,  for  not  only  do  they 
divide  themselves  frequently  into  new  parties,  but  like^ 
wise  produce,  occasionally,  offsets,  which,  after  adher- 
ing to  the  parent  for  a  time,  become  so  far  developed 
as  to  be  capable  of  assuming  an  independent  life.  Of 
the  first  method  examples  have  already  been  given. 
Of  the  second  mode,  the  Puritans  or  Independents  and 
the  Methodists  are  exemplifications,  both  having  been 
off-shoots  from  the  Church  of  England,  with  which 
they  remained  connected  long  after  they  w^ere  distinctly 
recognized  as  new  productions  of  denominational  fe- 
cundity. 

Of  the  above-named  parties,  the  Independents  had 
a  most  important  influence  upon  the  religious  views  of 
both  Thomas  Campell  and  his  son  Alexander.  There 

59 


6o         MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


was  at  this  time  in  Rich-Hill  a  congregation  of  Inde- 
pendents, with  whose  pastor,  Mr.  Gibson,  and  many 
of  the  members,  they  were  on  terms  of  friendly  ac- 
quaintance. It  was  not  unusual  for  Thomas  Campbell, 
after  his  return  from  the  Lord's-day  services  at  the 
country  church  of  Ahorey,  to  go  to  the  meeting  of  the 
Independents  at  night.  Among  the  Seceders  it  was 
not  allowable  for  any  one  to  neglect  his  own  meetings 
to  attend  those  of  others,  but  when  there  was  no  Se- 
ceder  meeting  within  reach  at  the  same  hour,  it  was 
not  particularly  objected  to  that  members  should  go  to 
other  meetings.  This  was  called  the  privilege  of  "oc- 
casional hearing,"  which  was  conceded,  but  by  no 
means  encouraged,  by  the  clergy.  The  members  of 
the  Independent  Church  were  always  much  pleased  to 
see  Mr.  Campbell  come  to  their  meetings,  as  they  had  a 
very  high  esteem  for  him  as  one  of  the  most  learned 
and  pious  of  the  Seceder  ministers,  but  as  he  came 
only  after  dark,  they  were  wont  to  compare  him  face- 
tiously with  Nicodemus,  "who  came  to  Jesus  by  night." 

The  Independents  being  more  liberal  than  others  in 
granting  the  use  of  their  meeting-house  to  preachers 
of  various  kinds,  an  opportunity  was  thus  also  afforded 
of  hearing  occasionally  persons  who  were  distinguished 
in  the  religious  world.  On  one  occasion  the  celebrated 
Rowland  Hill  preached  with  great  acceptance.  James 
Alexander  Haldane  also  visited  Rich-Hill,  and  preached 
during  Mr.  Campbell's  residence  there.  x\lexander 
Carson,  too,  who  left  the  Presbyterians  and  joined  the 
Independents  in  1803.  preached  about  this  time  at  Rich- 
Hill.  Another  individual  who  visited  and  preached  at 
Rich-Hill  was  John  Walker,  whose  abilities  and  learn- 
ing made  quite  a  strong  impression  on  the  mind  of 
young  Alexander.    He  had  been  a  fellow  and  a  teacher 


VIEWS  OF  JOHN  Walker. 


61 


m  Trinity  College,  and  minister  at  Bethesda  Chapel, 
Dublin  ;  but  becoming  grieved  with  the  prevailing  re- 
ligious declension  and  the  worldly  conformity  of  most 
of  the  parties  of  the  day,  he  resigned  his  fellowship  in 
1804,  threw  aside  the  clerical  garb,  and  formed  a  sepa- 
rate society  in  Dublin.  He  taught  that  there  should  be 
no  stated  minister,  but  that  all  members  should  exercise 
their  gifts  indiscriminately.  Baptism  he  regarded  as 
superfluous,  except  to  those  who  never  before  professed 
Christianity.  He  was  Calvinistic  in  doctrine,  but  car- 
ried separatism  so  far  that  it  was  a  special  point  with 
him  strictly  to  prohibit  the  performance  of  any  religious 
act  without  removing  to  a  distance  (if  in  the  same 
room)  from  every  person  w^ho  refused  to  obey  a  pre- 
cept that  could  be  generally  applied  ;  insisting  that  true 
worship  could  be  rendered  only  by  those  who  receive 
and  obey  the  same  truths  in  common.  It  may  be  re- 
marked that  views  not  very  dissimilar  were  held  at 
various  times  by  others.  Roger  Williams,  for  instance, 
the  founder  of  the  Baptists  in  America,  held  that  it  was 
wrong  for  professors  of  religion  to  hold  worship  with 
the  unconverted,  or  to  sit  at  the  communion  table  with 
those  who  did  not  perfectly  agree  with  them  in  religious 
sentiments.  Mr.  Walker  was  accustomed,  at  his  meet- 
ings, to  give  a  cordial  invitation  to  all  inquirers  to  call 
upon  him  next  day  at  his  room  for  religious  conversa- 
tion, and,  as  he  was  extremely  affable  and  communica- 
tive, these  interviews  were  usually  very  agreeable. 
Thomas  Campbell,  in  company  with  one  of  his  elders,^ 
called  upon  him,  and  Alexander  also  came  in  during 
their  conversation,  in  which  he  became  much  interested. 
This  singular  man  sold  his  carriage  and  traveled  on 
foot  through  Ireland,  and  also  through  England,  and 
gained  here  and  there  a  few  proselytes  to  his  views, 

6 


63         MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


especially  in  Plymouth,  from  whence  they  have  become 
known  as  the  Plymouth  Brethren.* 

The  origin  of  the  Independents  as  a  religious  body 
may  be  dated  at  least  as  far  back  as  the  reign  of  Eliza- 
beth, when  a  number  of  intelligent  English,  exiled 
during  the  preceding  reign  of  Mary,  returned  from 
Geneva,  imbued  with  Calvinistic  and  republican  senti- 
ments. In  1566,  a  number  of  clergymen  and  others,, 
who  had  adopted  these  principles,  repudiated  the  Book 
of  Common  Prayer,  and  substituted  the  Geneva  Service- 
Book.  It  was  not,  however,  until  about  1580  that  a 
real  separation  occurred  from  the  Church  of  England^ 
under  the  leadership  of  Robert  Brown,  who,  with  a 
number  of  his  followers,  was  compelled  to  leave  Eng- 
land. Being  subjected  to  various  disabilities  and  per- 
secutions, others,  at  different  periods,  fled  to  foreign 
parts,  especially  to  Amsterdam  and  Leyden.  These,, 
again,  under  the  reign  of  James  the  First,  were  fol- 
lowed by  a  considerable  number,  under  the  guidance 
of  their  pastor,  Mr.  Robinson.  A  portion  of  these 
exiles,  under  Brewster,  Bradford  and  others,  emigrated 
in  1617  to  America,  and  landing  at  Plymouth,  became 
the  founders  of  the  colony  of  Massachusetts,  and  the 
pioneers  to  others  by  whom  the  chief  New  England 
colonies  were  established.  It  is  a  singular  fact  that 
these  exiles  had  no  sooner  obtained  possession  of  power 
than  they  began  to  exercise  the  very  same  system  of 
persecution  of  which  they  themselves  had  been  victims^ 

*  These  "  Brethren,"  however,  it  is  believed,  do  not  accord  with  all  the 
views  held  by  Walker.  They  practice  immersion,  but  do  not  make  it  a  tern* 
of  communion  ;  have  no  officers  in  the  church,  and  conceive  that  "  the  unity 
of  the  Spirit"  is  shown  by  each  member  rising,  as  he  may  be  moved,  to  per- 
form public  functions.  They  have  small  churches  in  England  at  various 
ponits,  as'  at  Leeds,  Liverpool,  etc.,  and  the  philanthropist  Miiller,  author  of 
the  "  Life  of  Faith,"  was  immersed  by  them. 


INTOLERANCE  OF  STATE  RELIGIONS.  65 


They  whipped,  branded,  banished  or  executed  Quakers 
and  others  who  refused  to  conform  to  their  views,  thus- 
affording  another  proof  that  a  state  or  national  religion 
is  necessarily  Popish  in  its  spirit,  for  at  that  time,  in 
these  Puritan  colonies,  the  Church  was  essentially  the 
State.* 


*  Among  other  acts  of  tyranny,  they  banished  from  Salem,  for  the  free  ex- 
pression of  his  opinions,  Roger  Williams,  who  was  himself  a  Puritan.  This 
champion  of  free  opinion  fled  to  Rhode  Island,  where  he  purchased  territory 
from  the  Indians  ;  and  in  1643,  returning  to  England,  obtained  a  charter  of 
incorporation.  After  spending  some  time  in  England,  he  came  back  to- 
Providence,  and,  having  become  a  Baptist,  founded  there  the  first  Baptist 
church  in  America,  In  1662  he  obtained  a  second  charter  from  Charles  the 
Second,  in  which  it  was  declared  that  "  religion  should  be  wholly  and  for 
ever  free  from  all  jurisdiction  of  the  civil  power;"  so  that  to  Roger  Williams 
belongs  the  high  honor  of  having  founded  the  first  political  State  in  Christen- 
dom that  embraced,  in  its  constitutional  provisions,  the  principle  of  universal' 
toleration — a  noble  grant,  the  germ  of  civil  liberty  in  the  United  States. 

It  is  true  that  the  theory  of  toleration  had  been  advanced  by  individuals- 
at  former  periods ;  and  that  some  degree  of  religious  freedom  had  at  times 
been  practically  conceded,  as  in  Bohemia,  by  the  Emperor  Rodolph,  in  1609. 
Upon  the  burning  of  Servetus  at  Geneva  in  1553  a  work  was  published  at 
Basil,  attributed  to  Sebastian  Castalio,  denying  the  expediency  of  attempting 
to  repress  heresy  by  the  civil  power.  Another  publication  on  the  same  sub- 
ject, by  James  Aconzio,  appeared  in  1565  at  Basil,  of  which,  in  1648,  a 
translation  was  printed  in  England  by  John  Goodwin,  an  Independent  minis- 
ter. These  treatises,  however,  opposed  persecution  only  on  the  ground  of 
inexpediency,  not  denying  the  abstract  right  of  the  magistrate  to  punish  here- 
tics ;  and,  even  as  to  inexpediency,  making  an  exception  of  atheists  and 
apostates.  The  earHest  English  publication  asserting  religious  freedom  in 
its  widest  sense  was  made  by  Leonard  Busher  in  1614,  in  a  tract  entitled 
"Religious  Peace — a  plea  for  Liberty  of  Conscience."  In  this  the  author 
advocates  the  most  complete  toleration  for  all  opinions  and  all  religions,  and 
would  forbid  any  punishment  of  those  opposed  to  religion.  This  was  re- 
printed in  1642,  and  may  have  fallen  under  the  notice  of  Williams,  who  was- 
in  England  the  year  following,  and  himself  published  in  London,  in  1644,  his 
noted  tract  to  the  same  effect,  entitled:  "Bloody  Tenet  of  Persecution  for 
cause  o'  Conscience,  discussed  between  Truth  and  Peace."  This  bold  cham- 
pion of  liberty  died  in  1683,  and  it  was  not  till  1691  that  Locke  published 
his  celebrated  "  Letters  on  Toleration" — a  right,  which,  as  just  stated,  had 
been  already,  though  less  ably,  advocated  by  others,  and  was  then  actually  in 
practical  operation  in  Rhode  Island.    Craik's  Hist  England,  vol.  iii.  p.  785.. 


64         MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


Whatever  philosophical  explanation  may  be  made  of 
the  conduct  of  the  Puritans,  on  the  ground  that  self- 
preservation,  in  their  then  feeble  condition,  overrode  all 
other  considerations,  since  to  oppose  the  Church  was,  in 
their  case,  tantamount  to  sedition  against  the  State,  one 
thing  is  certain,  that  the  course  they  pursued  was 
wholly  inconsistent  with  the  fundamental  principle  of 
Independency,  and  with  not  only  the  practice  of  their 
part}^  in  England,  but  with  their  own  course  subse- 
quently, so  soon  as  the  Church  was  relieved  from  its 
false  political  position,  and  human  rights  became  some- 
what better  understood. 

It  w^as  this  fundamental  principle  of  Independency, 
the  right  of  private  judgment,  that  seems  at  this  time  to 
have  particularly  engaged  the  attention  of  Alexander 
Campbell.  It  was  the  natural  tendency  of  his  mind  to 
^  seize  upon  principles,  and  this  doctrine,  so  consonant 
with  his  own  native  independence  of  thought,  was  par- 
ticularly agreeable  to  him.  He  does  not  appear,  how- 
ever, to  have  fully  or  practically  adopted  this  principle, 
so  entirely  at  variance  with  that  of  the  denomination  to 
which  he  belonged,  and  w^ith  the  religious  authority  he 
had  been  taught  to  revere.  Before  taking  this  step,  it 
was  necessary  that  he  should  have  a  little  longer  time 
to  observe  the  working  of  the  religious  systems  of  the 
time. 

All  these  may  be  classed  as  Episcopal,  Presbyterian 
and  Congregational — to  the  last  of  which  belong  the 
Baptists  and  all  others  holding  that  each  congregation 
independent.  In  the  Episcopal  (including  the 
Romish)  and  the  Presbyterian  systems  no  liberty 
whatever  is  granted  to  the  people  to  interpret  the 
Scriptures,  this  being  entirely  confined  to  the  clergy. 
Hence,  among  Presbyterians,  though  the  Scripture  is 


RELIGIOUS  TOLERATION. 


65 


recommended  to  be  read,  the  reader  is  carefully  in- 
tbrmed,  as  in  the  Acts  of  Assembly,  "  that  the  charge 
and  office  of  interpreting  the  Holy  Scriptures  is  a  part 
of  the  ministerial  calling,  which  none,  howsoever  other- 
wise qualified,  should  take  upon  him  in  any  place,  but 
he  that  is  duly  called  thereunto  by  God  and  his  kirk." 
No  such  thing,  in  fact,  as  liberty  of  private  judgment 
is  allowed  in  the  Church  of  England  or  in  Presby- 
terianism,  any  more  than  in  the  Church  of  Rome. 

With  the  Independents,  however,  the  right  of  every 
member  to  judge  for  himself  as  to  the  meaning  of 
Scripture  is  the  great  distinguishing  feature,  and  the 
basis  not  only  of  their  congregational  form  of  govern- 
ment, and  their  entire  repudiation  of  the  authority 
claimed  by  Presbyteries,  Synods,  Assemblies,  Conven- 
tions or  other  church-courts,  but  also  the  reason  of  that 
tolerant  spirit  they  so  strikingly  manifested  when  they 
attained  to  political  power  in  England.  In  the  Long 
Parliament,  headed  by  Sir  Henry  Vane,  they  pleaded 
with  the  Presbyterian  majority  for  such  a  degree  of 
toleration  as  would  at  least  include  all  holding  Protest- 
ant doctrines.  This,  however,  was  abhorrent  to  the 
Presbyterians.  *'  Toleration,"  cried  one  of  them,  '*\vill 
make  the  kingdom  a  chaos,  a  Babel,  another  Amster- 
dam, a  Sodom,  an  Egypt,  a  Babylon  :  toleration  is  the 
grand  work  of  the  devil,  his  masterpiece  and  chief 
engine  to  uphold  his  tottering  kingdom  ;  it  is  the  most 
compendious,  sure  way  to  destroy  all  religion,  lay  all 
waste,  and  bring  in  all  evil.  As  original  sin  is  the  f\m- 
damental  sin,  having  the  seed  and  spawn  of  all  sin  in  it, 
so  toleration  hath  all  errors  in  it  and  all  evils."*  The 
Independents,  however,  having  got  the  control  of  the 


*  Craik's  History-  of  England,  Book  vii.,  c  2. 
VOL.  L— E  6  * 


66         MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL, 


army,  and,  finally,  of  the  government  under  Cromwell, 
were  enabled  to  put,  to  a  considerable  extent,  their 
views  into  practice,  so  that  during  the  Protectorate,  for 
eleven  years,  a  degree  of  peace,  toleration  and  pros- 
perity was  enjoyed  by  all  parties  which  had  before 
been  unknown.  Although  the  toleration  then  granted 
was  neither  complete  nor  firmly  founded,  it  greatly 
redounded  to  the  credit  of  the  Independents,  and  had 
an  important  influence  upon  the  world  at  large.  These 
singular  but  stern  and  religious  men  were,  to  use  the 
language  of  Macaulay,  "engaged  in  the  great  conflict; 
of  liberty  and  despotism,  reason  and  prejudice.  That 
great  battle  was  fought  for  no  single  generation,  for  no- 
single  land.  The  destinies  of  the  human  race  were 
staked  on  the  same  cast  with  the  freedom  of  the  Eng- 
lish people."  Opposed  as  well  to  Presbytery  as  to- 
Prelacy  and  Popery,  and  regarding  each  congregation 
as  independent  and  supreme  in  its  jurisdiction^  their 
views  naturally  made  them  republican  in  civil  aflfairs, 
while  their  principle  that  every  one  should  enjoy  the 
right  of  private  judgment  in  religion,  released  them 
from  that  spiritual  despotism  which  all  the  other  systems 
labored  to  establish. 

For,  to  take  the  Presbyterian  system  as  an  example, 
their  idea  of  a  complete  church  is  not  by  any  means 
that  of  a  single  congregation,  but  of  a  number  of  con- 
gregations, with  Sessions,  Presbyteries  and  Synods 
suflficient  to  constitute  a  General  Assembly.  Each 
member  of  the  congregation  is  subject,  in  conversa- 
tion and  doctrine,  to  the  Session  ;  the  decisions  of  the 
Session  to  the  Presbytery ;  those  of  the  Presbytery 
to  the  Synod,  and  those  of  the  Synod  to  the  General 
Assembly.  Thus,  with  them,  the  Church  consists  of 
congregations,   with    all  the    required  church-courts,. 


SPIRITUAL  DESPOTISM. 


57 


'Comprising  a  complete  system  of  absolute  clerical 
domination. 

Among  these  courts,  it  is  the  General  Assembly 
which  is  the  true  exponent  of  the  nature  and  animus 
of  the  entire  svstem.  This  supreme  court  is  the  eye 
and  ear  and  efficient  head  of  the  whole  body.  For,  to 
use  the  vision  of  Assyria's  king,  if  the  Session  be  tht: 
legs  of  iron,  emblem  of  popular  strength,  mixed  at 
the  feet  with  the  miry  clay  of  the  unofficial  laity,  if 
the  Presbytery  be  the  belly  and  thighs  of  brass,  and  the 
Synod  the  breast  and  arms  of  silver,  it  is  the  General 
Assembly  that  constitutes  the  golden  head,  which  is  the 
crowning  glory  of  the  Presbyterian  image. 

No  despotism,  indeed,  could  be  more  complete  than 
that  sought  to  be  established  by  the  Church  of  Scot- 
land, which  exercised,  by  means  of  its  clerical  ma- 
chinery, a  real  inquisitorial  authority  over  men's  minds 
and  consciences,  and,  when  called  into  question  by  the 
government  for  usurpations,  or  for  preaching  up  sedi- 
tion and  rebellion  instead  of  the  gospel,  would  plead 
the  divine  commission  of  its  ministry  as  the  proof  of 
its  superiority  to  the  civil  power,  and  claim  to  be  ex- 
empt from  the  jurisdiction  of  the  courts  in  regard  to 
everything  said  or  done  by  its  ministry  in  discharging 
their  spiritual  functions,  whose  extent,  meanwhile,  they 
asserted  the  right  of  determining  for  themselves.* 
When  to  these  assumptions,  we  add  the  control  of  the 


*  When  Andrew  Melvin,  one  of  those  sent  by  the  General  Assembly  io 
admonish  James  the  First,  proceeded  to  address  the  king,  he  informed  him 
that  of  Christ's  kingdom  (which,  with  him,  was  only  another  name  for  the 
Presbyterian  kirk)  he  was  "neither  a  king,  nor  a  head,  nor  a  lord,  but  a 
member  ;  and  they,"  he  added,  "  whom  Christ  has  called  and  commanded  to 
watch  over  the  kirk  and  govern  his  spiritual  kingdom,  have  sufficient 
authority  and  power  froni  /lim  so  to  do,  which  no  Christian  king  nor  prince 
should  control  or  discharge,  but  fortify  and  assist,  otherwise  they  are  not 


68         MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


sword  of  the  magistrate  which  they  constantly  sought 
indirectly  to  acquire,  and  often  really  exercised,  wc 
have  a  dynasty  quite  as  imperious  as  any  ever  main- 
faithful  subjects  to  Christ.  Sir  when  you  were  in  your  swaddling  ck  uts 
Christ  reigned  freely  in  this  land,  in  spite  of  all  her  enemies." 

The  same  individual,  on  another  occasion,  when  arraigned  before  the  coun- 
cil for  words  spoken  in  a  sermon  he  had  delivered  at  St.  Andrew's,  at  once 
declined  the  jurisdiction  of  the  court.  "  After  the  giving  in  of  the  declina- 
tion," says  Calderwood,  "the  king  and  the  Earl  of  Arran,  then  chancellor, 
raged.  Mr.  Andrew,  never  a  whit  dashed,  said  in  plain  terms  that  they  were 
too  bold,  in  a  constitute  Christian  kirk,  to  pass  by  the  pastors,  prophets  and 
doctors,  and  to  take  upon  them  to  judge  the  doctrine  and  to  control  the 
ambassadors  and  messengers  of  a  greater  than  was  here.  '  That  ye  may  see 
your  own  weakness  and  rashness,  in  taking  upon  you  that  which  ye  iteithei 
ought  nor  can  do  (loosing  a  little  Hebrew  Bible  from  his  girdle  and  laying  it 
down  before  the  king  and  his  chancellor  upon  the  table),  there  are  my  in- 
structions and  warrant :  see  if  any  of  you  can  control  me  that  I  have  passed 
my  injunctions.'  Here  we  see  flaming  out  the  true  spirit  of  Presbyteiy,  which, 
while  opposed  to  any  representation  of  the  clergy  in  Parliament,  had  always 
sought  to  erect  the  Church  into  a  power,  independent  of,  and,  in  its  own 
province,  superior  to  the  State — an  arrangement  which  would  afford  an  abun- 
dant compensation  for  the  denial  of  political  power  of  the  ordinar)'  kind." 

As  an  illustration  of  the  pertinacity  with  which  the  Presbyterians  clung  to 
their  intolerant  measures,  and  to  those  church-courts  through  which  they  con- 
trived to  embarrass  and  endeavored  to  control  the  civil  power,  it  is  well 
known  that  even  Cromwell  was  unable  to  establish  general  toleration  in 
Scotland,  or  maintain  it  there  "with  any  chance  of  an  hour's  quiet  to  the 
country,"  as  the  historian  remarks,  "without  putting  a  gag  upon  the  Church. 
Accordingly,"  he  continues,  "when  after  many  heats  the  General  Assembly 
had  met  as  usual  at  Edinburgh,  in  the  summer  of  1652,  and  was  about  tc 
proceed  to  business.  Lieutenant  Colonel  Cotterel  suddenly  came  into  the 
church,  and  standing  up  upon  one  of  the  benches,  informed  them  that  no 
ecclesiastical  judicatories  were  to  sit  there  but  by  authority  of  the  Parliament 
of  England ;  and  without  giving  them  leave  to  reply,  commanded  them  in- 
stantly to  withdraw  themselves ;  and  then  conducted  the  whole  of  the  rever- 
end body  out  of  the  citj-,  by  one  of  the  gates  called  the  West-Port,  with  a 
troop  of  horse  and  a  company  of  foot.  The  Assembly  did  not  dare  to  meel 
again  so  long  as  Cromwell  lived." 

They  knew  too  well  the  character  of  this  remarkable  man,  who  was  in- 
tolerant only  of  intolerance,  to  try  his  patience  farther.  So  liberal  was  he 
that  he  allowed  the  benefices  and  the  pulpits  to  be  occupied  by  all  parties — 
some  by  the  former  Episcopal  incumbents,  some  by  Independents,  and  sorne 
even  by  the  minor  sects.    For  som.e  time,  indeed,  the  pulpits  n'ere  "^Dei.  tc 


opposirrox  to  reforms. 


69 


tained  by  Papal  Rome.  Happily,  the  example  of  the 
United  States,  the  progress  of  liberal  ideas  and  the 
great  increase  of  dissenters  had  gradually  checked  the 
arrogance  of  the  National  Churches  of  Great  Britain, 
and  compelled  them  to  hold  in  abeyance  claims  which, 
from  their  very  constitution,  it  is  impossible  they  should 
ever  relinquish. 

Although  the  spirit  of  these  parties  was  thus,  at  this 
period  greatly  subdued,  and  no  very  arbitrary  acts  on 
the  part  of  the  Irish  Synod  had  occurred  to  awaken 
discontent,  the  observant  mind  of  Alexander  Campbell 
perceived  so  much  of  a  grasping  spirit  and  of  clerical 
assumption  in  the  ministry,  and  such  tendencies  to  a 
rigid  exercise  of  powder,  as  led  him  to  reflect  more 
seriously  upon  his  future  course.  He  had  been  repeat- 
edly grieved  to  find  that  the  occasional  earnest  overtures 
of  his  pious  father  in  regard  to  various  reforms,  and 
especially  in  relation  to  a  more  frequent  celebration  of 
the  Lord's  Supper,  then  attended  to  onh'  semi-annually, 
were  treated  v/ith  indifference,  and  rejected  b}^  the 
Presbytery  and  the  Synod  ;  and  that  there  seemed  no 
disposition  whatever,  on  the  part  of  those  in  authority, 
to  admit  of  any  changes  or  reforms.  When  he  con- 
trasted these  things  with  the  freedom  of  opinion  and  of 


any  of  the  laity  who  seemed  to  have  an  edifying  gift  of  utterance.  To  guard 
against  an  extreme  here,  "  Cromwell,"  we  are  informed,  "  appointed  in  March, 
1653,  a  Board  of  Triers,  as  they  were  called,  in  all  thirty-eight  in  number,  of 
whom  part  were  Presbyterians,  part  Independents,  and  a  few  Baptists,  to 
whom  was  given,  without  any  limitations  or  instructions  whatever,  the  power 
of  examining  and  approving  or  rejecting  all  persons  that  might  thereafter  be 
presented,  nominated,  chosen  or  appointed  to  any  living  in  the  Church.  This 
was  tantamount  to  dividing  the  Church  among  these  different  religious  bodies, 
or  so  liberalizing  or  extending  it  as  to  make  it  comprehend  them  all. 
«  «  «  «  -pj^js  jjoard  of  Triers  continued  to  sit  and  to  exercise  its  func 
tions  at  Whitehall  till  a  short  time  after  the  death  of  Cromwell."  Craik's 
History  of  England,  iii.  p.  481. 


70 


MEMOIR  S  OF  A  LEX  A  XDER  C.  I  IPBEL  L . 


government  enjoyed  by  the  independents,  he  was  led 
to  examine  more  carefully  into  the  principles  upon 
which  the  system  of  Independency  was  based.  He 
found  that  the  English  Congregationalists  differed  some- 
what from  those  called  Scotch  Independents,  whose 
principal  champion  then  was  Robert  Sandeman.  Their 
rise  is  attributable  to  John  Glas.  an  eloquent  and  able 
minister  of  the  Church  of  Scotland,  in  the  parish  of 
Tealing.  near  Dundee,  who  abandoned  the  Establish- 
ment about  the  year  1728,  and  adopted  Independent 
views,  which  he  derived  mainly  from  the  works  of  John 
Owen.  He  formed  churches  in  most  of  the  large  towns 
in  Scotland,  where  his  followers  were  called  Glasites. 
About  the  year  1755.  Robert  Sandeman  developed 
and  sustained  their  views,  and  engaged  in  a  spirited 
controversy  with  Hervey  in  regard  to  the  leading  doc- 
trine in  his ''Theron  and  Aspasio."  the  appropriating 
nature  of  faith — a  controversy  which  not  only  greatly 
promoted  the  circulation  of  Hervey 's  work,  but  gave 
celebrity  to  Sandeman,  from  whom  this  particular 
branch  of  Independents  have,  in  England,  been  usu-  ' 
ally  called  Sandemanians.  He  afterwards  came  to 
America  and  founded  societies  in  New  England  and 
Nova  Scotia. 

His  doctrines  were — that  faith  is  merely  a  simple 
assent  to  the  testimony  concerning  Christ :  that  the 
word  faith  means  nothing  more  than  it  does  in  common 
discourse — a  persuasion  of  the  truth  of  any  proposition  : 
and  that  there  is  no  difference  between  believing  any 
common  testimony  and  believing  the  apostolic  testi- 
monv.  He  advocated  the  weekly  observance  of  the 
Lord's  Supper :  love-feasts :  weekly  contributions  for 
the  poor  :  mutual  exhortation  of  members  ;  pluralitv^  of 
elders  in  a  church  ;  conditional  community  of  goods, 


VIE  WS  OF  SANDEMAN. 


71 


He  also  approved  of  theatres  and  public  and  pri- 
vate diversions,  when  not  connected  with  circumstances 
really  sinful. 

The  Independents  at  Rich-Hill,  though  in  connection 
with  those  of  Scotland,  were  Haldanean  in  sentiment, 
and  did  not  adopt  all  the  views  of  Glas  or  Sandeman. 
They  attended  weekly  to  the  Lord's  Supper,  contribu- 
tions, etc.,  but  were  opposed  to  going  to  theatres  or  such 
places  of  public  amusements ;  to  the  doctrine  of  com- 
munity of  goods;  feet-washing,  etc.,  as  advocated  by 
Sandeman.  They  were  also,  in  a  good  measure,  free 
from  the  dogmatic  and  bitter  controversial  spirit  so 
characteristic  of  Sandeman  and  his  followers.  It  does 
not  appear  that  Alexander  acquired  at  this  time  any- 
thing more  than  a  general  knowledge  of  the  history  of 
these  parties.  If  he  became  at  all  acquainted  with  the 
peculiar  views  of  Sandeman  in  regard  to  faith,  it  is 
certain  that  he  was  far  /rom  adopting  them ;  and  that, 
even  after  his  emigration  to  the  United  States,  he  con- 
tinued to  hold  essentially  the  views  of  this  subject 
entertained  by  Presbyterians.  He  seems,  in  addition, 
about  this  time  to  have  read  and  to  have  been  m.uch 
pleased  with  the  works  of  Archibald  McLean,  espe- 
cially his  work  on  "The  Commission,"  of  which  he 
was  wont  ever  after  to  speak  in  the  highest  terms. 

In  order  to  complete  this  brief  account  of  the  religious 
influences  surrounding  Thomas  Campbell  and  his  son 
Alexander  at  this  period,  it  is  necessary  to  notice  a 
movement  then  in  progress  for  the  promotion  of  a  sim- 
pler and,  as  it  was  termed,  a  more  "evangelical"  style 
of  preaching,  with  the  view  of  creating  a  greater 
general  interest  in  the  subject  of  religion.  The  reader 
is  doubtless  familiar  with  the  history  of  the  great  excite- 
ment produced  in  England  by  the  preaching  of  White- 


72  MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


field  and  Wesley  about  the  same  time  at  which  the 
Seceders  left  the  Kirk  of  Scotland,  some  sixty  years 
'  previous.  By  their  earnestness  and  zeal,  by  the  intro- 
duction of  the  custom  of  field-preaching  (unused  since 
the  time  of  the  monastic  orders,  if  we  except  the  case 
of  the  persecuted  Covenanters),  as  well  as  by  tlie 
Wesleyan  system  of  lay-preaching  and  itinerancy,  the 
existing  ecclesiastical  establishments  were  roused  from 
their  state  of  frigid  formality  and  apathy,  and  an  un- 
wonted religious  fervor  was  diffused  throughout  all 
classes  of  the  community.  The  same  excitement  was 
introduced  also  into  Scotland,  to  which  Mr.  Whitefield 
was  invited  by  the  Seceders  through  the  agency  of 
the  Erskines.  x\s  he  was  a  Calvinist,  they  entertained 
hopes  of  winning  him  to  their  party,  or  at  least  of 
attaining  to  such  doctrinal  agreement  with  him  as  would 
justify  them  in  availing  themselves  of  his  extraordinary 
powers.  Immediately  upon  his  arrival,  therefore,  at 
Dunfermline,  they  called  a  Presbytery,  and  proposed 
to  set  him  right  upon  the  matter  of  Church  government 
and  of  the  Solemn  League  and  Covenant.  He  very 
properly  declining  to  enter  upon  any  disputes  about 
what  he  regarded  as  trivial  matters,  and  determining  to 
adhere  to  his  course  of  preaching  Christ,  free  from  the 
shackles  of  any  party,  the  Seceders  immediately  be- 
came hostile  and  refused  to  hear  him,  denouncing  him 
as  "an  enthusiast  who  was  engaged  in  doing  the  work 
of  Satan,"  while  he,  on  the  other  hand,  charged  them 
with  "building  a  Babel  which  would  soon  come  down 
about  their  ears."  Upon  this,  a  number  of  the  minis- 
ters of  the  Church  of  Scotland  espoused  Mr.  White- 
field's  cause  and  admitted  him  into  their  pulpits.  Great 
excitement  and  extraordinary  manifestations  of  swoon- 
ings,  convulsions  and  cataleptic  seizures  attended  Mr. 


MISSIONARY  EFFORTS. 


73 


Whitefield's  labors,  especially  at  Cambuslang,  near 
Glasgow,  where  at  one  time  the  assemblage  was  esti- 
mated to  consist  of  at  least  thirty  thousand  persons. 
These  singular  cases  had  previously  occurred  under 
Mr.  Wesley's  preaching ;  and  have  several  times  since 
been  noted,  as  in  the  revivals  under  the  preachings  of 
Jonathan  Edwards  in  New  England,  and  of  James 
McGready,  B.  W.  Stone  and  some  other  Presbyterian 
preachers  in  Kentuck3\  in  1801. 

The  intense  religious  interest  awakened  in  Great 
Britain  and  Ireland  by  Wesley,  Whitefield  and  their 
coadjutors,  had,  toward  the  close  of  the  century, 
given  place  to  a  great  degree  of  indifference  and 
worldly  conformit}'.  The  diffusion  of  infidel  principles 
from  France,  political  commotions  and  a  variety  of 
circumstances  connected  with  the  American  and  French 
wars,  seem  to  have  been  chiefly  instrumental  in  indu- 
cing a  change  which  was  deeply  lamented  by  pious  and 
earnest  men  in  the  different  religious  communities.  It 
was  resolved,  accordingly,  tc  make  a  united  effort  to 
arouse  the  people  to  greater  religious  activity,  and,  for 
this  purpose,  to  employ  those  agencies  of  open-air 
preaching  and  itinerancy  formerly  so  successful. 

Among  those  conspicuously  engaged  in  this  work 
were  the  Haldanes  of  Scotland.  A  considerable  mis- 
sionary society,  called  the  Evangelical  Society,  \^'as 
formed  for  the  above  purpose,  consisting  in  part  of 
members  of  the  Episcopal  Church  in  England.  As 
Thomas  Campbell  warmly  sympathized  in  the  proposed 
object,  he  became  a  member  of  this  Society,  and  took 
great  pleasure  in  aiding  its  operations.  Man}^  liberal 
and  earnest  preachers  were  sent  out  by  its  means 
through  the  country,  who  were  accustomed  to  convene 
the  people  in  the  most  public  places  in  towns,  or  wher- 

7 


74         MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


ever  they  could  obtain  an  audience,  and  to  address  them 
with  great  earnestness  upon  the  subject  of  religion. 

In  this  species  of  mission  there  was  something  very 
pleasing,  and  certainly  the  position  of  such  laborers  was 
highly  favorable  to  a  fair  and  effective  presentation  of  the 
general  truths  of  the  gospel.  Like  missionaries  in 
heathen  lands,  they  felt  themselves  freed,  in  a  good 
measure,  from  the  sectarian  necessities  and  constraints 
of  party-preachers.  They  were  left,  as  it  were,  alone 
with  the  Word  of  God  and  the  souls  of  men ;  and  as 
far  as  it  related  to  the  general  truths  of  the  scheme  of 
redemption,  their  addresses  were  most  profitable  in 
rousing  the  careless  and  thoughtless  to  inquiry,  and  in 
removing  doubts  and  difficulties  from  the  minds  of  the 
ignorant  and  the  skeptical.  '-The  more  pure  and  free," 
as  Neander  well  observes,  "and  unmixed  with  human 
schemes  Christianity  is,  the  more  easily  it  makes  its 
way  into  the  hearts  of  men,  and  the  more  easily  can  it 
preserve  in  undiminished  vigor  its  divine  attractive 
power  over  human  nature."  It  was,  however,  impossible 
for  them,  consistently  with  the  nature  of  their  mission 
and  their  views  of  religion,  to  recommend  any  very 
definite  or  particular  course  to  anxious  inquirers.  The 
nature  of  faith  ;  how  Christ  could  be  put  on  by  faith  ; 
how  the  sinner  could  obtain  an  assurance  of  justifica- 
tion,— these  were  questions  of  the  highest  practical  im- 
portance, to  which  different  parties  gave  conflicting 
answers,  and  which,  with  matters  of  ecclesiastical 
organization,  constituted  the  burden  of  polemical  dis- 
cussions and  the  ground  of  party  differences.  Their 
work  was,  however,  a  favorable  omen  of  the  approach 
of  a  better  era,  and  served  practically  to  break  down 
the  prejudices  of  religious  society  and  to  depreciate 
the  value  of  those  speculative  theological  dogmas  and  of 


FORMATIVE  INFLUENCE, 


75 


those  sectarian  distinctions  by  which  pious  believers 
were  separated  and  alienated  from  each  other. 

Such,  then,  during  the  years  of  youth  and  of  forma- 
tive research  and  observation,  were  the  religious  mflu- 
ences  which  surrounded  Alexander  Campbell,  and  such 
the  lessons  of  instruction  which  history  afforded  him. 
The  effect  of  the  whole  was  to  increase  his  revt  rence 
for  the  Scriptures  as  the  only  infallible  guide  in  rciigion, 
to  weaken  the  force  of  educational  prejudices,  and  to 
deepen  his  conviction  that  the  existence  of  st:f:ts  and 
parties  was  one  of  the  greatest  hindrances  to  the  success 
of  the  gospel. 


CHAPTER  V. 


Alexander  Campbell's  industry — Close  observation  —  Failure  of  Thomas 
Campbell's  health — Voyage  to  America. 

IN  human  life  there  may  be  a  second  childhood,  but 
never  a  second  youth.  As,  in  the  natural  year,  the 
spring  mingles  its  soft  breezes  with  the  chill  blasts  of 
winter,  and  the  blue  red-breast  returns  to  warble  from 
the  leafless  branches,  and  the  tiny  snowdrop  blossoms 
or  the  crocus  unfolds  its  gay  petals  amidst  cheerless 
desolation,  so,  in  wintry  age,  may  childish  thoughts  and 
childish  sports  again  delight,  and  dotage  assume  the 
guise  of  infancy,  when  the  eye  is  weak  and  the  memorv 
defective,  and  the  step  unsteady,  not  from  immaturit\', 
but  from  decay.  But  youth,  w^ith  its  unspent  energies, 
its  keen  perceptions,  its  earnest  hopes,  and  its  unfilled 
capacities,  shall  return  to  man  on  earth  no  more.  As 
though  deeply  impressed  with  this  conviction,  it  was  in 
this,  the  seed-time  of  life,  that,  with  unwearied  industry, 
Alexander  Campbell  labored  to  store  his  mind  with 
useful  learning,  and  to  avail  himself  of  every  accessible 
source  of  knowledge.  He  was  accustomed  to  pursue 
his  studies  to  a  late  hour  in  the  night,  and  usually  rose 
at  four  in  the  mornino;  to  resume  them.  Books  were 
his  constant  delight,  and  self-education  became  with 
him  a  passion,  as  there  seemed  but  little  prospect  of  his 
being  enabled  to  attend  the  University,  owing  to  his 
father's  large  family,  now  increased  with  another  daugh- 

76 


INTROSPECTIVE  SCRUTINY. 


IT 


ter,  named  Alicia — making  seven  children  living,  three 
others  having  died  in  early  infancy. 

In  addition  to  his  duties  in  the  public  school,  he  was 
induced  at  this  time  to  become  private  tutor  to  the 
daughters  of  Hon.  William  Richardson,  giving  lessons 
at  certain  hours  in  the  day.  This  caused  but  litde  in- 
convenience, as  Mr.  Richardson's  mansion  was  near  at 
hand,  surrounded  with  finely-improved  grounds,  where 
Alexander's  sisters  were  accustomed  often  to  walk  on  a. 
pleasant  evening  to  enjoy  the  beauty  of  the  shrubbery 
and  of  the  flowers.  Amidst  all  his  labors,  however,  he 
still  found  time  for  an  occasional  gunning  excursion. 
On  one  of  these  expeditions  an  incident  occurred, 
which,  though  trifling  in  itself,  may  serve  to  show  how 
acute  and  introspective  were  his  powers  of  observation, 
and  how  strong  his  objective  tendencies,  since,  even  in< 
the  midst  of  sportive  recreation,  he  could  readily  make 
the  operations  of  his  own  mind  the  object  of  analytic 
scrutiny.  Having  gone  out  on  a  Saturday,  with  two 
companions,  in  search  of  corn-crakes  (a  migratory 
land-rail  abundant  in  Ireland),  after  a  long  walk  their 
excursion  seemed  likely  to  prove  unsuccessful.  Upon 
their  return  they  came  into  a  meadow,  and  it  was  pro- 
posed that  Alexander  should  take  one  end  and  his 
companions  the  other.  In  a  little  while  one  of  the 
latter  fired  and  shot  a  corn-crake.  Alexander  happened 
to  have  a  gun  with  a  worn  pan,  which  sometimes  al- 
lowed the  powder  to  escape.  Upon  hearing  the  shot, 
he  examined  and  found  that  there  remained  in  the  pan. 
only  one  single  grain  of  powder  of  large  size.  Not 
expecting  to  see  any  more  game,  however,  he  did  not. 
think  it  worth  while  to  prime,  and  proceeded  on  his 
way ;  but  had  gone  only  a  few  steps  when  a  hare 
started  out  of  its  form  almost  at  his  feet.    As  he  was  at 

7* 


78         MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


the  end  of  the  meadow  near  to  the  house  of  a  tenant 
who  had  a  Hcense  to  take  game,  the  first  thought  which 
struck  him  was,  that  he  was  in  full  view  of  the  house, 
and,  secondly,  that  the  tenant  might  regard  him  as  tres- 
passing. He  reflected  further,  that  this  man  was  very 
strict  about  the  game  :  but  it  then  occurred  to  him  that, 
as  he  was  a  teacher  in  the  family  of  the  lord  of  the 
manor,  he  might  be  regarded  as  entitled  to  the  privi- 
lege. He  then  recollected,  however,  that  he  had  not 
primed  his  gun,  and  that  it  was  not  likely  to  go  off,  as 
there  was  but  a  single  grain  of  powder  in  the  pan. 
He  perceived  further,  that  the  hare  had  but  a  very  little 
way  to  go  until  it  would  reach  a  hedge  and  be  hid 
from  view,  and  that  there  was  hardly  time  to  take  aim. 
But,  lastly,  considering  that  it  was  a  risk  all  round,  he 
concluded  to  try  the  experiment,  and  accordingly,  put- 
ting up  his  gun,  fired  and  killed  the  hare  before  it  had 
gone  twenty  stefs.  He  then  discovered  that  at  least 
eleven  distinct  thoughts  had  successively  been  present 
to  his  mind  in  that  immeasurably  brief  instant — a  cir- 
cumstance which  filled  him  with  wonder  as  he  reflected 
^/  upon  it,  and  became  to  him  an  illustration,  which  he 
never  afterward  forgot,  of  the  inconceivable  rapidity 
of  the  mind's  action. 

After  several  years  spent  in  teaching  at  Rich-Hill, 
the  excessive  labor  and  confinement  to  which  his  father 
was  subjected  in  fulfilling  his  duties  to  the  congrega- 
tion and  to  the  school  began  seriously  to  impair  his 
health.  He  grew  extremely  pale,  dyspeptic  and  de- 
bilitated, and  finally,  after  having  for  a  long  time  tried 
various  remedies  in  vain,  he  was  informed  by  his  phy- 
sician that  his  life  would  be  the  forfeit  if  he  persisted 
in  continuing  his  unremitting  mental  toil ;  and  that  an 
absolute  change  of  present  pursuits,  and  such  relief  as 


DEPARTURE  OF  THOMAS  CAMPBELL.  79 

a  protracted  sea-voyage  might  afford,  were  indispensa- 
bly necessary  to  his  recovery.  This  decision  was  ex- 
tremely distasteful  to  him.  He  could  scarcely  endure 
the  thought  of  leaving  his  position  and  his  family  to 
undertake  a  voyage  across  the  Atlantic,  as  was  pro- 
posed to  him  by  his  friends,  some  of  whom  were  almost 
constantly  emigrating  to  the  New  World.  At  length, 
Alexander,  seeing  the  critical  state  of  his  father's 
health,  resolved  to  forward  earnestly  the  proposed 
measure,  and  he  therefore  told  his  father  that  he 
would  take  the  entire  charge  of  the  school  until  all 
existing  engagements  were  fulfilled,  and  that  he  thought 
it  highly  important  for  him  at  once  to  visit  America 
and  see  the  country.  As  his  father  still  hesitated,  he 
at  length  told  him  that  it  was  his  own  determination  to 
go  to  the  United  States  so  soon  as  he  came  of  age,  and 
that  all  the  circumstances  seemed  to  him  providentially 
to  indicate  the  propriety  of  the  course  recommended,  in 
order  that  a  suitable  location  might  be  found  for  the 
entire  family.  Yielding  at  length  to  these  representa- 
tions and  to  the  advice  of  his  warmest  friends,  and 
especially  of  the  Acheson  family,  Thomas  Campbell 
gave  his  consent,  and  it  was  arranged  that,  in  case  he 
should  be  pleased  with  the  country,  he  would  send  for 
the  family  ;  and,  if  otherwise,  he  would  himself  return 
to  Ireland.  As  Miss  Hannah  Acheson  was  desirous  of 
going  out  to  her  relatives,  who  had  previously  emi- 
grated and  settled  in  Washington,  Pennsylvania,  she 
gladly  availed  herself  of  the  opportunity  to  place  her- 
self under  the  escort  of  her  esteemed  pastor. 

Accordinf;'ly,  a  few  days  afterward,  on  the  first  day 
of  April,  1807,  Thomas  Campbell,  having  taken  an 
affecting  farewell  of  his  congregation,  assembled  his 
own  family,  to  the  members  of  which  he  delivered  suit- 


So         MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


able  counsels  and  instructions,  after  which,  amid  many 
prayers  and  tears,  he  bade  them  adieu,  and  set  out  with 
his  company  for  Londonderr}' ,  the  port  from  which  he 
had  concluded  to  sail.  Hastily  viewing  the  fine  harbor, 
and  some  other  points  of  interest  connected  with  this 
ancient  city,  so  celebrated  in  history  for  its  heroic  de- 
fence against  James  the  Second,  he  took  occasion,, 
before  embarking,  to  address  a  letter  to  his  family,  the 
follow'ing  extract  from  which  will  show  how  highly, 
above  all  the  things  of  the  present  life,  he  prized  their 
spiritual  welfare  : 

Come  out,  my  dear  son,"  he  wrote,  from  the  wicked  ot' 
the  world  and  be  separate,  and  '  touch  not  the  unclean  thing.' 
saith  the  Lord,  *  and  I  will  receive  you  and  will  be  a  Father 
unto  you,  and  ye  shall  be  my  sons  and  daughters,  saith  the 
Lord  Almighty.'  My  dear  children,  look  to  this  divine  direc- 
tion and  promise,  and  the  Lord  will  be  with  you  and  be  your 
God  ;  and  '  if  God  be  for  us,  who  can  be  against  us?'  Now. 
if  you  attend  to  this,  and  do  really  come  to  and  embrace  the 
Lord  Jesus  for  repentance  and  reformation,  you  will  have 
good  ground  of  confidence  for  all  things  necessary,  in  his^ 
mercy,  for  your  comfort  here  and  your  future  felicity,  that 
he  will  make  my  journey  prosperous  for  deliverance  to  you 
and  your  friends,  and  that  he  will  not  be  wroth  with  me  for 
your  sakes.  Live  to  God  ;  be  devoted  to  him  in  heart,  and 
in  all  vour  undertakings.  Be  a  sincere  Christian — /.  im- 
bibe the  doctrines,  obey  the  precepts,  copy  the  example,  and 
believe  the  promises  of  the  gospel.  And  that  you  may  do  so, 
read  it,  studv  it,  pray  over  it,  embrace  it  as  your  heritage,  your 
portion.  Take  Christ  for  your  Master,  his  Word  for  your 
instructor,  his  Spirit  for  your  assistant,  interpreter  and  guide. 
Be  always  conformed  in  your  heart  and  practice  with  it.  Live 
by  faith  in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  both  '  for  wisdom,  right- 
eousness, sanctification  and  redemption.'  Above  all  things»^ 
attend  this,  for  without  him  you  can  do  nothing,  either  to- 
the  glory  of  God  or  your  own  good." 


EMIGRANTS  TO  THE  UNITED   STATES,        8 1 


Such  were  the  affectionate  counsels  of  Thomas  Camp- 
bell to  his  family,  and  especially  to  his  son  Alexander, 
whose  appreciation  of  them  may  be  inferred  from  the 
fact  that  he  carefully  copied  them  into  his  note-book,  ' 
that  he  might  have  them  constantly  before  him.  Mean- 
while, his  father  had  embarked  on  the  ship  Brutus, 
Captain  Craig,  master,  bound  for  Philadelphia  ;  and  on^, 
the  eighth  of  April,  1807,  the  wind  being  favorable, 
the  vessel  set  sail,  and  passing  out  of  Lough*  Foyle, 
rounded  Malin-Head,  the  most  northern  point  of  Ire- 
land, where  Thomas  Campbell  gazed  for  the  last  time 
upon  his  native  shores  as  they  faded  from  his  sight  in 
the  dim  mists  of  the  eastern  sky. 

There  was  at  this  time  a  large  and  constant  emigra- 
tion to  the  United  States.  The  political  troubles  ;  the 
religious  dissensions  ;  the  oppressive  tyranny  of  landed 
proprietors  over  tenants  ;  the  almost  hopeless  prospects 
for  those  with  large  families,  and  for  the  young,  as  to 
success  in  life  ;  together  with  many  other  evils  existing 
in  this  fertile  and  beautiful,  but  sadly-misgoverned 
country,  led  great  numbers  to  seek  a  happier  home 
under  the  free  institutions  of  the  New  World.  Several 
families  of  Thomas  Campbell's  acquaintance  in  the 
vicinity  of  Rich-Hill  had,  at  this  time,  already  made 
their  arrangements  to  set  out  for  the  United  States. 
Among  these  may  be  mentioned  the  famih'  of  the 
Hodgens,  of  which  some  of  the  younger  members  had 
been  Mr.  Campbell's  pupils.  Thomas  Hodgens,  hav- 
ing sold  out  his  land  for  three  hundred  guineas,  resolved 
to  emigrate  and  purchase  land  in  America  ;  and  one  of 
his  daughters  being  married  to  James  Foster,  he  urged 

*  The  word  Imtgk  has  in  Ireland  and  Scotland  a  wider  signification  than 
the  word  lake^  embracing  not  only  inland  sheets  of  water,  but  bays  which 
have  a  narrow  outlet  to  the  sea. 

VOL.  I.— F 


82         MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 

his  son-in-law  to  accompany  him.  This  James  Foster 
was  destined  to  take  no  unimportant  part  in  Thomas 
Campbell's  future  religious  movements.  He  was  one 
of  those  men  who,  from  a  retiring  disposition  or  other 
circumstances,  do  not  put  themselves  prominently  for- 
ward, but  who  exert,  nevertheless,  an  important  influ- 
ence within  a  limited  sphere,  and  often  make  that 
influence  widely  felt  through  other  minds. 

He  was  a  member  and  the  precentor  in  the  church 
of  the  Independents  at  Rich-Hill,  and  a  young  man  of 
more  than  ordinary  piety  and  religious  attainments. 
Possessed  of  a  remarkably  retentive  memory,  and  de- 
voted to  the  study  of  the  Bible,  his  mind  became  a 
complete  treasury  of  the  Word  of  God,  so  that  he  could, 
with  the  utmost  accuracy,  repeat  from  memory  its  sacred 
teachings  at  his  pleasure.  Having  become  convinced 
that  there  was  no  authority  in  Scripture  for  the  baptism 
of  infants,  he  would  never  consent  to  its  administration 
in  the  case  of  his  own  children ;  but  he  was  not,  on  this 
account,  less  esteemed  among  the  Independents,  with 
whom  considerable  latitude  of  opinion  was  allowed.  His 
extreme  conscientiousness,  indeed,  was  so  well  known, 
and  his  character  and  religious  worth  so  highly  appre- 
ciated, that  he  was  one  of  the  most  influential  members 
in  the  church,  and  was  often  invited  to  the  house  of  the 
pastor,  Mr.  Gibson,  where  he  met,  occasionally,  some 
of  those  eminent  preachers  who  visited  Rich-Hill.  At 
one  of  his  visits  he  met  with  John  Walker,  and  heard 
him  discuss  with  Mr.  Gibson  various  religious  topics, 
on  which  occasion  Mr.  Gibson  seemed  to  him  to  be  a 
mere  child  in  the  hands  of  the  learned  and  acute 
Walker.  He  heard  Alexander  Carson  also,  and  thought 
him  the  finest  religious  teacher  to  whom  he  had  ever 
listened.    It  was  his  habit  not  to  speak  from  a  text,  but 


VEWPr  AND  WARRBN-POINT. 


83 


to  enter  into  the  train  of  thought  presented  in  an  entire 
connected  portion  of  Scripture,  so  as  fully  to  develop 
the  actual  meaning  of  the  passage. 

When  James  Foster  was  urged  to  go  to  America,  he 
hesitated  to  leave  his  recently  widowed  mother,  until 
she  herself  urged  his  emigration,  lest  his  wife  should 
pine  after  her  relations.  Upon  this  he  was  induced  to 
consent,  and  the  whole  party  having  made  their  ar- 
rangements, set  out  about  two  weeks  after  the  departure 
of  Thomas  Campbell,  and  proceeded  to  Newry. 

This  town  occupies  a  part  of  three  counties — Lowth, 
Armagh  and  Down.  It  is  connected  with  Lough 
Neagh  by  a  canal,  chiefly  in  the  bed  of  the  river  Bann, 
and  also  with  Carlingford  Bay  by  a  canal,  through 
which  vessels  reach  its  fine  spacious  quay,  so  that  it 
is  a  centre  of  considerable  trade.  It  is  built  upon  the 
side  of  a  steep  hill,  at  the  foot  of  which  is  the  Narrow 
Water,  an  inlet  from  Carlingford  Bay,  but  not  suffi- 
ciently capacious  for  large  vessels.  Along  the  margin 
of  this  Narrow  Water,  upon  the  left,  a  fine  road  passes 
down  from  Newr}^  five  miles,  to  Warren  Point,  w^hich 
is  much  resorted  to  as  a  watering-place.  On  the  oppo- 
site side  of  this  narrow  inlet,  in  the  county  of  Lowth, 
lofty  and  precipitous  hills  arise  as  out  of  the  very  water, 
presenting  a  magnificent  appearance.  Passing  down, 
accordingly,  to  Warren  Point,  where  the  bay  is  about  a 
mile  and  a  half  wide,  James  Foster  and  his  companions 
embarked  on  a  vessel  bound  for  Philadelphia. 

As  though  to  attract  the  foreigner  and  detain  the 
emigrant.  Nature  seems  at  this  point  to  have  grouped 
together  the  most  enchanting  scenery.  Looking  sea- 
ward, along  the  shores  of  cne  widening  bay,  high  hills 
of  beautiful  forms  rise  up  from  the  w^ater's  edge  on  each 
side.    Two  miles  below,  upon  the  left,  nestling  between 


84         MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


two  mountains,  is  the  village  of  Rosstrevor,  celebrated 
for  its  picturesque  beauty  and  connected  with  the 
demesnes  of  General  Ross,  who  was  destined  to  fall,  a 
few  years  afterward,  in  the  attack  on  Baltimore,  and  in 
whose  honor  an  elegant  monument,  in  the  form  of  an 
obelisk,  has  since  been  erected  a  little  above  the  village. 
Below  Rosstrevor  a  majestic  mountain  lifts,  to  a  great 
height  above  its  green  and  wooded  slopes,  a  bare  and 
rugged  peak,  upon  whose  side  appears  a  perpendicular 
rock  of  immense  size,  distinctly  visible  from  Newry, 
and  to  which  parties  frequently  resort  to  enjoy  the  mag- 
nificent view  which  it  affords.  On  the  opposite  side  of 
the  bay  is  seen  Carlingford  Castle,  a  large  and  impos- 
ing structure,  often  visited  by  the  tourist,  and  possessing 
many  interesting  historical  associations.  Still  further 
down,  at  a  distance  of  about  four  miles,  and  on  the 
extreme  point  where  the  bay  at  length  opens  into  the 
sea,  stands  the  light-house,  like  a  friendly  hand 
stretched  out  from  the  shores  of  civilization  and  hospi- 
tality to  "  welcome  the  coming"  or  "  speed  the  going 
guest."  To  all  these  charming  scenes,  and  the  cher- 
ished associations  of  their  native  land,  the  emigrants 
were  now  compelled  to  bid  a  final  farewell,  as  the 
vessel,  weighing  anchor  and  steering  down  the  bay, 
entered  the  Irish  Sea,  and  taking  a  southerly  course 
through  St.  George's  Channel,  along  the  coast  of  Wales, 
whose  lofty  mountains  became  distinctly  visible,  passed 
out  at  length  into  the  broad  Atlantic. 

A  departure  to  a  distant  land,  with  its  last  farewells 
to  beloved  friends  and  familiar  scenes,  has  in  it  much 
of  the  bitterness  of  death.  Tt  brings,  at  least,  home  to 
the  heart,  the  griefs,  unce.  ictinties  and  fears  attendant 
upon  a  protracted  separation ;  and  the  radical  idea  in 
death  is  separation,  of  which,  to  the  Irish  emigrant  and 


NEWS  FROM  A  FAR  COUNTRT. 


85 


his  family,  the  trackless  ocean,  with  its  seemingly  bound- 
less extent  and  unfathomed  mysteries,  becomes  at  once 
the  emblem  and  the  instrument.  These  feelings  were 
most  fully  realized  in  the  family  home-circle  at  Rich- 
Hill,  in  which  a  once  honored  seat  remained  vacant, 
and  the  venerated  form  of  a  beloved  father  was  seen  no 
more.  In  all  the  buoyancy  of  youthful  hope,  Alex- 
ander Campbell  nevertheless  addressed  himself  to  his 
labors,  conducting  the  school  energetically  according  to 
iirrangements,  and  assisting  his  mother  in  the  care  of 
the  family,  managing  everything  with  such  vicacity  and 
cheerfulness  as  to  revive  the  spirits  of  all,  like  a  plea- 
sant sunshine  after  a  day  of  gloom. 

After  some  three  months  had  passed  away,  he  re- 
ceived with  great  joy  a  letter  from  his  father  announ- 
cing his  safe  arrival  at  Philadelphia,  after  a  prosperous 
voyage  of  thirty-five  days,  which,  at  that  time,  was 
reckoned  a  speedy  trip.  It  stated  that  he  had  been  so 
highly  favored  as  to  find  the  Anti-Burgher  Synod  *  of 
North  x\merica  then  assembled  in  the  city,  and  had 
been  very  kindly  received  by  the  members  upon  pre- 
senting his  testimonials  from  the  Presbytery  of  Market 
Hill  and  the  church  at  Ahorey.  This  letter  is  dated 
May  27,  1807,  and  continues  as  follows  : 

"What  a  debtor  am  I  to  the  grace  of  God!  and  what  a 
debtor  are  you,  my  dear  Jane,  and  you,  my  dear  little  ones,  for 
whom  I  am  ardently  praying  to  that  gracious  God  that  hears 
and  helps  and  saves  all  that  call  upon  him  in  truth  !  for  these 
kindnesses  conferred  upon  me  are  also  for  your  sakes,  that, 
through  his  mercy,  we  may  yet  praise  him  together  in  the 
congregation  of  his  people.    To  call  this  in  question  would 


*  The  only  Seceders  in  the  United  States  were  attached  to  this  Synod,  as 
the  Burghers  nevg-  had  any  distinct  organization  in  America. 


S6 


MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBEL.,. 


be  to  belie  his  goodness.  And  you,  dear  Alexander,  upon 
whom  the  burden  lies  at  present,  and  must  for  some  little 
time  longer — I  hope  not  longer  than  we  expected  at  our  part- 
ing— be  sure  you  make  it  your  chief  studv  to  do  all  to  j^lease  . 
and  nothing  to  offend  that  great  God  who  has  raised  such 
friends  and  conferred  such  friendships  upon  your  father,  both 
at  home  and  abroad,  and  especially  when  he  became  a 
stranger  in  a  strange  land.  But  what  do  I  say  }  A  minister  or 
a  member  of  Christ's  Church  is  a  citizen  of  the  world,  as  far  as 
the  Church  extends.  *  ♦  *  *  ^vly  dear  Jane,  let  notliing 
discourage  you.  Turn  to  God  ;  make  his  word  and  will  your 
constant  study,  and  rely  upon  it  that  as  •  the  days  wherein 
you  will  have  seen  and  years  3'ou  gi'ief  have  had,'  so  the 
Lord  will  make  you  ghid,  and  satisfy  you  witli  his  tender 
mercies.  My  dear  children,  let  me  address  you  together :  if 
you  have  any  sympathy,  any  sincere  affection  for  a  fatlier  who 
cannot  cease  to  love  you  and  pray  for  you  so  long  as  his  heart 
shall  beat  or  tongue  be  able  to  articulate,  see  that  you  follow 
tlie  directions  that  I  gave  you  at  my  parting,  whether  by  word 
or  writing.  Be  a  comfort  to  N  our  mother  ;  love,  cherish  and 
pity  one  anotlier.  Love  tlie  Lord  your  God  ;  love  his  Son 
Jesus  Christ,  and  pray  to  the  Lord  constantly  and  ardendy  for 
me  your  poor  father,  who  longs  after  you  all.  and  who  cannot 
rest,  if  the  Lord  will,  till  he  has  prepared  a  place  of  residence 
for  vou  all.  where  I  ti'ust  we  shall  spend  the  rest  of  our  days 
together  in  his  sen-ice." 

This  letter  also,  together  with  others  breathing  the 
same  affectionate  and  religious  spirit,  Alexander  rever- 
entially copied  upon  the  pages  of  his  note-book,  in 
which  he  had  already  numerous  selections  from  Young, 
Johnson,  Buffbn,  Beattie.  and  other  esteemed  authors; 
for  it  was  his  custom  to  write  down,  for  his  future  use, 
and  in  order  to  impress  them  the  more  upon  his 
memory,  those  passages  in  the  books  he  read  that 
particularly  pleased  him. 


CHAPTER  VI. 


Merited  Confidence — Preparations  for  Departure — Delays — Embarkation. 

IT  is  the  sense  of  what  we  seem  to  others  that  moulds 
and  fashions  human  character.  This  may  be  rough- 
hewn  by  Nature,  but  it  is  the  consciousness  of  the 
judgment  of  others,  the  praise  of  those  we  esteem,  the 
criticism  we  fear,  the  model  we  admire,  that  will  modify 
its  form  and  determine  its  features.  Hence  the  opinion 
which  a  friend  entertains  of  another's  virtues  or  abilities 
becomes  to  him  often  a  standard  to  which  he  insensibly 
labors  to  conform  ;  and  the  confidence  reposed  in  him 
becomes  one  of  the  most  powerful  motives  to  deserve  it. 
In  the  education  of  youth,  therefore,  encouragement  ^ 
and  trust  are  needed,  rather  than  censure  or  suspicion ; 
and  the  '"love  that  belie veth  all  things'*  and  '*hopeth 
all  things"  will  accomplish  more  than  the  skepticism 
which  doubts  or  the  austerity  that  chills  the  most 
generous  emotions.  It  was  upon  this  principle — which, 
indeed  is  the  same  which  underlies  the  profound  phi- 
losophy of  the  gospel  itself — that  Thomas  Campbell 
acted  both  as  a  parent  and  as  a  teacher  ;  and  the  frank 
contidence  now  reposed  in  Alexander,  in  committing  to 
him  so  important  a  charge  as  the  management  of  the 
academy  and  the  family,  became  to  him  not  only  a  flat- 
tering evidence  of  his  fathers  high  appreciation  of  his 
abilities  and  his  principles,  but  a  powerful  incentive  to  ^ 
him  lo  show  that  this  confidence  was  not  unmerited. 

8T 


SS         MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


He  continued  his  labors,  therefore,  with  that  careful 
punctuahty  to  which  he  had  been  accustomed,  and  con- 
ducted the  school  successfully  to  the  close  of  the  term. 

No  other  letters  being  as  yet  received  from  America 
in  reference  to  removal,  and  his  uncle  Archibald  at  this 
time  greatly  desiring  his  assistance,  he  now  went  over 
to  Newry  and  took  charge  of  a  number  of  private 
classes.    Here    he  continued,  frequently  seeing  the 
family  at  Rich-Hill  and  providing  for  their  comfort, 
until  the  month  of  March,  1808,  when  a  letter  was  at 
length  received  from  his  father,  urging  immediate  de- 
parture, and  referring,  for  general  advices,  to  other 
letters  written  in  the  preceding  November,  but  which^ 
as  it  now  appeared,  had  failed  to  reach  their  destination. 
He  learned,  by  the  letter  now  received,  that  his  father 
had  been,  at  his  request,  assigned  by  the  Synod  at 
Philadelphia  to  the  Presbytery  of  Chartiers,  embracing 
Washington  county,  in  Western  Pennsylvania,  where 
some  of  his  former  neighbors  had  already  settled,  and 
whither  James  Foster  and  his  party  were  bound.  After 
spending  a  short  time  very  pleasantly  with  the  Seceder 
ministers   and  the  acquaintances  he  had  formed  in 
Philadelphia,  he  had  proceeded  over  the  mountains  to- 
Washington,  Pennsylvania,  from  which  town  the  letter 
was  dated,  January  i,  1808.    James  Foster  and  his 
friends,  it  appeared,  had  landed  at  Philadelphia  five 
weeks  after  his  arrival  there,  and,  coming  on  to  Wash- 
ington county,  had  found  him  there  already  engaged  in 
ministerial  labor.    The  following  extract  from  his  letter 
will  show  how  earnest  and  unceasing  were  the  aspira- 
tions of  this  excellent  man  for  entire  consecration  of 
heart  and  life  to  the  service  of  God, 


"  I  have  been  encompasse    with  mercies  from  the  day  1 


LETTER  FROM  THOMAS  CAMPBELL. 


39 


left  you  until  this  day — not  the  slightest  accident  by  <jea  oi 
land  has  befallen  me.  *  *  *  *  '^ly  confidence  toward 
God  in  behalf  of  you  all,  to  whose  gracious  providence  and 
merciful  protection  I  have  heartily  resigned  you,  keeps  mv 
mind  in  perfect  peace.  I  feel  greatly  comforted  in  pouring 
out  my  heart's  desire  to  the  God  of  all  mercy  for  the  pre- 
Sr'n'ation  and  salvation  of  my  family.  I  do  not  know  but 
that  I  have  felt  more  solemn,  elevated  pleasure  in  this  grateful 
exercise  since  I  set  my  foot  in  this  land  of  peace,  liberty  and 
prosperity,  than  I  could  have  done  in  the  same  time  had  I 
remained  in  the  midst  of  you,  all  things  considered.  In  those 
happy  exercises  I  have  enjoyed  a  gracious  and  triumphant 
confidence  in  that  unlimited  power,  wisdom  and  goodness  to 
which  nothing  is  difficult,  much  less  impossible.  I  have  been 
enabled  to  cast  all  my  care  upon  the  Lord,  so  that  I  feel 
neither  anxious  nor  afraid  of  anything  upon  earth.  I  per- 
ceive myself  in  the  arms  of  Almighty  Goodness,  and  am 
greatly  comforted.  I  hope  the  receipt  of  this  will  find  you 
all  in  like  happy  circumstances.  If  you  knew  the  solid  and 
adequate  satisfaction  that  the  clear  apprehension  of  the  great 
gospel  of  the  grace  of  God  is  calculated  to  aflbrd,  and  does 
actually  afford  to  all  that  truly  know  and  embrace  it,  you 
would  earnestly  covet  this  happiness  and  spare  no  pains  to 
acquire  it.  Neither  is  it  hard  to  acquire.  Only  be  devoted 
to  God  ;  give  up  yourselves  to  the  diligent  study  and  practice 
of  his  holy  word,  looking  to  and  leaning  upon  the  promise 
of  his  Holy  Spirit,  which  he  freely  and  graciously  gives  to  all 
them  that  sincerely  and  heartily  seek  it,  to  enable  them  to 
know^  and  to  conform  to  his  will  in  all  things ;  and  you  shall 
know  the  truth  of  his  promise,  '  You  shall  not  walk  in  dark- 
ness, but  shall  have  the  light  of  life.'  You  shall  know  the 
only  true  God  and  Jesus  Christ  whom  he  has  sent ;  then  shall 
you  feel  yourselves  impregnable  as  the  Rock  of  Ages,  in 
whom  yju  put  your  trust.  'All  that  know  thy  name  shall 
piit  thei.  "^i-ust  in  thee,  and  they  that  put  their  trust  in  thee 
shall  never  be  confounded.'  Let  us  rejoice  ;  the  Lord  reigns  I 
and  his  servants  need  fear  no  evil.    Be  of  good  comfort 

8  * 


90         MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


through  his  grace,  and  cautiously  avoid  danger.  Omit  no 
opportunity  of  removing,  as  the  Lord  may  graciously  permit. 
The  merciful  providence  of  the  Lord  be  with  you.  Wishing 
you  a  happy  new  vear  under  his  gracious  auspices,  adieu. 

"  Thomas  Campbell." 

Immediately  upon  receipt  of  this  letter,  the  family 
began  to  make  the  necessary  arrangements  for  the 
contemplated  voyage.  When  nearly  ready,  however, 
an  unlooked-for  visitation  occasioned  further  delav. 
That  dreaded  disease,  the  small-pox,  happened  just  at 
this  time  to  visit  Rich-Hill.  Alexander,  with  his  ac- 
customed promptitude,  at  once  suggested  to  his  mother 
the  propriety  of  having  inoculation  performed  upon  all 
the  members  of  the  household  who  had  not  yet  had 
the  disease.  This  was  the  method  of  protection  then 
generally  employed,  as  vaccination  had  not  yet  come 
much  into  use.  The  discovery,  in  fact,  had  been  pub- 
lished by  Jenner  only  in  1798,  and  it  was  several  years 
before  its  efficacy  was  fully  confirmed,  the  British  gov- 
ernment not  taking  it  under  its  protection  until  1808. 
It  happened,  however,  that  before  the  necessary  pre- 
paration could  be  made,  some  of  the  younger  children 
were  found  to  have  caught  the  infection.  Fortunately, 
most  of  the  cases  assumed  a  mild  form,  Jane  being  the 
only  one  w^ho  had  it  very  severely.  She  was  then  in 
her  eighth  year,  and  a  beautiful  child,  extremely  fair 
and  blooming,  with  light  flaxen  hair ;  but  her  beauty 
was  considerably  marred  and  her  face  deeply  marked 
by  the  disease. 

As  soon  as  all  were  convalescent,  preparations  for 
departure  were  resumed  ;  but  it  was  August  before  they 
were  completed.  On  the  20th  of  this  month  Alexander 
set  out  on  horseback  for  Londonderry,  to  make  ar- 
rangements for  their  embarkation.    The  distance  being 


VISIT  TO  LONDONDERRY. 


91 


sixty  miles,  he  was  occupied  two  days  in  making  the 
trip,  greatly  admiring,  as  he  passed  along,  the  beauty 
of  the  scenery,  now  enhanced  by  the  contrast  of  the 
golden  grain-fields  with  the  green  meadows  and  pasture 
lands.  Upon  reaching  the  city,  he  stopped  at  an  inn 
belonging  to  a  Mr.  William  Wilson,  merchant,  and 
proceeded  to  make  inquiry  in  regard  to  vessels  for 
America.  He  took  this  opportunity  to  visit  also  those 
parts  of  the  city  and  its  vicinity  which  had  been  ren- 
dered interesting  by  the  memorable  siege.  The  place 
was  shown  where  Lundy,  the  treacherous  governor, 
.  who  was  disposed  to  surrender  the  city,  let  himself 
down  from  the  wall  by  the  assistance  of  a  pear  tree, 
and  made  his  escape  to  the  enemy,  to  avoid  being  torn 
to  pieces  by  the  citizens.  Upon  his  departure.  Baker 
and  Walker  were  elected  governors,  and  the  most 
vigorous  measures  adopted  for  defence.  For  many 
weeks  all  the  efforts  to  take  the  town  by  storm  were 
gallantly  repulsed ;  upon  which  the  siege  was  changed 
into  a  blockade,  and  all  the  avenues  of  assistance  care- 
fully secured.  The  supplies  in  the  city  were  short,  yet 
the  people  manfully  held  out,  even  when  they  had  to 
assuage  their  hunger  by  gnawing  salted  hides,  when 
rats  became  dainty  fare,  and  dogs,  fattened  on  the 
blood  of  the  slain,  were  luxuries  that  few  could  pur- 
chase— the  price  of  a  whelp's  paw  being,  as  Macaulay 
informs  us,  five  shillings  and  sixpence.  At  length,  at 
the  end  of  one  hundred  and  five  days,  the  boom 
stretched  across  the  Foyle,  a  mile  and  a  half  below, 
was  broken  by  ships  bearing  provisions,  and  the  city, 
which  by  no  art  could  have  held  out  two  days  longer, 
was  happily  saved.  iVlexander  found  the  walls  very 
high,  especially  next  the  sea,  and  so  broad  at  top  that 
a  coach  and  four  could  be  driven  upon  them,  though. 


9-         MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL, 


at  the  time  of  the  siege,  the  defences  were  in  a  very 
poor  condition.  He  was  pleased  with  the  wide  streets, 
the  old-fashioned  houses,  and  particularly  with  the  fine 
public  square,  upon  which  fronted  some  of  the  best 
houses  in  the  city.  He  visited  the  place  where  the 
great  boom  had  been  stretched  across  the  Foyle,  and 
saw  the  rugged  mass  of  rock  to  which  it  had  been 
attached  upon  the  left  bank  by  a  cable  a  foot  thick. 
Near  by  was  also  the  well  from  which  the  besiegers 
drank,  and  the  burial-ground  where  they  laid  their 
slain,  and  where  the  spade  of  the  gardener  occasionally 
still  turns  up  some  of  their  mouldering  bones.  Having  . 
completed  his  examinations,  and  visited  the  vessel  in 
which  he  expected  to  sail,  he  made  a  conditional  en- 
gagement with  the  captain,  and  returned  home  after 
what  was  to  him  a  very  pleasant  excursion. 

As  the  vessel  was  not  likely  to  sail  for  some  time, 
and  some  of  his  acquaintances  were  about  to  visit 
Dublin,  he  concluded  to  accompany  them,  in  order  to 
have  a  better  idea  of  his  own  country  before  leaving  it, 
and  to  be  enabled  to  compare  it  with  other  lands.  He 
set  ofT,  accordingly,  for  the  metropolis  by  stage  on  the 
2d  of  September,  and  arrived  safely  at  half-past  six  in 
the  evening.  Dublin  is  a  very  old  city,  having  been 
spoken  of  by  Ptole-my,  who  flourished  in  the  reign  of 
Antoninus  Pius,  about  A.  D.  140,  and  who  then  called 
it  a  city — Eblana  Ci vitas.*  From  the  elegance  of  its 
architecture,  the  number  of  its  public  buildings,  the 
magniticence  of  its  quays,  docks,  and  many  of  its  streets, 
Dublin  is  regarded  by  tourists  of  discrimination  as  one 
of  the  finest  capitals  in  Europe.    There  are  few  points, 


*  It  is  t..oufi;ht  by  many  that  in  Latinizing  the  word  Huhlin,  the  initial  D 
was  accide-ta.  y  omitted,  and  that  Eblana  shoiild  be  Deblana. 


VISIT  TO  THE  CITY  OF  DUBLIN, 


93 


in  the  approaches  by  land,  which  afford  a  good  view  of 
the  city ;  that  from  Phoenix  Park  being  perhaps  the 
best.  The  scenery,  however,  on  entering  the  bay 
between  Howth  and  Dalkey  Island,  is  extremely  fine. 
Bold  promontories,  green  sloping  pastures,  neat  villas 
are  seen,  and  especially  among  the  latter,  the  elegant 
seat  of  Lord  Charlemont.  Several  beautiful  islands 
present  a  picturesque  appearance,  while,  behind  them, 
appear  the  Rochetown  hills,  and,  still  further  back  a 
varied  prospect  of  villas,  woods  and  pastures,  terminated 
grandly  by  the  distant  Wicklow  Mountains.  Within  the 
city  itself  there  are  some  charming  prospects,  especially 
that  from  Carlisle  Bridge.  On  the  right  is  Sackville 
street,  one  of  the  most  splendid  in  the  world,  terminated 
by  the  Rotunda  and  Rutland  Square.  On  the  left, 
Westmoreland  street,  with  elegant  buildings,  terminated 
on  one  side  by  Trinity  College  and  on  the  other  by  tiie 
Bank  of  Ireland.  In  front  is  the  river  Anna  Liffey, 
which  passes  through  the  midst  of  the  city,  witli  its 
eight  beautiful  bridges  and  spacious  quays,  parapetted 
with  granite,  and  extending  for  two  miles  and  a  quarter 
along  the  wide  open  space  which  passes  quite  through 
the  city,  and  in  the  centre  of  which  the  river  flows  with 
a  lively  current.  In  the  distance,  the  Four  Courts  are 
seen  on  Inns-Quay ;  the  Phoenix  Park  also ;  while, 
toward  the  east,  the  magnificent  Custom-House  ap- 
pears, and  the  fine  harbor,  crowded,  as  far  as  the  eye 
can  reach,  with  vessels  of  all  descriptions. 

The  morning  after  his  arrival  he  sallied  forth  to  view 
the  city.  As  he  kept  a  journal  of  his  visit,  his  impres- 
sions may  perhaps  be  best  learned  from  his  own  words  : 

"The  principal  things  that  drew  my  attention  this  day 
were  the  Linen-Hall,  the  infirmaries,  hospitals  and  other 
eleemosynary  superstructures.    The  Linen-Hall  is  a  very  ex- 


94         MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


tensive  and  elegant  building,  built  in  long  squares,  with  doors- 
opening  into  a  very  wide  common  hall.  In  the  rooms  there 
are  offices  and  other  accommodations  for  the  merchants.  * 
*  *  *  The  poor-houses,  infirmaries  and  hospitals  are 
numerous  and  elegantly  conducted.  In  one  of  the  foundling 
hospitals  I  saw  about  a  thousand  male  and  female  children 
dine  together  in  one  apartment.  Their  repast  consisted  of 
white  bread,  with  a  portion  of  bursted  barley,  which  is  not 
their  usual  repast.  One  of  the  children,  about  twelve  years- 
old,  gave  thanks  in  a  small  pulpit  before  and  after  dinner ; 
and  before  they  dispersed  the  female  part  sang  a  part  of  a 
hymn.  *  *  *  *  From  the  whole  I  obsei^ved  the  good 
and  happy  effects  of  economy,  regularity  and  good  discipline. 
The  next  thing  that  engaged  my  attention  was  the  cradle,, 
where  I  admired  the  care  that  was  taken  of  the  infants  of  a 
hundred  parents — poor  children  whose  hearts  shall  never 
glow  with  filial  affection,  who  shall  never  feel  the  benign 
effects  of  parental  love,  and  whose  souls  shall  never  be  knit 
together  by  the  ties  of  brotherly  affection  or  tender  regard. 
Yet  even  these  are  not  forgotten  by  the  Almighty  Father. 
They  have  been  snatched  from  the  hand  of  cruel  parents, 
whose  awful  wickedness  might  have  led  them  (were  not  this 
means  appointed  for  their  preservation)  to  imbrue  their  hands 
in  their  innocent  blood. 

"  Next  day,  being  the  Sabbath,  we  went  to  Back-lane  and 
neard  the  Rev.  Samuel  Craig  deliver  a  very  elegant  discourse 
from  these  words  :  '  Fear  not,  little  flock  ;  it  is  my  Father's 
good  pleasure  to  give  you  the  kingdom.'  Monday  I  spent 
walking  up  and  down  for  amusement,  viewing  the  canals, 
bridges,  etc.,  and  going  out  of  the  city  a  few  miles  to  where 
I  might  have  a  good  prospect.  I  also  visited  the  Royal  Ex- 
change, and  saw  the  most  respectable  part  of  the  merchants 
of  Dublin  assembled  to  do  business. 

"  Tuesday  I  went  with  a  party  to  the  Botanic  Gardens^ 
where  we  saw  the  vegetable  wo'  ld  in  miniature.  The  Gar- 
dens contain  about  sixteen  acres.  Here  are  the  productions 
of  the  torrid  zone,  reared  by  the    ^.ost  assiduous  care  under 


DEPARTURE  FOR  AMERICA 


95 


glass — the  herbs  of  sandy  Africa  and  all  the  plants  of  ♦he 
Indies.  Here  are  themes  sufficient  for  the  naturalist,  the 
horticulturist  and  the  botanist.  Wednesday,  I  paid  a  visit 
to  the  Museum,  where  I  was  greatly  delighted  with  the 
elegance  of  the  appearance,  the  vast  variety  of  curiosities^ 
that  presented  themselves  to  my  view.  Birds  of  every  species, 
preserved  in  full  form,  drew  my  attention  on  one  hand  ;  on 
the  other,  the  beasts  of  the  forest  and  the  tenants  of  the  main.- 
Add  to  these,  the  great  variety  of  terrene  and  marine  produc- 
tions ;  the  works  of  nature  and  of  art ;  the  whole  tribe  of 
insects ;  the  medals  and  coins  of  other  years,  and  specimens- 
from  the  mines  and  minerals  of  many  nations.  *  *  *  * 
Same  day,  I  took  a  walk  round  the  College  and  the  College 
Green,  and  conversed  with  one  of  the  students.  The  College 
is  one  superb  square,  and  the  Green  delightful.  The  public 
buildings  in  Dublin  are  elegantly  magnificent :  the  most 
superb  street  is  Sackville  street,  where  there  was  a  monument 
erecting  in  memory  of  Lord  Nelson.  Dublin  is  a  little  world 
in  itself.  The  inhabitants  are  numerous,  and  in  general 
hospitable  and  generous.  During  my  stay,  I  stopped  at  the 
house  of  Mr.  Lukey,  a  respectable  and  worthy  gentleman.*' 

On  Thursday  he  returned  home  and  continued  his 
preparations  for  the  voyage,  which  being  completed  by 
the  20th  of  September,  the  whole  family  set  out  that 
day  for  Londonderry,  where  they  arrived  safely  in  four 
days.  Their  ship,  the  Hibernia,  was,  however,  not  yet 
ready  to  sail,  and  they  were  detained  here  eight  days 
waiting  upon  it.  At  length,  on  the  28th  of  September, 
the  vessel  weighed  anchor  in  Lough  Foyle,  with  the 
design  of  putting  out  to  sea,  but,  the  wind  soon  proving 
adverse,  cast  anchor  again.  On  the  ist  of  October 
(1808),  wind  and  tide  being  favorable,  she  hoisted  sail 
and  took  her  departure,  firing  off,  by  way  of  adieu, 
the  ten  pieces  of  cannon  with  which  she  was  armed. 
Toward  evening,  when  near  the  mouth  of  the  Lough,. 


9^         MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


the  wind  failed  and  the  anchor  was  cast  for  the  night. 
Next  morning,  which  was  the  Lord's  day,  the  wind 
again  favoring,  they  passed  out  into  the  Atlantic,  but 
came  to  anchor  again  not  far  from  Innishowen,  from 
which  place  some  of  the  passengers  desired  to  obtain 
their  supply  of  whisky.  It  began  now  to  appear  that 
the  ship,  though  strongly  built  and  a  good  sailer,  was 
very  poorly  manned  and  managed.  The  captain,  Jacob 
Jumer,  was  self-willed  and  given  withal  to  drink.  The 
sailors  were  mostly  young  and  inexperienced.  The 
mate,  Mr.  Ryan,  was  evidently  the  only  good  seaman 
on  board,  and  he  and  a  Dutchman,  who  was  a  good 
hand,  seemed  to  be  equal  to  the  half  of  the  crew,  which 
consisted  of  twelve,  including  the  cook's  mate  and 
cabin-boy.  A  large  number  of  passengers  had  been 
taken  on  board,  many  of  whom  were  Catholics,  having 
a  priest  along  with  them.  Comfortable  quarters  had 
been  obtained,  somewhat  apart,  for  Mrs.  Campbell  and 
her  family,  where  they  read  books,  conversed  with  each 
other,  attended  to  their  usual  family  duties,  and  where 
Alexander  conducted  their  worship  regularly  morning 
and  evening.  He  had  now  just  entered  upon  his 
twenty-tirst  year.  He  was  tall,  athletic  and  well-pro- 
portioned, with  much  of  that  bloom  and  freshness  in 
his  complexion  so  common  in  the  youth  of  Ireland. 
He  had  an  air  of  frankness  about  him,  blended  with 
decision  and  self-reliance,  which  at  once  inspired  re- 
spect ;  yet  he  was  affable  and  fond  of  conversing  with 
others  and  eliciting  information.  The  next  in  age,  his 
sister  Dorothy,  now  in  her  sixteenth  year,  was  some- 
what tall  and  slender,  but  erect  in  carriage,  with  regu- 
lar features,  having  an  intelligent  and  thoughtful  expres- 
sion. She  was  well  versed  in  the  Scriptures,  having  a 
fine  memory  and  a  strong,  masculine  understanding. 


FAMILY  ON  SHIPBOARD. 


97 


resembling  in  this  respect  her  brother  Alexander  more 
than  any  of  the  family.  Next  to  her  was  her  sister 
Nancy,  about  thirteen,  more  like  her  father  in  figure,  and 
of  a  very  quiet  and  retiring  disposition.  Jane  was  the 
next  in  age,  and  now  in  her  ninth  year,  had  just  re- 
covered from  her  tedious  confinement  with  the  small- 
pox, which,  though  it  had  destroyed  the  beauty  of  her 
complexion,  left  still  a  very  engaging  face,  with  hand- 
some features  and  bright,  expressive  eyes.  Thomas,  a 
boy  of  over  six  years,  of  an  extremely  active  and 
restless  temperament,  with  the  two  younger,  Archibald 
and  Alicia,  of  four  and  two  years  respectively,  as  yet 
mere  children,  were  their  mother's  especial  care  to 
guard  them  from  the  unaccustomed  dangers  of  the  ship. 
All  of  them,  in  the  novel  circumstances  in  which  they 
were  now  placed,  realized  more  fully  than  ever  the  fam- 
ily and  social  ties  that  bound  them  to  each  other,  and 
endeavored  to  make  each  other  as  happy  as  possible,  in 
the  expectation  of  soon  reaching  Philadelphia,  to  which 
port  the  ship  was  bound.  But  a  very  different  destina- 
tion awaited  her. 

vol-  I.— G  9 


CHAPTER  VII. 


At  Sea — Scottish  Coast — Imminent  Peril — Determinations — Rescue — Views. 


O  abandon  for  ever  one's  native  land,  with  all  its- 


endearing  associations,  naturally  gives  rise  to 
emotions  of  sadness.  Such  were  the  feelings  of  Thomas 
Campbell's  family  when  the  vessel,  setting  sail  again, 
on  the  following  morning,  gradually  left  the  shores  of 
green  Erin  in  the  dim  and  misty  distance.  But  the 
remembrance  of  a  beloved  husband  and  father  waiting 
to  receive  them  in  the  Western  World,  the  hopeful 
buoyancy  of  youth,  and  the  strange  groups  and  ever- 
shifting  scenes  on  board  the  vessel,  soon  gave  rise  to 
other  and  more  cheerful  thoughts. 

The  wind  in  the  early  part  of  the  day  was  fair,  but 
toward  evening,  off  Malin  Head,  it  became  adverse, 
and  increased  so  much  in  force  that  the  ship  was  unable 
to  make  head  against  it,  even  when  close-hauled.  It 
became  necessary,  therefore,  to  take  in  sail  and  run 
before  the  wind  all  night.  Next  morning  they  found 
themselves  near  the  coast  of  Scotland,  which,  from 
their  position  on  the  previous  day,  lay  only  about  thirty 
miles  to  the  north-east.  As  they  approached  the  shore,, 
it  appeared  very  rocky  and  dangerous,  but  the  captain 
succeeded  in  running  the  vessel  into  a  very  crooked 
bay  which  happened  to  be  near.  Neither  he  nor  the 
sailors  appeared  to  know  precisely  on  what  part  of  the 


of  Prayer. 


98 


PREMONITIONS  OF  DANGER. 


99 


<:oast  the}'  were  ;  but  some  time  after  daybreak  pilots 
came  on  board  and  informed  them  that  they  were  in 
Lochin-Daal  Bay,  on  the  coast  of  the  island  of  Islay ; 
bidding  that  this  part  of  the  bay  was  very  unsafe,  many 
vessels  having  been  wrecked  there.  They  therefore 
advised  the  captain  to  proceed  on  further,  to  a  better 
harbor  near  a  small  village  called  Bowmore,  which  was 
the  chief  town  of  the  island.  The  captain,  however, 
being  resolved  to  go  out  to  sea  again  as  soon  as  ever 
the  wind  would  permit,  concluded  to  remain  for  the 
present  where  he  was,  and  accordingly  cast  anchor. 

Here  they  remained  for  three  entire  days,  the  wind 
continuing  still  unfavorable.  During  this  period,  Alex- 
ander occupied  himself  in  observing  the  motley  crowd 
of  passengers,  in  conversing  occasionally  with  the 
more  intelligent,  and  in  reading  some  of  the  books  he 
had  selected  for  the  voyage.  Some  of  the  Catholics  on 
board,  having  heard  him  engage  in  prayer  with  the 
family  at  morning  and  evening  worship,  seemed  in- 
clined to  show  their  contempt  for  Protestants  by  occa- 
sionally requesting  him,  in  a  bantering  tone,  to  pray  for 
them.  To  such  jeers,  however,  he  paid  no  attention, 
knowing  well  the  ignorance  and  the  bigotry  by  which 
they  were  dictated. 

On  the  evening  of  the  7th  October,  the  ship  still 
riding  at  anchor  in  the  bay,  and  no  appearance  of  any 
threatening  danger,  a  singular  circumstance  occurred 
to  him.  After  having  attended  to  family  worship  and 
Scripture  recitation  as  usual,  he  had  reclined  upon  one 
of  the  sofas,  and  was  readincj  aloud  to  his  sister  Doro- 
thea  in  "Boston's  Fourfold  State."  Finding,  after  some 
time,  that  she  was  becoming  drowsy,  he  ceased  read- 
ing, and  soon  afterward  himself  fell  into  a  somewhat 
uneasy  slumbei .    At  length  he  started  up  with  evident 


lOO       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  LAMPBELL. 


marks  of  alarm,  and  told  his  mother  and  sisters  that  he 
was  confident  a  great  danger  was  impending,  and  that 
he  feared  they  were  about  to  be  shipwrecked.  He  said 
he  had  just  had  a  most  vivid  dream,  in  which  he 
thought  the  ship  had  struck  upon  a  rock,  and  that  the 
water  came  rushing  in  and  nearly  filled  the  vessel. 
He  thought  he  had  been  making  the  most  strenuous 
exertions  to  save  the  family  and  secure  their  luggage ; 
and  so  strong  was  the  impression  made  upon  his  mind 
that  he  said,  ''I  will  not  undress  to-night.  I  will  lay 
my  shoes  within  my  reach,  and  be  ready  to  rise  at  a 
moment's  v*'arning ;  and  I  would  advise  you  all  to  be 
prepared  for  an  emergency." 

All  having  at  length  retired  to  their  berths,  the  decks 
and  cabins  became  quiet,  and  no  noise  was  heard  but 
the  dull  sound  of  the  waves  as  they  dashed  against  the 
sides  of  the  vessel,  the  whistling  of  the  wind  through 
the  rigging,  or  the  creaking  of  the  cables  as  the  ship 
began  to  strain  upon  them  more  and  more.  Finally, 
about  ten  o'clock,  the  wind,  veering  toward  the  south, 
increased  rapidly  to  a  severe  gale,  blowing  directly  into 
the  bay.  In  a  few  moments  the  passengers  were  sud- 
denly aroused  by  a  violent  shock,  accompanied  with  the 
crashing  sound  of  breaking  timbers  and  the  rushing 
of  water  into  the  main  hold  of  the  vessel.  Instantly 
all  was  commotion  and  terror.  The  ship,  it  appeared, 
had  dragged  her  anchors,  and  had  been  dashed  upon  a 
sunken  rock,  which  had  penetrated  her  bottom,  while 
the  force  of  the  wind  and  waves  had  thrown  her  almost 
upon  her  beam-ends.  As  the  passengers  scrambled  to 
the  upper  deck,  they  found  the  captain  calling  up  all 
hands  to  cut  away  the  masts.  In  the  confusion,  how- 
ever, but  a  single  axe  could  be  found.  With  this  the 
sailors  commenced  to  hew  at  the  masts,  while  some  of 


DECISION  IN  TIME  OF  PERIL. 


lOI 


the  passengers  who  had  broadswords  assisted  with 
these  in  cutting  away  the  stays.  The  masts  being  at 
length  cut  and  falHng  overboard,  the  ship  righted  to 
some  extent,  fortunately  still  remaining  upon  the  rock, 
upon  which  she  seemed  to  settle  more  firmly  as  she 
gradually  filled  with  w^ater.  All  the  passengers,  with 
whatever  baggage  they  could  rescue,  were  now  crowded 
upon  the  upper  deck,  exposed  to  the  fury  of  the  ele- 
ments, as  wave  after  wave  of  immense  size  ap- 
proached and  broke  upon  the  vessel,  sweeping  the 
deck  and  threatening  instant  destruction.  The  captain 
now  ordered  minute-guns  to  be  fired  in  token  of  dis- 
tress, but  such  was  the  noise  of  winds  and  waves  that 
it  seemed  impossible  that  they  could  be  heard  on  shore. 
The  situation,  indeed,  appeared  to  all  to  be  desperate 
— the  violence  of  the  storm  continuing,  the  long  and 
dreary  night  before  them,  and  no  prospect  of  any 
human  help. 

It  was  now^  that  Alexander,  having  done  all  that  was 
possible  for  the  present  safety  of  his  charge,  abandoned 
himself  to  reflection  as  he  sat  on  the  stump  of  the 
broken  mast,  and,  in  the  near  prospect  of  death,  felt, 
as  never  before,  the  vanity  of  the  aims  and  ambitions  of 
human  life.  The  world  now  seemed  to  him  a  worth- 
less void,  and  all  its  attractions  a  vain,  delusive  show^ 
Kingdoms,  thrones  and  sceptres  could  not,  he  thought, 
if  offered,  excite  one  wish  for  their  possession.  The 
true  objects  of  human  desire  and  the  true  purposes  of 
man's  creation  now  appeared  to  him  in  all  their  excel- 
lence and  glory.  He  thought  of  his  father's  noble  life, 
devoted  to  God  and  to  the  salvation  of  his  fellows- 
beings,  and  felt  that  such  a  calling,  consecrated  to  the 
elevation  and  everlasting  happiness  of  mankind,  was, 
indeed,  the  highest  and  most  worthy  sphere  of  action 


I02 


MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


in  which  anv  human  beino-  could  en<racre.  It  was  then 
in  that  solemn  hour,  that  he  gave  himself  up  wholly  to 
God,  and  resolved  that,  it*  saved  from  the  present  peril, 
he  would  certainly  spend  his  entire  life  in  the  ministry 
of  the  gospel.  It  was  at  this  moment  that  he,  for  the 
first  time,  fully  decided  upon  adopting  the  ministry  as 
his  profesiion. 

Calmly  submitting  himself  to  the  dispensations  of 
Heaven,  he  now  began  to  observe  the  conduct  of  the 
other  passengers.  Most  of  them  presented  the  aspect 
of  extreme  terror,  as  they  hopelessly  gazed  at  the 
careering  clouds  above  or  into  the  surrounding  gloom, 
or  shrunk  away  from  the  fury  of  the  dashing  waves. 
The  Catholics,  especially,  manifested  the  most  abject 
fear,  and  now,  no  longer  in  a  jeering  tone,  but  in  all 
sincerity  and  humility,  besought  him  to  pray  for  them. 
Some  of  them  were  telling  their  beads  and  muttering 
prayers  to  the  saints  ;  others  were  calling  aloud  on  the 
Virgin  Mary  and  the  angels  to  "fall  the  winds  and 
save  our  bodies  ;"  strangely  enough,  never  offering  a 
petition  for  the  salvation  of  their  souls.  Others  were 
busy  confessing  their  sins  to  the  priest,  who  was  grant- 
ing them  absolution  and  endeavoring  to  prepare  them 
for  what  seemed  their  inevitable  fate. 

Among  the  passengers,  however,  there  was  one  un- 
known female,  who,  amidst  all  the  dreadful  noise  and 
turmoil  of  the  elements  and  the  contagious  sympathy 
of  fear,  sat  quietly  by  herself,  nursing  her  babe.  This, 
under  the  circumstances,  appeared  to  the  Campbells 
very  singular,  and  it  indicates  their  comparative  calm- 
ness that  they  noticed  her  particularly,  as  she  sat  ap- 
parently unconscious  of  the  raging  winds  and  waves 
and  the  imminence  of  the  danger,  sheltering,  as  bes» 
she  could,  her  helpless  infant. 


EFFORTS  FOR  RESCUE. 


103 


Meanwhile,  upon  the  ill-fated  Hibernia,  the  rushing 
waves  and  the  pitiless  tempest  continued  to  beat  with 
unabated  fury,  and  the  dismal  hours  of  the  long  and 
dreary  night  passed  slowly  away.  About  five  o'clock, 
the  captain,  with  the  Catholic  priest  and  some  of  the 
crew,  resolved  to  make  an  effort  to  get  ashore  in  the 
long-boat.  They  succeeded  in  launching  the  boat  and 
getting  clear  of  the  ship,  but  upon  nearing  the  shore 
the  boat  upset  in  the  surf,  and  it  was  with  great  diffi- 
culty that,  by  swimming  and  wading,  they  at  length 
succeeded  in  reaching  the  land.  But  the  captain  and 
most  of  the  sailors  had  become  so  much  intoxicated  by 
the  time  they  reached  the  nearest  houses  that  they 
acted  in  a  rude  and  boisterous  manner,  and  were  un- 
able to  represent  properly  the  exigency  of  the  case,  so 
that  it  was  not  until  daylight  revealed  the  situation  of 
the  vessel  that  a  few  inhabitants  began  to  collect  upon 
the  beach. 

At  first,  the  passengers  doubted  whether  the  people 
who  appeared  on  the  barren  and  rocky  coast  were 
disposed  to  befriend  them,  or,  as  is  often  the  case,  to 
act  the  part  of  common  wreckers,  who  plunder  the  un- 
fortunate. It  soon  became  evident,  however,  from  the 
signals  they  made,  and  their  strenuous  efforts  to  launch 
the  boats  they  gathered  from  various  quarters,  that  their 
intentions  were  to  rescue  the  passengers  and  crew. 
All  their  efforts  to  board  the  vessel  by  means  of  their 
boats  proving  abortive,  in  consequence  of  the  force  of 
the  wind  and  waves  driving  shoreward,  the  passengers 
were  instructed  by  signals  to  tie  a  rope  to  an  empty 
cask  and  allow  it  to  drift  on  shore,  while  they  retained 
the  other  end.  The  cask  being  caught  on  shore,  its 
rope  was  immediately  transferred  to  the  prow  of  one  of 
the  boats,  which,  by  the  assistance  of  those  on  board 


'f04       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


the  ship,  was  then  successfully  dragged  through  the 
surf,  and  finally,  to  their  great  joy,  brought  alongside. 
It  was  now  decided  that  the  women  and  children  should 
be  taken  first  ashore,  but  some  men  seeming  resolved 
to  accompany  their  families,  the  more  resolute  passen- 
gers, drawing  their  swords,  stood  at  the  gangway,  and 
threatened  to  cut  down  any  man  that  dared  to  go  until 
all  the  weaker  portion  of  the  passengers  were  landed. 
The  arrangement  was  then  carried  out,  and  as  each 
boat-load  reached  the  shore,  the  boat  was  drawn  back 
as  before  for  others. 

Alexander  concluded  to  remain  for  the  last  boat,  and 
w^hile  the  others  were  going  ashore,  perceiving  that 
there  was  now  but  little  danger  of  loss  of  life,  he  began 
to  think  about  the  property  they  had  on  board.  Their 
trunks  and  boxes,  he  found,  were  floating  about  be- 
tween-decks,  and  among  them  a  large  cask  in  which 
he  had  packed  the  books.  He  at  once  determined  to 
save  these  if  possible,  but  as  there  was  now  no  tackle 
or  means  of  hoisting  the  cask  to  the  upper  deck,  he 
managed,  with  great  difficulty  and  at  the  imminent  risk 
of  his  life,  to  break  it  open  with  the  axe  and  throw  the 
books  upon  the  deck.  After  all,  however,  he  found  it 
was  impossible  to  convey  them  ashore  at  that  time,  and 
as  he  left  the  ship  with  the  last  of  the  passengers,  he 
was  reluctantly  compelled  to  leave  them  to  the  mercy 
of  the  elements.  It  was  now  about  two  o'clock,  and 
the  tide  was  at  the  ebb,  so  that  the  boat  ran  upon  a 
rock  a  good  distance  from  land,  and  Alexander,  with 
the  rest,  had  to  wade  ashore  with  no  little  difficulty  and 
danger  through  the  surf.  He  immediately  sought  out 
his  mother  and  the  family,  and  found  them  assembled 
safely  upon  a  large  rock,  where  they  all  rejoiced  to- 
gether at  their  merciful  deliverance,  while  the  rest  of 


KIND  RECEPTION  IN  I  SLAY. 


tue  passengers,  gathered  around  in  groups,  were  con- 
gratulating each  other  with  the  liveliest  demonstrations 
of  joy.  The  people  of  the  island  were  extremely  kind, 
supplying  food  and  drink  to  warm  and  refresh  the  be- 
numbed and  exhausted,  and  bringing  carts  to  convey 
to  the  village  the  luggage  which  was  from  time  to  time 
brought  ashore,  and  which  they  safely  deposited  in  the 
store-room  of  a  Mr.  Hector  Simpson,  a  merchant  of 
the  town. 

Every  arrangement  having  been  made  to  secure  as 
much  as  possible  of  the  propert}'  from  the  wreck,  the 
passengers  began  to  disperse  to  look  for  lodgings. 
Alexander  repaired  with  the  family  to  the  nearest  and 
most  respectable  house  he  saw,  and  all  were  very 
warmly  received  bv  the  owner,  a  widow  lady  possessed 
of  a  respectable  fortune,  and  having  a  family  of  grown- 
up daughters.  Her  husband  had  been  a  clergyman, 
and  was  said  to  have  translated  from  the  Gaelic  many 
of  the  fragments  regarded  as  the  poems  of  Ossian. 
This  lady's  maiden  name  was  Campbell ;  and  when  it 
was  discovered  that  her  guests  were  of  that  name,  she, 
as  well  as  all  the  rest  of  the  people,  seemed  to  redouble 
their  attentions,  for  as  it  now  appeared,  instead  of 
going  to  America,  they  had  been  thrown  directly  among 
the  Campbells  of  Argyleshire,  from  whom  they  de- 
duced their  lineage.  Having,  in  this  hospitable  man- 
sion, got  themselves  warmed,  dried  and  refreshed, 
along  with  many  others  of  the  passengers  they  pro  - 
ceeded to  the  town,  which  was  about  two  miles  off, 
where  they  obtained  lodgings  in  the  house  of  a  Mr. 
McCallister.  Here  they  meditated  with  grateful  hearts 
upon  the  eventful  scenes  through  which  they  had  just 
passed,  and  recalling  the  premonition  given  by  Alex- 
ander, were  assured  by  him  that  the  realit}',   as  it 


Io6       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


occurred,  was  precisely  what  appeared  to  him  in  the 
forewarning.  The  appearances  of  things  in  his  fancy 
had  been  verified  in  the  facts,  and  he  had  done  the  very 
things  he  supposed  himself  to  have  done  in  his  singular 
dream.  He  was  a  very  firm  believer  in  special  provi- 
dences, and  was  the  more  impressed  on  this  occasion 
as,  in  his  previous  history,  he  had  found  his  presenti- 
ments several  times  strangely  verified.  With  him, 
these  were  simply  facts  which  he  did  not  pretend  to 
explain  upon  natural  principles,  but  regarded  as  indica- 
tions of  God's  watchful  care  and  interest  in  the  affairs 
of  his  people. 

He  was  busily  occupied  for  some  days  afterward  in 
obtaining  from  the  wreck,  as  the  weather  would  permit, 
such  books,  clothing  and  other  property  as  had  not  been 
washed  overboard  or  otherwise  destroyed,  and  in  dry- 
ing his  books  and  preparing  them  to  be  repacked. 
Laird  Campbell,  of  Shawfield,  chief  ow^ner  of  the  island 
and  member  of  Parliament,  observing  his  books,  invited 
him  very  cordially  to  his  house,  and  treated  him  more 
like  a  relative  than  a  stranger.  Here  he  spent  many 
pleasant  hours,  as  well  as  at  the  house  of  Mr.  Simp- 
son, whose  wife  was  possessed  of  much  intelligence 
and  piety,  and  for  whom  he  conceived  a  very  high 
respect.  She  was  very  fond  of  reading  religious  books, 
and  seemed  to  feel  a  deep  interest  in  the  prosperity  of 
Christ's  kingdom.  Laird  Campbell  had  appointed  Mr. 
Simpson  to  take  charge  of  the  wreck  and  secure  the 
property  of  the  passengers,  to  whom  he  endeavored  to 
render  every  service  in  his  power.  Alexander  got 
acquainted  also  with  a  Mr.  Fulton,  a  very  godly  man, 
who  taught  the  principal  school,  and  also  kept  a  Sun- 
day-school for  the  benefit  of  the  people. 

A  portion  of  his  time  he  spent  in  viewing  the  island. 


THE  HEBRIDES  OR   WESTERN  ISLES.  107 

which  is,  in  some  parts,  hilly,  but  contains  a  consider- 
able amount  of  arable  land,  which  had  been  improved 
by  the  energetic  and  skillful  management  of  Laird 
Campbell.  Islay  has,  indeed,  been  always  noted  as 
the  most  fertile  of  all  the  Hebrides,  or  Isles  of  the  Gael. 
These  extend  along  nearly  the  whole  western  coast  of 
Scotland,  and  are  about  two  hundred  in  number,  of 
which  at  least  thirty  of  the  more  southern  appertain  to 
Argyleshire.  Of  these  latter,  Islay  is  by  far  the  most 
important.  In  former  times  it  was  the  chief  abode  of 
the  "Lords  of  the  Isles,"  who  often  maintained  an  au- 
thority independent  of  the  Scottish  Crown,  and  the 
ruins  of  whose  castles  and  strongholds,  situated  gene- 
rally on  cliffs  overhanging  the  ocean,  are  seen  at 
various  points,  as  along  the  coast  of  Mull  and  Ardna- 
murchan.  In  the  centre  of  Islay  there  is  a  lake  about 
three  miles  in  circumference,  called  Loch  Finlagan, 
from  an  island  situated  in  it,  in  which  the  great 
McDonald,  King  of  the  Isles,  formerly  had  his  resi- 
dence. Here  also  was  held,  we  are  told,  the  high 
court  of  judicature,  consisting  of  fourteen  members,  to 
which  there  was  an  appeal  from  all  the  courts  of  the 
isles,  the  chief  judge  receiving,  as  his  fee,  the  eleventh 
part  of  the  sum  in  dispute.  The  ruins  of  the  ancient 
edifices,  and  the  traditions  of  celebrated  chieftains  who 
had  lived  in  Islay,  as  lords  of  Innisgael,*  such  as 
"good  John  of  Islay"  and  "Ronald  of  the  Isles,"  who,  in 
his  castle  of  Dunnaverty,  protected  Bruce  in  his  distress, 
could  not  but  excite  a  deep  interest  in  the  mind  of  a 
youthful  traveler,  himself  not  unrelated  to  the  people 
among  whom  these  relics  and  histories  were  fondly 
cherished. 


*  Isles  of  the  Gael.  They  also  ruled  over  Ross-shire  and  other  parts  of 
the  adjacent  mainland. 


ioS        MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


On  the  second  Lord's  day  after  the  shipwreck,  the 
first  having  been  necessarily  occupied  in  attending  to- 
the  property  at  the  wreck,  he  visited  early  in  the  morn- 
ing the  Sunday-school  taught  by  Mr.  Fulton.  The 
children  read  the  Scriptures,  repeated  psalms  and  the 
catechism,  after  which  Mr.  Fulton  gave  an  exposition 
of  some  Scripture,  sung,  prayed  and  dismissed  with  a. 
benediction.  Afterward,  he  went  to  hear  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Mcintosh,  the  Scots'  Church  minister  of  the  parish. 
He  seems  at  this  time  to  have  been  growing  more  and 
more  doubtful  in  regard  to  the  claims  of  the  clergy, 
and  more  careful  and  critical  in  observing  their  pro- 
ceedings. "He  was  entertained,"  he  remarks,  "with 
a  specimen  of  good-  old  Scotch  divinity,"  and  was- 
pleased  with  the  "  aspect,  pronunciation  and  gravity  of 
the  venerable  parson."  He  preached  from  the  text 
"Let  us  come  boldly  to  the  throne  of  grace"  in  the 
tbrenoon,  and  in  the  afternoon  addressed  his  audience 
in  Gaelic.  At  the  morning  service  the  laird  and  his 
family  were  present  in  their  pew,  situated  in  the  most 
conspicuous  place  in  the  church,  and  Alexander  noticed 
that  the  minister  made  a  particular  mention  of  them  all 
in  his  prayer,  with  earnest  petitions  on  their  behalf. 
On  the  following  Lord's  day  they  were  absent,  as  the 
laird  was  about  to  take  his  seat  in  Parliament,  and 
Alexander  noticed  that  they  were  equally  absent  from- 
the  prayers  of  the  parson.  This  made  quite  a  forcible 
impression  on  his  mind,  and,  as  he  remarked  after- 
ward in  his  Christian  Baptist,  "became  a  subject  of 
curious  reflection." 

I  had  not,  however,"  he  adds,  "  traveled  very  far  till  I 
found  it  was  a  general  practice  in  all  parish  churches,  when  the 
patron  was  present,  to  give  him  a  large  portion  of  the  opening 
prayer,  but  alwavs  when  absent  he  was  forgotten.  Being-. 


COMPLIMENTARY  PRATERS. 


but  just  arrived  at  the  period  of  reflection,  and  determined  ta 
study  men  as  well  as  things,  I  became  very  attentive  to  the 
prayers  of  not  only  the  parish  clergy,  but  of  all  others.  I 
observed  it  to  be  a  general  rule  that  when  two  or  three  minis- 
ters of  the  same  party  happened  to  be  present  in  the  same 
pulpit,  whichever  one  prayed  he  made  particular  supplica- 
tions for  his  ministering  brethren.  Thus  the  parson  A  prayed 
very  ardently  for  his  brothers,  parsons  B  and  C,  when  they 
were  present ;  but  when  B  and  C  were  absent,  A  asked  for 
no  blessings  for  them.  I  do  not  know  that  I  ever  saw  it 
otherwise  in  any  sect  or  in  any  country.  I  noted  this  ftict  in 
my  pocket-book  of  memorandums,  and  placed  it  under  the 
same  head  with  those  of  the  parish  ministers  for  their  patrons. 
I  think  I  headed  this  chapter,  in  my  juvenile  fancy,  with  the 
words  '  COMPLIMENTARY  PRAYERS,  OX  prayers  addressed  to 
human  bei72gs  not  yet  deified.^ " 

In  the  same  article  he  goes  on  to  detail  a  subsequent  similar 
experience.  In  process  of  time."  he  remarks,  I  happened 
to  make  a  tour  with  a  very  devout  divine,  and  as  he  always 
spent  the  night  in  the  house  of  some  of  his  •  lay  brethren,'  in 
offering  up  his  evening  sacrifice,  or  what  is  more  commonly 
called  '  leading  in  family  worship,'  he  never  forgot  to  pray 
in  an  especial  manner  for  his  host,  earnestly  desiring  that  the 
family  among  whom  he  spent  the  night  might  be  peculiarly 
blessed.  During  fourteen  days  and  nights  which  I  spent  in 
his  company,  he  never  once  forgot  to  pray  for  the  proprietor 
of  the  house  that  gave  him  his  supper  and  bed.  In  justice 
to  his  devotion,  I  should  remark  that  one  evening  was  spent 
at  an  inn,  where  he  asked  the  liberty  of  attending  upon  family 
worship,  and  there  he  also  prayed  as  fervently  for  his  land- 
lord and  landlady  as  if  in  a  private  family.  In  justice  to  the 
landlord,  too,  I  should  observe  that  he  remitted  to  him  his  bill 
in  the  morning,  with  an  invitation  to  give  him  a  call  when 
convenient.  *  *  *  *  This  I  also  noted  down  under  the 
head  o{  ^  complimentary  prayers y  In  order,  however,  to- 
prevent  misunderstanding,  he  adds  :  "  I  would  not  be  under 
stood  as  censuring  the  practice  of  one  Christian  praying  for 

10 


no       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


another  when  it  is  by  request,  or  when,  from  any  considera- 
tion, it  becomes  necessary,  or  of  a  whole  church  praying  for 
another  church,  or  for  one  member  or  for  those  that  are  not 
members,  eithei-  in  their  presence  or  absence.  But  this  is 
quite  a  different  thing  from  those  prayers  which  we  call 
complimentary,  which,  if  not  intended  as  a  mere  compli- 
ment, most  certainly  appear  so  in  the  above  instances  at  lea.st, 
and  in  many  others  which  might  be  adduced.    *    *    *  ♦ 

"  It  is  usually  allowed  that  it  is  one  of  the  greatest  and 
best  of  blessings  that  we  should  be  admitted  to  lift  up  our 
voices  to  the  throne  of  the  Universe.  But  if  ever  there  be  a 
moment  in  a  Christian's  life  when  humility  and  sincerity  be- 
come him  well,  this  is  the  moment,  when  he  is  speaking  to 
that  glorious  and  mighty  One,  befoi^e  whose  throne  '  seraphs 
veil  their  faces  and  angels  prostrate  fall.'  Our  words,  as- 
suredly, should  be  few  and  well  ordered — no  pomp  of  lan- 
guage, no  vain  parade  of  words,  no  compliment  to  men  when 
we  claim  the  audience  of  our  Almighty  Maker." 

He  always  thought  it  incongruous  for  any  one  lead- 
ing in  prayer  with  others  to  offer  special  petitions  for 
one  or  more  of  those  who  are  supposed  to  unite  in  the 
prayer,  while  he  uses  at  the  same  time  the  first  person 
plural,  "we  ask,"  "we  pray,"  etc.,  thus  including  the 
person  prayed  for  in  the  terms  employed,  while  in  point 
of  fact  he  is  necessarily  excluded  from  the  address  offered 
by  others  on  his  behalf.  He  therefore  carefully  avoided 
the  practice  which  he  condemned,  and  neither  he  nor 
his  father  were  in  the  habit  of  offering  up  special  peti- 
tions for  any  who,  at  the  time,  united  in  the  prayer. 
By  both  of  them,  prayer  was  regarded  as  a  sacred  priv- 
ilege, to  be  exercised  with  a  very  strict  regard  to  the 
proprieties  of  the  occasion.  As  to  their  style,  it  may 
be  w^ell  to  observe  here,  while  the  subject  of  prayer  is 
under  consideration,  that  Alexander  generally  used 
great  plainness  and  directness  of  expression,  while  hia 


MANNER  IN  PRATER. 


Ill 


thanksgivings  and  petitions  were  comprehensive,  scrip- 
tural and  appropriate  to  the  circumstances.  His  father 
went  more  into  detail,  was  more  diffuse,  and  his 
thoughts,  as  well  as  his  sentences,  were  sometimes  in- 
volved. He  was  disposed  to  make  a  rather  redundant 
use  ot'  adjectives,  both  in  his  prayers  and  sermons,  and 
when  quoting  Scripture,  as  he  constantly  did  in  both,  he 
could  not  in  some  cases  forbear  adding  epithets,  in 
order,  if  possible,  to  enhance  the  force  of  the  language. 
Thus,  when  at  the  close  of  his  prayer  he  would  some- 
times embody  in  it  what  is  commonly  called  the  Lord's 
Prayer,  instead  of  the  simple  words,  '*thy  will  be  done,'' 
he  would  say,  "thy  blessed  and  holy  will  be  done." 
Again,  instead  of  asking  for  "mercy"  and  "grace,"  he 
would  pray  for  "  sin-pardoning  mercy  and  sanctifying 
grace."  With  the  exception,  however,  of  those  cases 
in  which  his  feelings  led  him  thus  to  endeavor  to  exalt 
and  magnify  the  Divine  perfections,  he  was  careful  to 
quote  the  exact  language  of  Scripture.  Alexander,  on 
the  other  hand,  seemed  often  to  prefer  a  paraphrase, 
though  he  was  fond  of  using  a  new  version  if  it  ren- 
dered the  sense  more  clear.  Thus,  instead  of  saying, 
"  Lead  us  not  into  temptation,"  he  would  say  "  Aban- 
don us  not  to  temptation ;"  instead  of  "  Deliver  us  trom 
evil,"  "Deliver  us  from  the  Evil  One."  With  regard 
to  the  Lord's  Prayer,  both  regarded  it  as  a  model  rather 
than  a  prescribed  formula,  and  thought  it,  at  least  in 
regard  to  one  of  its  petitions,  as  being  specially  de- 
signed for  the  time  at  which  it  was  given.  At  that  time 
Christ's  kingdom  had  not  yet  been  fully  set  up  on  earth, 
and  there  was  a  propriety  then  in  the  petition  "thy 
kingdom  come."  But  when  the  kingdom  had  come, 
and  had  been  publicly  set  up  and  established,  as  re- 
corded in  the  second  chapter  of  Acts,  this  petition 


II''       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 

ceased  to  be  appropriate,  at  least  in  its  original  applica- 
tion. If,  then,  the  expression  "thy  kingdom  come" 
happened  to  be  used  by  Thomas  Campbell,  he  was 
careful  to  apply  it  to  the  second  coming  of  Christ  in  his 
kingdom,  and  to  say,  "thy  kingdom  come,  in  its  ulti- 
mate fullness  and  glory while  Alexander  perhaps 
would  say,  "May  thy  kingdom  be  established  in  the 
hearts  of  the  children  of  men."  Both  were  given  to 
amplification.  The  father  was  disposed  to  enlarge  the 
expression  ;  the  son  to  amplify  the  thought.  The  former 
would  enforce  by  means  of  epithets  and  repetition  ;  the 
latter  by  extending  the  idea  in  connecting  it  with  its 
antecedents  or  its  results.  Both  were  characterized  by 
fluency,  solemnity,  fervency  and  manifest  sincerity.  In 
neither  was  there  any  tendency  to  ornate  or  pompous 
diction,  or  to  a  loud  and  boisterous  delivery.  To  some, 
indeed,  Alexander's  style  of  prayer  might  at  first  appear 
too  composed  and  calm  ;  but  his  manner  was  the  natural 
expression  of  a  high  intellectual  nature,  necessaril}^  un- 
demonstrative, as  holding  the  feelings  in  abeyance,  but 
not  on  that  account  less  deep,  fervid  and  sincere.  In  a 
w^ord,  his  manner  was  reverential  without  being  abject; 
deliberate,  but  not  frigid  ;  earnest,  but  not  impassioned  ; 
while  his  dignified  and  solemn  bearing,  the  distinct 
intonations  of  his  clear  and  silvery  voice,  his  forcible 
emphasis,  his  truly  scriptural  petitions,  his  evident 
realization  of  his  true  position,  and  his  self-posed  con- 
sciousness of  the  nature  of  the  duty  in  which  he  was 
engaged,  all  contributed  to  render  his  prayers  most 
edifying  and  impressive. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 


Journeyii  .gj> — ^Jura — lona — Account  of  Columban — Glasgow — Kind  recep- 
tion by  Greville  Ewing. 

SPECIAL  providences  are  seldom  properly  compre- 
hended at  the  time  of  their  occurrence.  Events 
which  are  afterward  recognized  as  blessings  are,  at 
the  time,  often  thought  to  be  disasters  ;  and  seeming 
blessings  are  found  subsequently  to  prove  the  greatest 
evils.  When  Simeon  was  detained  in  Egypt,  the  patri- 
arch Jacob  said:  "Joseph  is  not,  and  Simeon  is  not, 
and  ye  will  take  Benjamin  away:  all  these  things  are 
against  me."  But  these  apparent  privations  were  only 
the  appointed  means  through  which  he  himself  and  his 
house  were  to  be  reunited  and  preserved.  Rachel 
thought  the  possession  of  a  child  would  be  the  highest 
joy  on  earth  ;  but  when  Benjamin  was  born,  she  found 
occasion  to  call  him  Benoni,  "son  of  my  sorrow." 
The  shipwreck  which  Thomas  Campbell's  family  had 
suffered  seemed  to  be  a  complete  disappointment  of  all 
their  hopes,  as  it  was  an  entire  frustration  of  their  plans 
and  purposes.  But  there  was  an  important  work  for 
Alexander  to  accomplish,  needing  special  preparation 
both  of  heart  and  mind  ;  and  this  seeming  calamity 
was  afterward  seen  to  be  one  of  the  most  important  of 
that  train  of  events  by  which  that  preparation  was 
secured.  Already  had  it  led  him  to  a  final  determina- 
tion as  to  his  proper  field  of  labor ;  and  the  circum- 

VOL.  I.— H  10*  113 


114        MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


Stances  in  which  it  directly  involved  him  were  those 
precisely  adapted  to  qualify  and  guide  him  in  that 
future  life-work. 

While  the  family  were  engaged  in  securing,  drying 
and  packing  up  whatever  portion  of  their  propert}" 
could  be  recovered  f^om  the  wreck,  it  became  an  im- 
portant question  with  them  what  course  to  pursue. 
Their  passage-money  had  been  at  once  honorably  re- 
funded by  the  owners  of  the  vessel,  and  by  going  to 
some  shipping-port  they  might  have  renewed  their 
attempt  to  cross  the  ocean.  But  the  season  was  now 
far  advanced,  and  even  if  new  preparations  had  been 
made,  which  would  have  required  some  weeks,  Mrs. 
Campbell  and  her  daughters  were  unwilling  to  tempt 
again  so  soon  the  dangers  from  which  they  had  just 
escaped.  It  became  evident,  therefore,  that  their  em- 
barkation for  America  would  have  to  be  postponed 
until,  at  least,  the  stormy  winter  months  were  past,  and 
they  thought  it  best  to  remain,  in  the  mean  while,  in 
some  suitable  place  in  Scotland.  The  selection  of  such 
a  place  was  not  difficult,  for,  as  Alexander  felt  an 
ardent  desire  to  spend  some  time  at  the  University 
where  his  father  had  been  educated,  it  was  at  once 
determined  that  they  would  all  proceed  to  Glasgow. 

From  Bowmore,  it  was  necessary  to  travel  about  one 
hundred  and  thirty  miles  by  land  and  water  in  order 
to  reach  Glasgow,  owing  to  the  somewhat  circuitous 
nature  of  the  route.  Accordingly,  all  things  being  in 
readiness,  on  Monday,  October  24,  the  most  of  the 
baggage  was  foi  warded  to  Greenock  by  the  Bowmore 
and  Greenock  packet,  the  family  concluding  to  go  by 
a  more  comfortable  and  direct  way.  Before  starting^ 
Alexander  obtained  a  letter  of  introduction  from  Mr. 
George  Fulton  to  Rev.  Greville  Ewing ;  one  from  Mr. 


THE  INLAND  OF  JURA. 


Hector  Simpson,  merchant,  to  Mr.  William  Harley, 
manufacturer ;  and  one  from  the  Rev.  Mr.  Mcintosh, 
the  parish  minister,  to  Rev.  Mr.  McKenzie  of  Glasgow. 
A  conveyance  being  obtained  for  his  mother  and  the 
younger  children,  with  the  remainder  of  the  baggage, 
he  sent  them  forward  to  Port  Askeg,  about  ten  miles 
distant,  on  the  eastern  side  of  the  island,  from  which 
place  all  were  to  take  a  boat  to  Tarbet.  He,  himself, 
with  a  companion,  walked  down  in  the  evening  and 
found  all  safely  arrived,  though  his  mother  and  one  of 
his  sisters  had  been  greatly  endangered  by  a  fall  from 
the  vehicle  on  their  way.  Port  Askeg  is  a  small  harbor 
in  the  narrow  sound  between  Islay  and  Jura.  Near  the 
edge  of  the  high  bluff  which  here  forms  the  coast  of 
Islay,  a  large  building  had  been  erected  for  the  accom- 
modation of  passengers,  and  from  this  point  a  boat 
sailed,  usually  twice  a  week,  for  Tarbet,  about  thirty- 
five  miles  distant  on  the  way  to  Glasgow. 

On  the  opposite  side  of  the  sound  lay  the  island  of 
Jura,  whose  shore  is  shelving  and  less  steep  than  that 
of  Islay,  but  the  interior  of  the  island  seemed  to  pre- 
sent nothing  except  great  mountains  and  rocky  cliffs. 
Having  waited  in  vain,  on  the  following  day,  for  the 
packet,  which  was  detained  by  contrary  winds,  and 
finding  that  on  the  morning  of  the  26th  there  was  still 
no  sign  of  it,  Alexander,  pleased  with  the  majestic 
aspect  of  the  mountains  of  Jura,  determined  to  cross 
over  the  sound  to  visit  them.  He  found  the  island  wild, 
rude  and  almost  uncultivated,  there  being  but  few 
houses  and  very  little  arable  land.  He  ascended  some 
of  the  lofty  peaks  called  the  "Paps  of  Jura,"  and  was 
greatly  delighted  with  the  bold  and  romantic  scenery 
presented  to  his  view.  Covered  mostly  with  heath, 
these  lofty  elevations  and  rugged  slopes  furnished  a 


Il6       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


scanty  pasturage  for  a  species  of  coarse-wooled  sheep 
recently  introduced  with  great  advantage  into  the  High- 
lands. He  admired  greatly  the  flocks  of  these  animals, 
so  clean  and  white  and  marked  with  black  spots  upon 
their  foreheads,  grazing  like  herds  of  deer  amidst  the 
wild  scenery.  He  viewed  with  a  degree  of  awe  the 
precipitous  cliffs  which  presented  themselves  as  he 
toiled  up  the  steep  ascent,  and  contemplated  with  de- 
light the  rills  of  limpid  water  which,  issuing  near  the 
summits,  fell  from  rock  to  rock  like  tiny  streams  of 
liquid  silver,  until  they  disappeared  in  the  deep  and 
silent  glens. 

Alexander  had  an  excellent  appreciation  of  the  beau- 
tiful, and  especially  of  the  grand,  in  Nature,  and  was 
always  pleased  with  extensive  prospects  and  fine  land- 
scapes. In  these  respects  he  differed  much  from  his 
father,  who  seemed  to  pay  little  or  no  attention  to  any- 
thing of  this  kind.  If  he  were  called  to  see  a  fine 
view,  he  would  readily  acquiesce  in  the  admiration  of 
those  who  had  directed  his  attention  to  it,  but  the  next 
moment  lie  would  be  found  engaged  in  what  seemed 
constantly  to  occupy  his  mind — the  goodness  of  God 
and  the  salvation  of  men.  Upon  Nature  around  him 
he  seemed  ever  to  look  with  the  eye  of  a  utilitarian, 
and  if  directed  to  the  beauty  of  a  flower,  would  begin 
to  inquire  respecting  the  uses  of  the  plant,  and  es- 
pecially if  it  possessed  medical  qualities.  To  cure  or 
alleviate  the  evils,  both  physical  and  spiritual,  to  which 
man  is  subject,  to  fear  God  and  keep  his  command- 
ments, seemed  to  be  his  wdiole  concern.  The  aesthetics 
which  claimed  his  attention  were,  so  to  speak,  those  of 
the  human  soul — the  beauty  of  virtue — the  charms  of 
godliness  and  the  attributes  of  the  Creator,  glorious  in 
holiness  and  infinite  in  all  his  perfections.    But  Alex- 


TASTE  FOR  MUSIC  AXD  POETRY. 


ander,  while  he  was  impressed,  perhaps  as  profoundlj 
as  his  father,  with  spiritual  excellence  and  beauty,  and 
the  sublime  revelations  of  Deity,  seemed  to  superadd 
to  this,  from  a  wider  range  of  thought  and  feeling,  and 
his  more  acute  perception  of  the  resemblances  of  things 
and  of  their  relations,  a  considerable  taste  for  the 
beauties  of  Nature  and  of  x\rt.  With  him,  these  gave 
rise,  however,  to  a  calm  feeling  of  enjoyment,  rather 
than  to  enthusiastic  admiration,  nor  was  their  contem- 
plation usually  unmingled  with  considerations  economi- 
cal and  practical.  In  regard  to  the  strictly  imitative 
arts,  as  painting  and  sculpture,  his  taste  had  received 
no  culture,  and  he  made  no  pretensions  to  a  critical 
judgment.  In  music,  especially  sacred  music,  he  took 
great  pleasure,  and  was  visibly  affcc^cd  by  it,  often 
calling,  when  the  occasion  permitted,  for  the  singing 
of  psalms  and  hymns,  and,  though  unable  to  carry  the 
air  alone,  uniting  in  the  singing  with  a  clear,  musical 
voice  and  evident  enjoyment.  In  regard  to  poetry,  to 
which  he  had  already  paid  considerable  attention,  his 
taste  was  more  developed,  and  his  judgment  even  criti- 
cal, though  he  was  more  disposed  to  exercise  it  upon 
the  sentiment,  which  in  poetr}'  is  secondary,  than  upon 
the  expression,  which  is  primary,  and  much  more  sensi- 
ble of  defective  imagery  than  of  defective  rhythm. 

He  was,  at  this  time,  quite  an  admirer  of  the  poems 
of  Ossian.  Whether  or  not,  with  Drs.  Blair,  Gregory 
and  many  other  Scotch  critics,  he  believed  in  the  genu- 
ineness of  these  poems,  he  was  at  least  much  taken 
with  the  tenderness  and  sublimity  so  characteristic  of 
them,  and  had  been  at  the  pains  of  copying  into  his 
common-place  book  extended  extracts  from  them.  As 
much  of  the  beauty  of  these  poems  is  derived  from 
local  associations,  it  were  easier  to  imagine  than  to 


iiS       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 

describe  his  feelings  now,  when,  upon  the  summit  o\ 
one  of  the  lofty  peaks  of  Jura,  he  found  himself  amidst 
the  very  scenes  described  by  the  poet,  where  "the 
mountains  showed  their  gray  heads,"  "  the  blue  face  of 
ocean  smiled,"  and  "the  white  wave  was  seen  tumbling 
round  the  distant  rock."  In  fancy,  he  might  almost 
hear  the  "murmur  of  the  streams  of  Lora,"  or  see  in 
the  distance  the  "  halls  of  Selma"  and  the  iiroves  of 
"  woody  Morven,"  for  it  was  but  a  few  leagues  across 
the  arm  of  the  sea  which  washes  the  northern  shore  of 
Jura  to  the  isle  of  Mull,  with  its  towering  Bein  Vore 
visible  to  the  distant  islands,  and  but  a  few  miles  further 
to  the  narrow  sound,  where,  upon  the  mainland  toward 
the  right,  a  district  of  Argyleshire  still  retains  the  name 
of  Morven,  and  where,  amidst  the  finest  and  most 
romantic  natural  scenery  of  the  Western  Isles,  and  the 
ruins  of  ancient  castles  upon  the  rocky  cliffs,  both  his- 
tory and  tradition  serve  to  enhance  the  enjoyment  of 
the  present  through  the  associations  of  the  past. 

But  we  cannot  suppose  his  thoughts  confined  to 
themes  of  mere  scenic  or  poetic  interest  or  to  those  of 
legendary  lore,  for  close  to  the  isle  of  Mull,  ofl^  its 
western  coast,  lay  the  isle  of  Staffa,  with  its  basaltic 
pillars  and  its  celebrated  Cave  of  Fingal,  and  directly 
opposite  the  opening  of  this  cave,  at  a  distance  of  some 
seven  miles,  the  island  of  lona,  most  of  all  likely  to 
aw^aken  the  reflections  and  to  enchain  the  attention  of 
the  youthful  and  religious  student.  This,  as  Dr.  John- 
son observes,  is  "  that  illustrious  island  which  was  once 
the  luminary  of  the  Caledonian  regions,  whence  savage 
clans  and  roving  barbarians  derived  the  benefits  of 
knowledge  and  the  blessings  of  religion.  To  abstract 
the  mind  from  all  local  emotion  would  be  impossible,  if 
it  were  endeavored,  and  would  be  foolish,  if  it  were 


MONASTERY  OF  I  ON  A. 


119 


possible.  Whatever  withdraws  us  from  the  power  of 
our  senses,  whatever  makes  the  past,  the  distant  or  the 
future  predominate  over  the  present,  advances  us  in  the 
dignity  of  thinking  beings.  Far  from  me  and  from  my 
friends  be  such  frigid  philosophy  as  may  conduct  us, 
indifferent  and  unmoved,  over  any  ground  which  has 
been  dignified  by  wisdom,  bravery  or  virtue.  That 
man  is  little  to  be  envied  whose  patriotism  w^ould  not 
gain  force  upon  the  plain  of  Marathon^  or  whose  piety 
would  not  grow  warmer  among  the  ruins  of  lona'' 
Here  are  still  to  be  seen  the  ruins  of  an  august  monas- 
tery and  cathedral,  and  of  three  royal  chapels,  with 
extensive  cemeteries,  filled  with  numerous  graves  of 
those  now  unknown,  but  who,  as  Dr.  Johnson  observes, 
did  not  expect  to  be  so  soon  forgotten."  For  it  is  in 
this  hallowed  earth,  to  use  the  language  of  Scott, 

'*  Where  rest  from  mortal  coil  the  mighty  of  the  isles  ;" 

^nd  tradition  makes  it  also  the  place  of  sepulture  for 
the  kings  of  Scotland,  and  even  for  the  monarchs  of 
other  lands,  brought  hither  to  rest  in  the  consecrated 
soil  of  the  Holy  Isle. 

There  is  not  a  more  charming  or  interesting  portion 
of  history  than  that  which  records  the  life  and  labors  of 
Columban,  who,  in  the  sixth  century,  rendered  the 
little  island  of  lona  a  brilliant  centre  of  learning  and 
of  pure  religion  amidst  the  darkness  and  idolatry  that 
then  brooded  over  Great  Britain,  when  an  imperfect 
and  Popish  Christianity,  mingling  itself  with  the  bar- 
barous superstitions  of  Scandinavian  mythology,  led 
Redwald,  King  of  East  Anglia,  to  place  a  Christian 
altar  by  the  side  of  the  statue  of  Woden.  Intelligent 
and  noble  youths  here  assembled  from  various  regions ; 
some,  like  Oswald,  to  be  educated  for  the  discharge  of 


I20       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


kingly  duties  ;  others  to  be  prepared,  by  a  course  of 
discipline  and  study,  usually  of  eighteen  years'  duration, 
to  be  ordained  as  missionaries  and  instructors,  not  only 
to  enlighten  their  own  country,  but  to  labor  in  other 
fields  both  dangerous  and  remote.  After  all  the  con- 
troversies that  have  been  waged  in  reference  to  the 
history  of  these  Culdees  of  lona,  it  is  generally  ad- 
mitted that  their  doctrines  and  their  lives  were  pure 
and  simple  ;  that  the}'  rejected  the  Romish  ceremonies, 
doctrines  and  traditions ;  that,  as  even  Bede  admits, 
though  himself  indignant  at  their  repudiation  of  the 
authority  of  the  Bishop  of  Rome,  "they  preached  only 
such  works  of  charity  and  piety  as  they  could  learn 
from  the  prophetical,  evangelical  and  apostolic  writ- 
ings ;"  that  they  boldly  asserted  the  exclusive  authority 
of  the  Scriptures,  and  that  their  modes  of  worship 
and  their  forms  of  church  government  were  primitive 
and  simple.* 


*  The  labors  of  that  remarkable  missionary,  Patrick,  had  prepared  the 
way  for  those  of  Columban.  Patrick  was  a  Scotchman,  born  in  the  fourth 
century,  in  the  village  of  Boneven  (since  called  in  honor  of  his  memory 
Kilpatiick),  between  Dumbarton  and  Glasgow.  He  led  a  wild,  thoughtless 
life  till  about  seventeen,  when,  with  many  others,  he  was  carried  off  to  Ire- 
land by  pirates,  and  sold  to  an  Irish  chieftain.  While  herding  his  cattle  he 
became  deeply  impressed  with  religion,  and  the  spirit  of  devotion  glowed 
within  him.  Making  his  escape  after  six  years,  he  returned  home  to  Scot- 
land ;  but  meditating  upon  the  unenlightened  and  barbarous  state  of  the 
people  in  Ireland,  he  found  no  rest  in  his  spirit,  but  experienced  an  irresist- 
ible desire  to  carry  the  message  of  salvation  to  those  among  whom  he  had 
passed  so  many  years  of  his  youth.  "  W^hence  did  I  receive,"  he  says,  "  sa 
great  and  blessed  a  gift,  to  know  and  love  God,  to  leave  native  land  and 
parents,  although  many  gifts  were  offered  to  me  with  tears  if  I  would  remain 
there  ?  And  against  my  wishes  I  was  forced  to  offend  my  relations  and  many 
of  my  well-wishers.  But,  according  to  God's  guidance,  I  did  not  yield  Xo 
them  at  all ;  not  by  my  owm  power,  but  it  was  God  who  conquered  in  me, 
and  withstood  them  all ;  so  that  I  went  to  the  people  of  Ireland  to  publish 
the  gospel  to  them,  and  suffered  many  insults  from  unbelievers  and  many 
persecutions,  even  unto  bonds,  resigning  my  liberty  for  the  good  of  others. 


LABORS  OF  COLUMBAN. 


Columban  was  an  Irishman,  born  in  the  villacre  of 
Garten,  in  county  Donegal,  about  A.  D.  565.  It  was 
while  at  the  monastery  of  Banj-or,  which  contained  three 


And  if  I  am  found  worthy,  I  am  ready  to  give  up  my  life  with  joy  for 
His  name's  sake." 

He  is  sui)|)osed  to  have  gone  to  Ireland  about  431,  and  for  the  rest  of  his 
life  continued  to  preach  Christ  amidst  many  persecutions  and  trials  through- 
out Ireland,  reclaiming  the  people  from  idolatry  and  barbarism,  and  estab- 
lishing monasteries  distinguished  for  strict  Christian  discipline,  for  industry, 
for  a  knowledge  of  the  Scriptures  and  the  l)est  learning  of  the  age,  so  that 
Ireland  became,  for  a  time,  under  these  inlluences,  the  most  enlightened 
country  of  Europe,  and  acquired  the  title  of  the  "  Isle  of  Saints."  Patrick 
himself,  afterward,  when  Popery  became  fully  developed,  was  canonized  and 
became  the  tutelar  saint  of  Ireland  with  the  Catholics. 

Although  the  devotion  and  purity  of  purpose  of  the  eminent  men  to  whom 
Ireland  owed  this  distinction  can  hardly  be  exaggerated,  the  effects  produced 
by  their  lalx)rs  was  great,  not  so  much  in  itself  as  in  contrast  with  the  dark- 
ness and  degradation  that  prevailed  among  the  people  ;  and,  though  their 
influence  undoubtedly  enlightened  and  civilized  many,  it  never  pervaded  the 
mass  of  the  population,  who  remained  barbarous  and  uneducated,  and  soon 
afterward  fell  an  easy  prey  to  the  superstitions  of  the  Church  of  Rome.  On 
this  point,  Southey  remarks,  in  his  Life  of  Wesley :  "  Melancholy  and 
anomalous  as  the  civil  histor}'  of  Ireland  is,  its  religious  history'  is  equally 
mournful  and  not  less  strange.  Even  at  the  time  when  it  was  called  the 
Island  of  Saints,  and  men  went  forth  from  its  monasteries  to  be  missionaries, 
not  of  monachism  alone,  but  of  literature  and  civilization,  the  mass  of  the 
people  continued  savage,  and  was  something  worse  than  heathen.  They 
accommodated  their  new  religion  to  their  own  propensities  with  a  pen  erted 
ingenuity  at  once  humorous  and  detestable,  and  altogether  peculiar  to  them- 
selves. Thus,  when  a  child  was  immersed  in  baptism,  it  was  custoniar\-  not 
to  di])  the  right  arm,  to  the  intent  that  he  might  strike  a  more  deadly  and 
ungracious  blow  therewnth,  and  under  an  opinion,  no  doubt,  that  the  rest  of 
the  body  would  not  be  responsible,  at  the  resurrection,  for  anything  that  had 
been  committed  by  the  unbaptized  hand.  Thus,  too,  at  the  baptism,  the 
father  took  the  wolves  for  his  gossii)s,  and  thought  that,  by  this  profanation, 
he  was  forming  an  alliance,  both  for  himself  and  his  boy,  with  the  fiercest 
beasts  of  the  woods.  The  son  of  a  chief  was  baptized  in  milk ;  water  was 
not  thought  good  enough,  and  whisky  had  not  then  been  invented.  They 
used  to  rob  in  the  beginning  of  the  year,  as  a  point  of  devotion,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  laying  up  a  good  stock  of  plunder  against  Easter ;  and  he  whose 
spoils  enabled  him  to  furnish  the  best  entertainment  at  that  tinic  was  looked 
upon  as  the  best  Cl.ristian." 

n 


122        MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


thousand  monks,  that  Columban  became  impressed  with 
the  earnest  desire  to  go  out  amidst  difficulties  and  dan- 
gers to  pubHsh  the  gospel  and  to  establish  Christian 
discipline  among  savage  nations." 

that  God  would  grant,"  said  he,  as  quoted  by  Ne 
ander  "(since,  insignificant  as  I  am,  still  I  am  his  servant), 
that  he  would  awaken  me  out  of  the  sleep  of  indolence,  and 
so  kindle  that  fire  of  Divine  love  that  this  Divine  flame  ma\ 
always  burn  within  me !  O  that  I  had  the  wood  with 
which  that  fire  might  be  continually  nourished,  that  it  might 
never  more  be  quenched,  but  always  increase  within  me  ! 
O  Lord,  give  me  I  beseech  thee,  in  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ 
thy  Son,  my  God,  that  love  which  can  never  cease,  that  will 
kindle  my  lamp,  but  not  extinguish  it,  that  it  may  burn  in  me 
and  enlighten  others.  Do  thou,  O  Christ,  our  dearest  Sa- 
viour, thyself  kindle  our  lamps,  that  they  may  evermore  shine 
in  thy  temple  ;  that  they  may  receive  unquenchable  light  from 
thee — the  unquenchable  light  that  will  enlighten  our  darkness, 
and  lessen  by  us  the  darkness  of  the  world  !  My  Jesus,  I  pray 
thee,  give  thy  light  to  my  lamp,  that  in  its  light  the  most  holy 
place  may  be  revealed  to  me,  in  which  thou  dwellest  as  the 
eternal  Priest,  that  I  may  always  behold  thee,  desire  thee,  look 
upon  thee  in  love,  and  long  after  thee.  It  belongs  to  thee  to 
show  thyself  to  us  thy  suppliants,  O  Saviour  full  of  love,  that 
we  may  know  thee,  love  thee  alone,  think  of  thee  alone  day 
and  night,  that  thy  love  may  fill  our  souls,  and  that  this  love  so 
great  may  never  more  be  quenched  by  the  many  waters  of  this 
earth  ;  as  it  is  written,  '  many  waters  cannot  quench  love.' " 

Permission  having  been  granted  by  the  abbot,  Colum- 
ban first  fixed  upon  the  island  of  lona  as  a  suitable 
place  of  retirement  and  seclusion,  and  with  twelve 
companions  established  there  a  monastery  and  school, 
which  soon  became  widely  celebrated.  Though  mo- 
nastic rules  were  adopted,  and  Columban  inculcated 
strict  obedience  to  them  as  evidence  of  Christian  hu- 


TEACHINGS  OF  COLUMBAN. 


mility,  he  seems  to  have  encouraged  individual  freedom, 
and  to  have  directed  the  thoughts  of  the  brotherhood  to 
the  greatest  attainment  of  the  Christian  Hfe — the  sur- 
render of  the  will  to  God. 

"  We  must  wilHngly  surrender,"  says  he,  "  for  Christ's 
sake,  what  we  love  out  of  Christ.  First  of  all,  if  it  is  neces- 
sary, our  bodily  life  must  be  surrendered  by  martyrdom  for 
Christ.  Or,  if  the  opportunity  be  wanting  for  such  blessed- 
ness, the  mortification  of  the  will  must  not  fail,  so  that  they 
who  live  henceforth  live  not  unto  themselves,  but  unto  him 
who  died  for  them.  Let  us  therefore  live  to  him  who, 
though  he  died  for  us,  is  the  life.  Let  us  die  unto  ourselves, 
that  we  may  live  to  Christ.  For  we  cannot  live  to  him,  if 
we  do  not  first  die  ourselves,  that  is,  our  own  wills.  Let  us 
be  Christ's,  not  our  own ;  we  are  bought  at  a  dear  price, 
truly  so  ;  for  the  Master  gave  himself  for  the  servant,  the 
King  for  his  attendants,  God  for  man.  What  ought  we  to 
give  in  return  when  the  Creator  of  the  universe  died  for  us 
sinners,  who  yet  were  his  creatures.'*  Believest  thou  that  it  is 
not  necessary  to  die  to  sin  ?  Certainly  thou  must  do  that. 
Let  us  therefore  die ;  let  us  die  for  life.,  since  he  who  is  the 
life,  died  for  the  dead  ;  that  we  may  be  able  to  say  with  Paul, 
'  I  live,  yet  not  I,  but  Christ  liveth  in  me,  who  died  for  me  ;* 
for  this  is  the  language  of  the  chosen.  No  one  can  die  to 
himself,  if  Christ  does  not  live  in  him.  But  if  Christ  be  in 
him,  he  cannot  live  to  himself.  Live  in  Christ,  that  Christ 
may  live  in  thee." 

Such  were  his  sweet  lessons  in  relation  to  a  true  union 
with  Christ,  nor  were  his  warnings  against  speculations 
in  religion  less  remarkable.  Speaking  against  idle 
subtleties  about  the  Trinity,  he  says  : 

''Who  can  speak  of  the  essence  of  God?  How  he  is 
everywhere  present  and  invisible,  or  how  he  fills  heaven  and 
earth  and  all  creatures,  according  to  these  words,  '  Do  not  I 
fill  heaven  and  earth,  saith  the  Lord?'  Jeremiah  xxiii.  24. 


124       MEMO//:S  OF  ALEXAXDER  CAMPBELL. 


The  universe  is  full  of  the  Spirit  of  tlie  Lord.  *  Heaven  is 
my  fhrone  and  earth  is  my  footstool.*  God  therefore  is  every- 
where in  his  own  inHnity  :  everywhere  altogether  nigh,  ac- 
cording to  his  own  testimony  of  himself.  *  Am  1  not  a  God 
at  h:md.  saith  the  Lord,  and  not  a  God  afar  olfr*  We  there- 
fore seek  after  God  not  as  one  who  is  far  from  us,  since  we 
can  apprehend  him  in  our  own  inward  souls,  for  he  dwells  in 
js  as  the  soul  in  the  l>ody,  if  we  are  not  dead  in  the  serN  ice 
Df  sin.  If  we  are  susceptible  of  this,  tliat  he  is  in  us.  then 
we  are  truly  made  alive  by  him.  as  liis  living  members.  *  In 
him.'  says  the  apostle,  *  we  live  and  move  and  have  our 
being.'  Who  sluill  search  out  the  Most  High  accorthng  to 
tliis  his  unutterable  and  inconceivable  essence?  Who  shall 
fatiiom  the  depths  of  the  Godheatl.'  Who  shall  boast  that  he 
knows  the  infinite  Goil,  who  fills  and  surroumis  all  tilings; 
who  |)enetrates  all  things,  and  is  exalted  above  all  ;  w  iiom  no 
man  has  seen  as  he  is.^  Let  no  one  then  venture  to  inquire 
into  the  unsearchable  essence  of  Gotl ;  only  believe,  simply 
but  firmly,  that  Gotl  is  ami  will  be  what  he  was.  since  he  is 
the  unchangeable  Gml.  God  is  j>erceived  by  tlie  pious  faith 
of  a  pure  heart,  and  not  by  an  impure  heart  anil  vain  dis- 
course. Art  thou  disposed  to  investigate  the  unutterable  with 
tin  subtleties?  Then  wisdom  will  be  further  from  thee  than 
It  was.  Ecclesiastes  vii.  24.  Dust  thou,  on  tlie  contrary, 
aj>prehentl  him  by  faith?  Tlien  wisdom  will  stand  before 
ihv  doors.** 

Thus  manv  of  the  important  things  that  liave  dis- 
tinguished the  Lutheran  and  other  great  religious  re- 
formations were  taught  and  practised  in  this  lonely- 
isle,  under  the  influence  of  that  Divine  light  which,  at 
sundry  times  and  in  various  modes,  and  in  different 
places,  has  strangelv  and  unexpectedly  shone  forth 
amidst  the  darkness  of  the  nations.  This  light,  how- 
evtrr.  has  long  since  departed  from  lona.  When  Dr. 
Johnson  visited  the  island  in  1773.  he  found  its  fertile 
but  limited  area  of  scarcely  three  square  miles  in- 


PASSAGE  TO   TAR  BET. 


125 


habited  by  a  dense  but  gross  and  neglected  population, 
without  a  school  for  education  or  a  temple  for  worship, 
with  but  two  among  them  who  could  speak  English, 
and  not  one  who  could  read  or  write.  But  that  light 
of  truth  has  shone  forth  in  turn  in  other  lands,  and  the 
youth  who  now,  from  the  mountains  of  Jura,  gazed 
upon  the  surrounding  scenes  and  thought  of  former 
times,  was  himself  destined  in  a  few  years,  like  his 
countr}'man  Columban,  to  establish,  in  a  secluded  valley 
of  the  far-off  Western  World,  a  religious  reformation 
based  exclusively  upon  the  Bible,  and  embracing  the 
same  striking  points  of  personal  trust  in  Christ  and 
opposition  to  human  speculations  which  characterized 
the  teachings  of  Columban  ;  and  to  found  there,  like- 
wise, a  literary  institution  free  from  the  perverting 
influences  of  a  sectarian  theology,  and  from  which 
youthful  and  devoted  missionaries  have  already  borne 
a  pure  apostolic  gospel,  even  to  the  shores  of  California 
and  to  the  distant  regions  of  Australia. 

After  spending  most  of  the  day  upon  the  rugged 
mountains  of  Jura,  Alexander  rambled  over  other  parts 
of  the  island,  and  called  at  the  residence  of  the  pro- 
prietor, whose  name  was  Campbell,  where  he  was 
very  kindly  and  hospitably  received.  As  evening  ap- 
proached, he  recrossed  the  sound  and  returned  to  the 
inn,  where,  though  greatly  fatigued,  he  slept  but  little 
during  the  ensuing  night.  Next  morning,  about  ten 
o'clock,  the  packet  arrived,  and  soon  after  the  family 
embarked  with  the  other  passengers  who  were  waiting, 
and,  sailing  down  the  sound  with  a  side  wind,  arrived, 
after  a  rough  passage  of  twent}  -four  hours,  at  Art-Pat- 
rick, ten  miles  from  Tarbet.  Here,  the  wind  being 
ahead,  they  had  to  cast  anchor.  Laird  Campbell  liad 
a  very  handsome  seat  at  this  place,  and  his  familw  who 

11  * 


126       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


were  there  at  this  time,  learning  that  some  of  the  ship- 
wrecked passengers  had  arrived  in  the  packet,  and 
were  detained  by  a  contrary  wind,  very  kindly  sent  a 
large  row-boat  to  convey  them  to  Tarbet.  As  the  boat 
was  ver}'  heavily  laden,  having  in  it  twenty-four  pas- 
sengers v^ith  their  luggage,  Alexander  found  it  neces- 
sary to  row  without  intermission  for  the  whole  ten  miles, 
in  order  to  assist  its  progress.  From  the  place  of  land- 
ing there  was  a  land  carriage  of  two  miles  across  the 
peninsula  of  Cantyre,  in  order  to  reach  the  packet.  In 
assisting  the  passengers  out  with  their  luggage,  he 
happened,  by  a  sudden  movement  of  the  boat,  to  be 
thrown  into  the  water,  but  got  out  without  any  other 
inconvenience  than  a  complete  wetting,  which,  how- 
ever, might  have  proved  very  injurious  had  he  not 
possessed  a  vigorous  constitution,  for,  as  there  was  not  a 
sufficient  number  of  conveyances  to  take  all  the  pas- 
sengers and  their  baggage,  he,  in  courteously  giving 
place  to  others,  was  finally  obliged  to  remain  himself, 
wet  as  he  was,  with  his  own  baggage,  very  uncomfort- 
ably upon  the  lone  and  rocky  shore,  until  a  conveyance 
could  return  from  Tarbet.  He  often,  in  after  life,  re- 
ferred to  the  hours  thus  spent,  w^hen,  chilled  with  the 
ocean  breeze,  he  paced  alone  the  deserted  strand,  as 
among  the  most  dreary  he  ever  passed.  But  the  con- 
veyance having  at  length  arrived,  he  was  carried  to 
Tarbet,  where  he  got  himself  dried,  and,  having  ob- 
tained some  supper,  went  to  bed  and  slept  soundly. 

The  next  day,  being  the  Lord's  day,  October  30th,  he 
spent  chiefly  in  family  duties  and  in  reading,  and  on 
the  following  morning  they  all  set  out  from  *'  the  small, 
uncouth  village  of  Tarbet,"  as  he  styles  it,  in  a  packet 
bound  for  Greenock.  The  wind  being  fair,  they  made 
about  half  the  distance  in  eighteen  hours  ;  but  the  wind 


ARRIVAL  AT  GREENOCK. 


now  failing,  and  the  captain  and  sailors  becoming  drunks 
there  was  a  very  uncomfortable  delay.  A  Captain 
Campbell,  who  was  on  board  with  his  sisters,  growing 
uneasy,  ordered  some  of  the  best  of  the  sailors  to  ferry 
him  ashore.  While  they  were  gone  the  wind  rose  and 
was  favorable,  but  having  to  await  the  return  of  the 
boat,  which  was  long  detained,  no  advantage  could  be 
taken  of  it;  and  as  it  soon  after  failed  again,  they  had: 
to  remain  in  the  same  position  all  night.  Next  morn- 
ing all  the  male  passengers  went  ashore,  having  re- 
solved to  walk  to  Greenock,  rive  mi^es  distant.  Here 
Alexander  engaged  lodgings,  and  immediately  returned, 
in  a  boat  for  his  mother  and  the  family ;  and  after  much 
fatigue  and  trouble,  owing  chiefly  to  the  drunken  cap- 
tain, succeeded  in  getting  them  all  with  their  luggage 
safe  to  Greenock.  This  he  found  to  be  a  considerable 
town,  with  an  excellent  harbor  filled  with  ships  from 
foreign  ports,  as  the  greater  part  of  the  commerce 
of  Scotland  was  carried  on  from  Greenock  and  from 
Glasgow  Port,  three  miles  above.  Here,  too,  ended, 
the  harassing  difficulties  of  their  transportation,  which, 
contrast  so  strongly  with  the  speed  and  comfort  now 
enjoyed  through  the  agency  of  steam  vessels,  first 
introduced  upon  the  Clyde  in  1812,  little  more  than 
three  years  afterward.* 

*  It  was  a  native  of  Greenock,  James  Watt,  who,  in  1764,  while  instrument- 
maker  to  the  University  of  Glasgow,  there  first  gave  to  mankind  the  steam 
engine  as  an  effective  motive  power.  This  noble  invention  seems  to  have 
been  first  successfully  applied  to  navigation  in  the  United  States  by  John 
Fitch,  upon  the  Delaware,  I2th  of  October,  1788,  in  the  "  Perseverance," 
which  made  a  trip  fi-om  Philadelphia  to  Burlington,  and  attained  a  speed  of 
six  and  one-third  miles  per  hour  against  the  current.  Fulton's  successful 
experiment  on  the  Hudson  did  not  occur  until  1807.  Fitch  used  paddles- 
moved  by  steam,  but  Fulton  introduced  the  paddle  wheel,  which  is  said  to- 
have  been  previously  invented  by  Mr.  Miller  of  Dalswinton,  Dumfrieshire,. 
Scotland. 


i2S       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


Deeming  it  advisable  to  reach  Glasgow  in  advance 
of  his  mother  and  sisters,  in  order  to  have  suitable 
lodgings  in  readiness,  Alexander,  on  the  3d  of  Novem- 
ber, after  having  made  arrangements  for  the  passage  of 
the  family,  next  day,  on  the  fly-boat  plying  on  the 
Clyde  between  Greenock  and  Glasgow,  set  out  on  foot 
for  Glasgow,  twenty-three  miles  distant,  where  he 
arrived  in  the  afterpart  of  the  day.  After  obtaining 
some  refreshments  at  an  inn,  he  concluded  to  present 
his  letter  of  introduction  to  Mr.  Ewing,  in  order  to 
obtain  his  advice  as  to  a  suitable  place  of  lodging. 
Calling,  therefore,  at  his  house.  No.  4  Carlton  place, 
he  was  most  kindly  received  and  hospitably  entertained. 
Next  morning,  having  received  Mr.  Ewing's  advice 
and  a  note  from  him  to  the  Rev.  Mr.  John  Mitchel,  he 
called  and  breakfasted  with  Mr.  Mitchel,  w^ho  rendered 
him  some  assistance  in  finding  lodgings,  which  were  at 
length  obtained  in  Broad  street,  Hutchinsontown,  ready 
furnished.  Here  the  family,  who  arrived  safely  next 
morning,  were  duly  installed,  designing  here  to  spend 
the  winter,  while  Alexander  would  attend  the  classes  at 
the  University,  and  happy  in  being  once  more  quietly 
settled  after  the  dangers,  fatigues  and  trials  of  the  past 
month. 


CHAPTER  IX. 


Glasgow  University  Classes — Essays — Religious  Life — Scripture  Meditations. 

GLASGOW,  in  which  the  Campbell  family  were 
now  to  reside  for  a  time,  is  the  chief  city  of  Scot- 
land as  regards  wealth,  commerce  and  population.  It 
then  contained  about  one  hundred  and  fourteen  thousand 
inhabitants,  and  was  noted  for  its  extensive  manufactures, 
for  which  it  possessed  great  facilities,  being  placed  in 
the  midst  of  a  coal  deposit  averaging  fifteen  feet  in 
thickness  and  extending  over  one  hundred  and  ten 
square  miles.  It  is  adorned  with  many  public  buildings 
and  churches,  and  its  venerable  cathedral,  the  only  one 
that  escaped  the  iconoclastic  rage  of  Knox  and  his  ad- 
herents, is  regarded  as  the  finest  specimen  of  Gothic  archi- 
tecture in  Scotland.  The  college  extends  along  the  High 
street  more  than  three  hundred  feet,  and  occupies  an 
area  of  more  than  two  acres.  In  an  elegant  building 
is  contained  the  Hunterian  Museum,*  a  very  valuable 
collection  of  specimens  in  natural  history,  anatomical 
preparations  and  medals.  The  Town  Hall  is  another 
fine  building,  much  admired  for  its  magnificent  front. 
South-east  of  the  city,  on  the  banks  of  the  river  Clyde, 


*  Dr.  William  Hunter  was  a  native  of  Kilbride  in  Lanarkshire,  a  pupil 
of  Dr.  Cullen,  and  elder  brother  of  the  celebrated  John  Hunter.  He  spent 
a  large  fortune  upon  the  collection  of  this  splendid  Museum,  which  now 
enriches  the  University  of  Glasgow.  Died  in  1783,  ten  years  before  his 
brother  John. 

vou  L— I  129 


I  so       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


the  winding  Clutha"  of  Ossian,  there  is  a  fine  park  of 
about  one  hundred  and  eight  acres,  adorned  with  trees^ 
and  with  more  than  three  miles  of  graveled  walks  for 
the  recreation  of  the  citizens.  Many  interesting  per- 
sonal and  historical  associations  cluster  around  this 
ancient  city,  which  is  supposed  to  have  existed  for  more 
than  twelve  centuries. 

Through  the  courtesy  of  Mr.  Ewing,  Alexander  was- 
introduced  to  the  difl^erent  professors  of  the  University, 
and  on  the  8th  of  November,  immediately  after  the 
"  town  sacrament,"  the  time  at  which  the  course  com- 
menced, he  entered  his  classes.  He  had  but  fairly 
begun,  however,  when  Mr.  Ewing,  who  seems  to  have 
taken  a  special  interest  in  the  famil}^  ascertaining  that 
their  place  of  lodging  was  incommodious,  sought  out, 
of  his  own  accord,  a  more  eligible  situation  in  Youngs- 
land,  Broad  street,  Hutchinsontown,  to  which  they  all 
removed  in  the  latter  part  of  November.  Here  they 
remained  during  their  stay  in  Glasgow,  spending  the 
time  very  agreeably,  forming  a  very  pleasant  acquaint-^ 
ance  with  many  persons  of  respectability,  and  experi- 
encing the  kindest  attentions  from  a  number  of  choice 
friends.  One  of  Alexander's  first  cares,  after  the  family 
were  fairly  settled,  was  to  look  to  the  preservation  of 
the  books  which  had  been  damaged  in  the  shipwreck. 
A  great  many  of  them  he  found  it'  necessary  to  have 
re-bound  ;  and,  from  the  list  which  he  made  out  of  them, 
it  appears  that  they  were  volumes  of  the  Greek  and 
Latin  classics  and  English  literature,  but  chiefly  works 
on  theology. 

As  the  University  was  attended  by  a  large  class,  often 
numbering  fifteen  hundred  students,  man}^  of  whom 
were  from  Ireland,  Alexander,  who  was  of  an  emi- 
nently social  disposition,  formed  a  very  extensive  ac~ 


UNIVERSITY  CLASSES. 


quaintance  among  them,  and  some  warm  friendships. 
Of  those  with  whom  he  was  specially  intimate  may  be 
mentioned  Mr.  Moffit,  Mr.  McFarlane,  Mr.  Beard,  Mr. 
Dymock,  Mr.  Cuthbertson,  of  Scotland;  Mr.  Whinning 
and  Mr.  Gourley,  of  Ireland  ;  and  Mr.  Crisp,  Mr.  Red- 
ford,  Mr.  Cluney,  Mr.  Grive,  Mr.  Burder  and  Mr. 
Hooper,  of  England,  who  were  among  his  classmates. 

The  classes  he  had  entered  were  those  of  Professor 
Young,  both  public  and  private,  in  Greek  :  those  of 
Professor  Jardine,  public  and  private,  in  Logic  and 
Belles  Lettres,  and  Dr.  Ure's  class  in  Experimental 
Philosophy.  The  necessary  preparation  for  these 
classes,  and  the  various  exercises  required,  kept  him 
extremely  busy,  and  he  devoted  himself  with  uncommon 
zeal  and  indefatigable  industry  to  his  studies  during  the 
session.  In  addition  to  the  above  regular  classes,  he 
resumed  the  study  of  the  French,  and  gave  considerable 
time  to  English  reading  and  composition.  Retiring  to 
bed  at  ten  o'clock  p.m.,  he  rose  regularly  at  four  in  the 
morning.  At  six,  he  attended  his  class  in  French ; 
from  seven  to  eight,  a  class  in  the  Greek  Testament ;  and 
from  eight  to  ten,  his  Latin  classes,  returning  to  bathe 
and  breakfast  at  ten.  In  the  afternoon  he  recited  in  a 
more  advanced  Greek  class  and  in  Logic,  attending 
also  several  lectures  per  week  delivered  by  Dr.  Ure, 
and  accompanied  with  experiments  in  natural  science, 
in  which  he  was  very  much  interested.  Professors 
Young  and  Jardine  had  been  his  father's  teachers  up- 
ward of  twenty-five  years  before,  and  had  been  also 
favorite  professors  w^ith  the  poet  Campbell,  who  had 
finished  his  course  at  Glasgow,  his  native  cit\',  in  May, 
1796,  and  who  speaks  of  Jardine  in  his  letters,  as  the 

amiable,"  the  ''benign,"  the  "philosophic  Jardine." 
Professor  Young,  too,  the  profound  grammarian  and 


132        MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


master  of  elocution,  had  taken  great  interest  in  the 
youthful  poet,  and  used  to  read  to  his  class,  with  enthu- 
siasm, the  elegant  metrical  versions  of  the  Greek  poets 
presented  by  his  pupil,  which  constantly  received  the 
highest  prizes.  With  these  and  other  renowned  pro- 
fessors Alexander  was  greatly  pleased,  and  the  devoted 
jittention  which  he  gave  to  their  instructions  is  amply 
attested  by  the  large  number  of  closely-written  volumes 
which  he  filled  during  the  session  with  copious  notes  of 
their  lectures,  and  with  his  own  translations  from  the 
Iliad  of  Homer,the  (EdipusTyrannusof  Sophocles,  etc., 
together  with  numerous  essays  and  exercises  in  prose 
and  verse,  handed  in  to  the  professors  in  his  various 
classes  as  regular  exercises. 

A  number  of  juvenile  poems,  some  of  which  he  had 
composed  in  Ireland,  also  appear  in  one  of  these  vol- 
umes, having  been  written,  as  he  states,  "  for  his  own 
improvement,  and  that  he  might  be  enabled  to  judge 
of  the  poetic  compositions  of  others."  These,  however, 
do  not  possess  sufficient  merit  for  publication,  nor  did 
he  himself  ever  esteem  them  worthy  of  it.  They  are 
deficient  in  rhythm  and  expression,  and  "  want  fire,"  as 
w^as  said  of  some  of  the  earlv  verses  of  the  author  of 
the  "  Pleasures  of  Hope"  by  his  elder  brother  Daniel, 
to  whom  he  had  submitted  them  for  criticism  ;  and  who, 
suiting  the  action  to  the  word,  twisted  up  the  manuscript 
and  thrust  it  between  the  bars  of  the  grate  !  There  is 
scarcely  any  one,  of  even  ordinary  taste  and  education, 
who  does  not,  in  the  ardent  period  of  youth,  experience 
something  of  the  afflatus  -pocticus''  With  most,  this 
is,  however,  but  a  transient  influence,  springing  from 
the  exuberance  of  youthful  feeling ;  and  though  it  may 
have  its  use  in  refining  that  feeling  and  creating  a  love 
for  poetry,  it  usually  subsides  amidst  the  sober  pursuits 


POWERS  OF  IMAGINATION. 


t33 


of  life.  To  what  measure  of  success  Alexander  Camp- 
bell might  have  attained  in  this  species  of  composition, 
had  he  devoted  himself  to  it,  it  is  not  easy  to  say  ; 
but,  though  some  subsequent  attempts  at  versification 
s«;em  more  promising,  it  is  not  likely  he  would  have 
excelled  in  it,  as  the  natural  tendenc}'  of  his  mind  was 
to  wide  and  general  views,  rather  than  to  that  delicate 
analysis  and  minute  descriptive  detail  so  necessary  in 
poetry  ;  and  his  conscientious  reverence  for  truth  and 
fact,  prohibited  any  lofty  flights  of  fancy  or  of  bold  in- 
vention. For  fiction,  indeed,  he  had  no  taste  whatever  ; 
and  though  he  conceded,  in  this  respect,  a  certain  license 
to  the  distinguished  poets,  he  used  in  after  years  often 
to  express  his  wonder  that  any  one  could  take  an  interest 
in  works  of  rriere  invention,  such  as  romances,  when 
they  knews  perfectly  well,  that  not  one  of  the  things 
related  had  ever  happened. 

That  he  himself  possessed  a  good  degree  of  the 
imaginative  faculty  is  unquestionable  ;  but  in  him  the 
understanding  and  the  judgment  largely  predominated, 
and  his  imagination  displayed  itself,  not  in  poetic  crea- 
tions, but  in  the  far-reaching  grasp  by  which,  as  an 
orator^  he  seized  upon  principles,  facts,  illustrations 
and  analogies,  and  so  modified  and  combined  them  as 
to  render  them  all  tributary  to  his  main  design.  It  was 
in  the  choice  of  arguments,  in  unexpected  applications 
of  familiar  facts,  in  comprehensive  generalizations, 
widening  the  horizon  of  human  thought  and  revealing 
new  and  striking  relations,  that  this  faculty  manifested 
itself;  subservient  always,  however,  to  the  proof  of 
some  logical  proposition  or  to  the  development  of  some 
important  truth.  His  deficiency  in  the  musical  faculty, 
as  well  as  the  preponderance  of  the  reasoning  powers 
and  of  the  practical  understanding,  w^ould,  doubtless, 

12 


«54       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


have  inhibited  the  attainment  of  any  poetic  distinction. 
It  is  true,  indeed,  that  a  man  of  even  ordinary  talents, 
sensibiHty  and  reading,  may,  by  application  and  labor, 
produce  works  dignified  by  the  name  of  poems ;  but  it 
is  little  else  than  a  mechanical  process,  where  the  ear 
arranges  words,  and  the  fancy  selects  imagery  to  I'x- 
hibit  and  to  adorn  prosaic  thoughts  in  a  poetic  dress. 
The  true  poet  must  possess,  by  nature,  the  most  delicate 
perceptions  of  beauty  and  of  harmony,  and  that  vivid 
imagination  to  which  these  are  allied,  and  which  not 
•only  creates,  but  gives  unity  and  life  and  action  to  its 
productions,  so  as  to  make  ''things  that  are  not"  seem 
*' things  that  are."  It  is  by  no  means  to  be  regretted, 
however,  that  Alexander  Campbell  did  not  devote  him- 
self to  poetry.  He  chose  the  more  congenial  pursuit 
of  truth,  and  a  nobler  and  far  more  important  field  of 
labor,  where  success  was  to  be  rewarded  not  by  mere 
human  applause  or  the  fading  garland  of  the  poet,  but 
by  the  praise  of  God  and  the  crown  of  immortality. 

Since  he  became  afterward  distinguished  as  a  prose 
w^riter,  it  may  not  be  uninteresting  to  the  reader  to 
place  before  him  one  of  his  prose  essays,  written  during 
his  stay  in  Glasgow,  that  a  proper  comparison  may  be 
made  in  regard  to  his  style  at  different  periods.  The 
following  essay  is  selected  from  among  those  required 
by  Professor  Jardine  in  Belles  Lettres,  as  it  is  brief.  In 
a  note  prefixed  to  the  manuscript  volume  in  which  they 
are  contained,  it  is  said  that  the  reason  for  writing  them 
out  thus  was  to  preserve  them  "for  retrospection,  that 
at  any  future  period  the  author  may  look  back  at 
former  states  of  mind  and  habits  of  composition,  and 
may,  from  thence,  judge  of  improvement,  etc."  Criti- 
cism is  also  strongly  deprecated,  if  the  book  should 
happen  to  fall  into  the  hands  of  a  critic,  who  is  re- 


EARLY  PROSE  COMPOSITION. 


^35 


minded  that  these  essays  are  the  imperfect  attempts  of 
a  mere  student,  and  that  the  critic  himself  was  once 
similarly  inexperienced,  and  should  not  look  with  scorn 
on  such  efforts  for  improvement ;  and  the  note  closes 
with  the  remark  "that  perhaps  in  circling  months,  the 
day  may  come  that  the  author  will  bid  defiance  to  him 
who  should  demean  himself  to  criticise  the  attempts  of 
youth."  From  this  last  sentence  he  seems  to  have 
been  conscious  of  the  possession  of  that  undeveloped 
power  which  became  afterward  so  conspicuous,  and  to 
have  anticipated  the  high  distinction  to  which  he  would 
one  day  attain  : 

"  ON    THE   PURPOSES   SERVED    IN    OUR    CONSTITUTION  BY 
THE  REFLEX  SENSE  OF  BEAUTY. 

"  Doubtless  the  wise  Author  of  our  nature  has  not  endowed 
us  with  any  faculties  of  mind  or  body  that  are  not  useful  ta 
us,  and  conferred  on  us  for  good  and  wise  ends,  that  we 
might  be  capable  of  admiring  the  works  of  creation,  and 
therein  behold  the  wisdom,  power,  and  goodness  of  the 
Author ;  that  we  might  be  enabled  to  observe  the  grandness» 
sublimity  and  beauty  of  all  his  works,  and  receive  pleasure 
in  contemplating  his  goodness  in  thus  preparing  an  habitation 
for  us.  He  has  endowed  us  with  powers  of  receiving  plea- 
sures from  the  beauties  of  nature  and  art :  these  powers  are 
called  natural.  Each  particular  sense  differs  from  another  in 
itself,  in  the  qualities  of  external  objects  that  make  an  im- 
pression on  it,  in  the  emotions  produced  in  the  mind,  and  in 
the  final  cause  ;  but  as  we  are  to  confine  ourselves  to  the  pur- 
poses served  in  our  constitution  by  the  external  sense  of 
beauty,  we  shall  proceed  to  point  them  out. 

That  as  man  is  destined  for  the  enjoyment  of  perfect 
beauty  hereafter,  it  was  wise  and  kind  in  the  wise  Author  of 
nature  to  give  him  a  taste  for  it  and  a  sense  to  feel  it. 

"The  objects  that  man  in  his  future  state  of  happiness  is 
destined  to  behold  are  represented  to  us  in  divine  revelation 


13^       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL 


as  perfectly  beautiful  both  in  color,  proportion  and  variety : 
n-ot  only  the  objects  man  has  to  behold,  but  the  sounds  which 
he  is  to  hear,  are  to  be  harmonious  and  beautiful  to  the  ear. 
Were  he  then  entirel}-  unacquainted  with  what  is  beautiful  in 
sight  or  sound,  had  he  no  sense  to  feel  it,  nor  taste  for  it,  all 
those  descriptions  would  be  of  no  avail,  no  inducement  to 
him  to  excite  to  virtuous  actions,  that  he  might  enjoy  this 
happiness  for  ever  ;  but  that  we  might  be  excited  by  these 
representations  to  seek  for  this  happiness,  our  present  con- 
stitution is  so  organized  as  to  receive  pleasure  from  the  vari- 
ous qualities  called  the  beautiful  in  external  objects,  inso- 
much that  the  eye  is  not  satisfied  with  seeing  nor  the  ear  witli 
hearing.  No  qualities  in  objects  make  such  an  impression 
upon  the  mind,  nor  excite  such  a  desire  for  the  possession,  as 
the  beautiful. 

It  tends  to  make  this  present  state  more  pleasing.  From 
none  of  the  internal  senses  do  we  receive  so  much  pleasure 
as  from  beauty  ;  no  qualities  in  objects  interest  us  so  much  as 
the  beautiful.  The  very  variety  of  beautiful  qualities  in  the 
works  of  creation  and  of  art  have  given  rise  to  the  definition 
of  taste,  that  it  is  the  power  of  receiving  pleasure  from  the 
beauties  of  nature  and  of  art. 

"  It  produces  the  most  refined  pleasure.  To  prove  this  let 
us  suppose  man  to  have  no  sensation  of  beauty,  and  then 
where  is  his  pleasure.-*  If  he  have  any,  it  must  be  of  the 
most  gross  kind,  sensual,  and  only  pleasing  as  good  or  evil. 
Where  v/ould  be  the  beauties  of  the  rising  and  setting  sun, 
of  the  radiance  of  risen  day,  and  all  the  variety  of  color  in 
the  speckled  clouds  that  stand  proportionate  on  the  face  of 
the  vast  concave  of  heaven.''  Where  would  be  the  pleasing 
trains  of  imagination  that  would  naturally  be  associated  with 
such  a  beautiful  scene  Not  possessed  of  a  sense  of  beauty, 
we  must  behold  this  otherwise  beautiful  scene  with  as  much 
coldness  and  indifference  as  we  would  the  dark  night  or  the 
irregular  motions  of  some  ill-shapen  object.  Not  the  harmony 
of  human  voices  nor  the  warbling  melody  of  the  grove  would 
excite  one  more  pleasing  emotion  than  the  most  ungrateful 


COURSE  OF  READING. 


rounds  or  the  solemn  silence  of  the  moonless  night.  It  proves 
an  incentive  to  the  study  of  nature,  when,  delighted  w^ith 
the  exterior  appearances  of  the  works  of  nature,  we  are 
incited  to  study  the  causes  and  to  trace  the  effects  of  this 
beauty  ;  and  in  our  studies  we  are  lightened  by  the  beauties 
interspersed,  and  our  mind  is  ever3'where  relieved  by  the 
occurrence  of  what  is  beautiful,  and  filled  with  the  most 
pleasing  sensations. 

•'  The  desire  for  beauty  is  not  lessened  by  new  gratifica- 
tions :  in  short,  without  it  all  the  beauties  of  spring  and  of  the 
blooming  year,  with  all  the  variegated  beauties  of  nature  and 
art,  would  excite  in  us  no  more  pleasing  emotions  than  were 
all  nature  a  mere  jargon  of  discordances  and  a  chaos  of  con- 
fusion. Whereas,  on  the  other  hand,  we  find  more  refined 
pleasure  in  the  contemplation  of  the  color,  proportion  and 
harmony  of  all  the  works  of  creation  and  the  beauties  of  art 
than  in  any  other  power  or  capacity  with  which  we  are 
endowed." 

During  his  studies  he  still  found  time  to  indulge  his 
love  of  reading.  He  was  constantly  adding  to  his  store 
of  books  as  circumstances  permitted,  and  devoting  spare 
moments  to  perusing  them  and  writing  down  from  them 
in  his  commonplace  book  such  passages  as  he  desired 
particularly  to  remember.  Thus  there  is  a  memorandum 
that  from  May  i,  1809,  he  read  Dr.  Beattie's  "Minstrel," 
"Life  and  Poems  of  James  Hay  Beattie."  A  work  of 
Stuart's,  MacKenzie's  "Man  of  Feeling,"  BufTon's  "Na- 
tural History,"  Johnson's  "Lives  of  the  Poets,"  four 
volumes,  Dr.  Beattie's  "  Ethics,"  and  one  volume  of 
Goldsmith's  "Animated  Nature."  Many  extracts  appear 
from  Johnson's  "  Lives  of  the  Poets,"  and  still  more 
from  Dr.  Beattie's  "  Ethics."  Among  these,  we  have 
much  upon  the  principles  of  Law  and  Civil  Govern- 
ment, Right,  Obligation,  Justice,  etc.  ;  also  upon  Rea- 
soning and  Evidence,  and  style   of  composition,  his- 

12* 


13^       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


torical,  rhetorical,  etc.    Under  the  latter  head  he  was 

particular  to  record  the  following  qualifications,  as 

necessary  to  attain  excellence  in  the  composing  and 
pronouncing  of  sermons  :" 

"  I.  The  preacher  must  be  a  man  of  piety,  and  one  wha 
has  the  instruction  and  salvation  of  mankind  sincerely  at 
heart. 

**  2.  A  man  of  modest  and  simple  manners,  and  in  his 
public  performances  and  general  behavior  must  conduct 
himself  so  as  to  make  his  people  sensible  that  he  has  their 
temporal  and  eternal  welfare  more  at  heart  than  anything  else. 

'•3.  He  must  be  well  instructed  in  morality  and  religion, 
and  in  the  original  tongues  in  which  the  Scriptures  are 
written,  for  without  them  he  can  hardly  be  qualified  to  explain 
Scripture  or  to  teach  religion  and  morality. 

"4.  He  must  be  such  a  proficient  in  his  own  language,  as 
to  be  able  to  express  every  doctrine  and  precept  with  the 
utmost  simplicity,  and  without  anything  in  his  diction  either 
finical  on  the  one  hand  or  vulgar  on  the  other. 

"  5.  A  sermon  should  be  composed  with  regularity  and 
unity  of  design,  so  that  all  its  parts  may  have  a  mutual  and 
natural  connection,  and  it  should  not  consist  of  many  heads, 
neither  should  it  be  very  long. 

"  6.  A  sermon  ought  to  be  pronounced  with  gi'avit}\ 
modesty  and  meekness,  and  so  as  to  be  distinctly  heard  by  all 
the  audience. 

"  Let  the  preacher,  therefore,  accustom  himself  to  articulate 
slowly  and  deliver  the  words  with  a  distinct  voice,  and  with- 
out artificial  attitudes  or  motions  or  any  other  affectation." 

These  rules  are  here  inserted,  because  he  seems  to 
have  been  impressed  by  their  justness,  and  to  have 
modeled  himself  by  them  in  his  future  course  as  a 
preacher. 

In  addition  to  his  various  classes  and  literary  exer- 
cises, he  seems  also  to  have  been  engaged  in  teaching 


SELF-  S  UPERINTENDENCE. 


some  private  classes,  as  the  poet  Campbell  had  done, 
and  as  was  the  usual  resort  of  those  who  were  not 
otherwise  able  to  defray  their  expenses.  He  had  a 
class  in  Latin,  one  in  English  grammar  and  reading, 
and  one  in  writing  and  arithmetic,  composed  of  youths 
from  several  families  in  the  city,  as  those  of  Mr.  Mon- 
teith,  Wardlaw,  Burns,  etc.  While  thus  diligently 
engaged,  however,  in  literary  pursuits,  he  by  no  means 
neglected  his  religious  interests.  On  the  contrary,  he 
seems  to  have  been  unusually  atttentive  to  the  state  of 
his  own  religious  convictions  and  feelings.  He  was 
strict  in  his  daily  devotions  and  readings  of  the  Scrip- 
ture ;  and  seems,  from  various  records,  to  have  cher- 
ished constantly  a  devotional  frame  of  mind  and  a  habit 
of  self-examination.  On  the  last  evening  of  December, 
as  he  sat  in  his  apartment,  he  resolved  to  occupy  him- 
self in  writing  and  reflecting  upon  religious  subjects 
until  the  old  year  should  be  closed.  When  the  New 
Year  (1809)  had  come  in,  he  then  determined  that  he^ 
would  keep  a  religious  diary  or  record  of  the  results  of 
daily  self-examination. 

This  sort  of  religious  discipline  had  formerly  been 
practised  by  his  father,  and  was  at  this  time  very 
common  with  religious  persons.  Wesley  began  to  keep 
a  diary  while  at  Oxford,  but  his  private  diary  was  not 
so  much  a  record  of  self-examination  as  of  the  events 
of  the  day,  and  of  his  own  reflections  upon  men  and 
things,  interspersed  with  views  of  his  own  religious 
condition  and  changes  at  diflferent  periods.  This  work, 
which  has  been  published,  is  perhaps  the  best  and  most 
valuable  autobiography  extant,  containing,  in  addition, 
valuable  material  for  history.  The  diary,  however, 
which  he  commenced  in  connection  with  Hervey, 
Morgan,  Whitefield  and  other  members  of  the  so- 


140       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL 


called  "Godly  Club"  at  Oxford,  was  really  a  record  of 
self-examinations  of  the  most  searching  character,  ex- 
tending to  thoughts,  words,  motives  and  actions,  in  re- 
ference both  to  God  and  man,  and,  in  the  elaborate 
scheme  drawn  out  by  Mr.  Wesley  himself,  endeavoring 
to  bring  under  scrutiny  every  thought  and  imagination 
of  the  human  heart.  Other  members  of  the  ''Godly 
Club"  continued  the  practice  after  they  left  college  : 
and  Hervey,  who  became  a  very  popular  writer,  earn- 
estly recommended  religious  persons,  each  for  himself, 
thus  to  "compile  a  secret  history  of  his  heart  and 
conduct." 

That  such  a  practice  may  be  useful  to  certain  minds 
and  in  particular  circumstances  is  probable,  but  it  mav 
well  be  doubted  whether  its  evils  would  not,  in  a  major-' 
ity  of  cases,  outweigh  its  advantages.  That  the  power 
of  self-superintendence  and  self-examination  ought  to 
be  daily  exercised  by  all  is  unquestionable,  but  so 
minute  a  scrutiny  into  the  workings  of  the  human  soul, 
and  so  elaborate  a  record  of  the  suggestions,  vain  and 
frivolous  thoughts  and  imaginations  which  flit  across 
the  mind,  is  likel}'  to  induce  an  utter  despair  of  human 
nature  with  some,  and,  witli  others  of  a  diflerent  tem- 
perament, to  foster  the  pride  of  self-knowledge,  or  a 
presumptuous  confidence  in  man's  power  of  self-renova- 
tion. It  does  not  seem  designed,  nor  is  it  enjoined  by 
the  Creator,  that  man  should  thus,  as  it  were,  apply  the 
microscope  to  certain  parts  of  his  moral  nature,  and 
distort  these  into  such  unnatural  disproportion  as  would, 
upon  a  similar  scale  of  magnitude,  convert  even  the 
most  beautiful  physical  form  into  a  monster.  As  there 
is  a  certain  distance  at  which  a  portrait  must  be  viewed 
in  order  to  have  a  true  conception  of  it,  so  is  it  with 
human  character,  where  causes  must  be  considered 


UTILITY  OF  RELIGIOUS  DIARIES.  141 


along-  w  ith  their  results ;  motives  with  actions  and  the 
general  tenor  of  life,  rather  than  special  moods  and 
casual  caprices,  which  often  spring  from  a  physical 
rather  than  a  moral  source.  Man  can  never  know^ 
himself  aright  until  he  shall  be  enabled  to  comprehend 
the  delicate  lelations  which  God  has  established  between 
the  various  parts  of  his  own  nature,  as  well  as  between 
him  and  exterior  things  ;  and,  in  default  of  this  know- 
ledge, he  must  be  content  to  remain  ignorant  of  much 
that  lies  beyond  the  field  of  ordinary  observation,  just 
as  men  breathe  the  life-giving  air  and  conceive  it  to  be 
pure,  forgetful  that  in  the  sunbeam  they  saw  it  filled 
with  an  infinite  number  of  motes  and  particles,  of  whose 
nature  or  use  they  could  form  no  conception.  In  fact, 
those  minute  inquisitions  to  which  reference  is  made 
are  at  all  possible  only  to  a  few,  and  therefore  can 
never  constitute  an  imperative  religious  duty,  which 
must  of  necessity  be  of  universal  obligation. 

The  diary  kept  by  Alexander,  partly  in  short-hand, 
but  chiefly  in  Latin,  records  the  usual  deficiencies  in 
spiritual-mindedness,  self-consecration  and  attention  to 
duty,  and  the  usual  longings  after  a  higher  spiritual 
life.  It  seems  also  to  have  resulted  in  the  conviction 
of  the  impossibility  of  maintaining  or  of  conducting 
such  a  scrutiny  to  a  practical  or  useful  end,  and  to  have 
led  him  to  the  appropriate  inquiry  of  the  Psalmist, 
"Who  can  understand  his  errors?"  and  to  his  equally 
appropriate  prayer  to  God,  "Cleanse  thou  me  from 
secret  faults" — a  prayer  which  is  entirely  in  harmony 
with  the  spirit  of  the  New  Testament,  where  the  self- 
examination  enjoined  presumes  not  to  separate  the 
minute  filaments  which  compose  the  varied  web  of 
human  motives  and  feelings,  but  confines  itself  to  faith 
as  connected  with  obedience.    Such  a  scrutiny,  while 


142        MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


it  must  reveal  to  every  Christian  his  own  inability,  and 
that  he  offends  in  many  things,  will  lead  him  neither  to 
despair  of  the  perfection  which  God  requires,  nor  to 
flatter  himself  with  any  assurances  of  self-sufficiency ; 
but  will  lead  him  rather,  by  prayer,  to  seek  assistance 
from  Him  who  can  "work  in  him  both  to  will  and  to 
do  of  his  own  good  pleasure,"  and  whose  strength  is 
made  perfect  in  human  weakness.  He  will  be  induced 
to  hope  not  in  self-righteousness,  but  in  the  merits  of 
Christ,  and  to  look  off  to  Him  whom  God  has  made  to 
him  wisdom  and  righteousness,  sanctification  and  re- 
demption. It  was  in  harmony  with  such  reflections 
that  the  minute  inquiries  of  the  earlier  portions  of  his 
diary  gradually  gave  place  to  broader  and  more  ele- 
vated views,  and  to  appropriate  meditations  upon  cer- 
tain portions  of  Scripture.  Thus  we  have,  under  date 
of  January  15  : 

Thoughts  on  these  words  :  '  The  heart  is  deceitful  above 
all  things  and  desperately  wicked:  who  can  know  it?'  Man 
is  composed  of  two  parts — a  body  and  a  soul ;  the  body  visible, 
material,  mortal,  divisible  ;  the  soul  invisible,  immaterial,  in- 
divisible and  immortal.  Their  union  is  an  impenetrable 
arcanum.  The  heart  of  man  is  put  here  for  the  mind,  or 
thoughts,  as  the  heart  is  the  seat  of  life,  and  is  thought  by 
some  to  be  the  seat  of  intellect  and  will.  The  soul  of  man  is 
unfathomable.  The  human  mind  is  an  emanation  of  the 
Divine  Mind.  The  soul  was  first  made  after  the  image  of 
God  in  knowledge,  righteousness  and  true  holiness ;  was  per- 
fectly able,  in  its  first  state,  to  keep  the  commands  of  God, 
but  is  now  fallen  by  a  breach  of  God's  command  well  known. 
That  heart,  once  so  perfect  as  to  have  communion  with  God, 
and  to  enjoy  communion  with  him,  is  now  so  depraved,  so 
awfully  depraved,  as  to  be  the  habitation  of  every  unclean 
thought,  the  spring  of  all  filthy  communication,  the  source  of 
every  sinful  action. 


5  CRIPTURE  MED  IT  A  Tl  ONS. 


"  The  tongue  is  said,  by  a  beloved  apostle,  to  be  a  fire,  a 
world  of  iniquity  ;  it  defiles  the  whole  body  and  setteth  on 
fire  the  course  of  nature,  and  is  set  on  fire  of  hell.  But,  alas  I 
sure  'tis  the  heart,  'tis  by  the  will,  the  tongue  is  lifted  up  ;  'tis 
then  the  heart  that  is  the  cause  of  this  evil,  this  awful  iniquity. 
But  how  is  the  heart  so  deceitful  ?  how  is  it  so  unknown  ?  It 
is  so  dreadfully  deceitful  as  to  shun  all  good.  When  we  essay 
to  do  good,  the  heart  rebels  ;  when,  with  our  tongue,  we 
attempt  to  praise  our  Maker,  our  deceitful  heart  wanders  off' 
to  vanity,  to  a  thousand  vanities.  We  cannot  command  it ;  it 
escapes  our  closest  watch,  our  deepest  ken,  and  deceives  us. 

It  is  pleased  with  the  vanities  of  a  present,  evil  world, 
and  naturally  shuns  the  precious  truths  of  God.  It  fondly 
drinks  in  the  draughts  of  iniquity  and  loathes  the  healthful 
cordials  of  God's  word.  It  is  fond  of  its  bitterest  enemy  and 
hates  its  best  friend.  It  is  dull,  it  is  languid  to  that  which  is 
good  ;  it  is  lively,  it  is  active  to  every  evil  work.  It  is  in  its 
element  when  in  the  service  of  Satan,  but  out  of  it  in  the 
service  of  God.  This  is  the  true  state  of  the  natural  heart ;  it 
loves  death  and  hates  life  ;  it  chooses  the  former  and  rejects 
the  latter.  How  unhappy,  then,  would  this  carnal  lieart  be 
in  the  everlasting  company  of  God,  of  angels  and  of  glorified 
saints  !  Yea,  heaven  would  be  no  heaven  to  it ;  it  prefers  the 
company  of  the  damned  (if  it  could  avoid  their  punishment), 
rather  than  union  and  communion  with  God  and  the  fellow- 
ship of  angels  and  of  glorified  saints.  Let  us  pray,  then,  to 
God  to  be  merciful  and  change  these  hard  and  deceitful 
hearts." 

Again,  on  the  29th  of  January  :  "  'All  Scripture  is  given  by 
inspiration  of  God,  and  is  profitable  for  doctrine,  for  reproof, 
for  correction,  for  instruction  in  righteousness,  that  the  man 
of  God  may  be  perfect,  thoroughly  furnished  unto  all  good 
works.'    *    *    *  * 

The  word  of  God,  which  is  contained  in  the  Old  and  New 
Testaments,  is  the  only  rule  to  direct  us  how  we  may  glorify 
and  enjoy  him.  '  The  law  of  the  Lord  is  perfect,  converting 
the  soul ;  the  testimony  of  the  Lord  is  sure,  making  wise  the 


144        MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


simple.  *  *  *  *  Moreover,  by  them  is  thy  servant 
warned,  and  in  keeping  of  them  there  is  great  reward.'  Psalm 
xix.  Here  is  sufficient  proof  of  the  authoritv  of  the  Scrip- 
tures, so  that,  from  their  holiness  and  superlative  dignified 
majesty,  they  are  the  powerful  words  that  can  convert  the 
soul  that  h"es  in  iniquity  ;  they  can  convince  the  most  obstinate 
sinner;  they  can  humble  the  most  haughty  and  high-minded, 
and  turn  those  tar  from  righteousness  from  the  power  of 
Satan  to  the  living  God. 

"In  them  we  have  the  blessing  of  Christ  bequeathed  unto 
us  fully,  freely,  earnestly,  and  particularly  to  all  and  every 
individual  sinful  man.  See  2  Peter  i.  4  :  '  Whereby  are  given 
unto  us  exceeding  great  and  precious  promises,  that  by  these 
you  might  be  partakers  of  the  Divine  nature,  having  escaped 
the  corruption  that  is  in  the  world  through  lust.'  And  again* 
Luke  xxii.  29:  *  And  I  appoint  unto  you  a  kingdom  as  mv 
Father  appointed  unto  me.'  These  are  the  inestimable  pur- 
chases and  legacies  of  our  new  covenant  head  ;  such  purchases 
as  all  creation  could  not  produce  or  such  a  gift ;  all  this,  and 
freely  without  money  and  without  price.  From  all  this  we 
may  learn  that  the  Scripture  is  the  true  and  only  rule  to  direct 
us  how  we  may  glorify  and  enjoy  Him. 

"  But  that  the  Scriptures  may  have  the  desired  eflect.  we 
are  to  read  them  for  this  end  and  in  this  manner.  For  this 
end,  that,  by  the  blessing  of  God  and  the  influence  of  the 
Holy  Spirit,  we  may  be  rendered  thereby  holy,  humble  and 
wise  unto  salvation  ;  that  we  ma}'  know  of  the  grand  concerns 
of  an  eternal  scene,  and  be  put  in  the  way  to  escape  eternal 
wrath  and  to  gain  eternal  happiness.  And  in  this  manner 
are  we  to  read  them  :  First,  to  understand  them  by  a  diligent 
comparing  of  them,  one  with  another,  observing  the  regu- 
larity, strength  and  consistency  of  each  part;  and,  second,  ta 
receive  any  benefit  from  them,  we  must  earnestly  pray  for  the 
Spirit  to  apply  them  and  to  explain  them  to  our  hearts.  Acts 
xvii.  II  :  *  They  searched  the  Scriptures  daily  whether  these 
things  were  so  ;'  and  John  v.  37  :  '  Search  the  Scriptures.  foT 
in  them  ye  think  ye  have  eternal  life,  and  these  are  they  wnicK 


VIEWS  OF  TRUE  RELIGION. 


H5 


testify  of  me.'  Hence  the  Word  of  God,  the  Scriptures  of 
the  Old  and  New  Testament,  is  the  only  rule  to  direct  us  how 
we  may  glorify  and  enjoy  God  here  and  hereafter." 

So  full,  indeed,  was  he  of  religious  thought  that  he 
could  not  forbear  giving  expression  to  it,  even  in  those 
manuscript  volumes  which  he  had  reserved  for  merely 
literary  purposes.  Thus,  in  one  consisting  of  extracts, 
juvenile  poems,  etc.,  we  have,  under  date  of  March  13, 
first,  a  sentence  from  Luther:  -'Three  things  make 
a  minister — faith,  meditation  and  temptation."  Then 
follows  this  comparison,  which  was  a  favorite  one  with 
his  father  :  "A  man  may  enter  a  garden  for  three  pur- 
poses :  First,  to  learn  the  art  of  gardening  ;  second,  for 
pleasure  ;  third,  to  gather  fruit.  So  may  a  man  read 
the  Bible  for  three  things  :  First,  to  learn  to  read  it  or 
dispute  about  it;  second,  read  the  historical  parts  for 
pleasure  ;  third,  to  gather  fruit ;  this  last  is  the  true  way.'' 
After  these,  he  writes  down  the  following  reflections : 

"Whatever  our  conduct  may  have  been,  if,  convinced  by 
his  word  of  our  sad  misconduct,  we,  returning  to  him,  con- 
fess our  sin,  sincerely  supplicating  mercy  through  the  priest- 
hood of  Jesus,  heartily  adopting  his  word  as  the  rule  of  our 
practice,  and  constantly  calling  upon  him,  by  prayer,  to  enable 
us  by  his  Holy  Spirit,  to  fulfill  it  in  all  things,  he  will  surely 
pardon  all  our  past  sins,  give  us  his  Holy  Spirit,  and  graciously 
forgive  our  daily  shortcomings.  Whilst  we  thus  go  on  in  a 
daily  and  diligent  study  of  his  holy  word,  endeavoring  to  do 
better  and  better  every  day,  not  at  all  making  our  own  en- 
deavors the  ground  of  our  confidence,  but  merely  and  only 
the  mercy  of  God,  through  the  mediation  of  Jesus  Christ, 
constantly  looking  for  pardon  and  acceptance  only  through 
his  blood  ;  this  is  true  religion,  this  is  true  Christianity  ;  any- 
thing otherwise,  anything  less  or  more  than  this,  is  delusion.'" 

Tn  reference  to  family  religion,  he  notes  elsewhere: 
vol-  L— K  13 


146       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


Do  you  think  that  religion  is  a  mere  way  of  talking  01 
educational  art,  received  by  tradition  from  our  forefathers? 
God  forbid  !  It  is  a  substantial  thing,  solid  as  the  adamant, 
lasting  as  eternity,  bright  and  glorious  as  the  Divine  Author 
and  ol)ject  of  it.  It  is  the  social  knowledge  of  God,  the 
social  love  of  Jesus,  social  holiness,  meekness,  humility, 
charity,  patience,  submission,  delight  in  God,  that  is  only 
worthy  to  be  wished  for  in  a  family." 

These  cherished  sentiments,  private  meditations  and 
personal  details  of  daily  life,  show  how  deeply  his  heart 
and  mind  had  been  impressed  by  religion,  and  how  his 
naturally  strong  and  independent  judgment  began  to 
assert  its  power  to  gufde  his  thoughts  and  determine  his 
convictions.  In  this  latter  respect,  however,  the  cir- 
cumstances around  him  had  so  marked  an  influence, 
and  contributed  so  largely  to  modify  his  religious  views 
and  decide  his  future  course,  that  they  well  deserve 
particular  consideration. 


CHAPTER  X. 


Religious  Movement  of  the  Haldanes — State  of  Religious  Society  in  Scot- 
land— Effects  upon  Alexander  Campbell. 

IN  natural  science,  it  is  admitted  as  an  axiom  that 
all  effects  have  their  proportionate  causes.  Some 
have  thought  this  untrue  in  moral  affairs,  from  the 
difficulty  of  making  any  calculations  in  reference  to  the 
actions  of  voluntary  beings,  who  appear  to  be  governed 
often  by  caprice,  rather  than  bv  reason.  The  difficult\' 
of  tracing  human  actions  to  adequate  causes  is  not, 
however,  an  argument  against  the  existence  of  such 
causes,  any  more  than  the  difficulty  of  accounting  for 
the  changes  in  the  weather  is  a  proof  that  such  changes 
are  not  due  to  sufficient  causes.  Our  inability  may 
arise,  not'  from  the  absence  of  such  causes  in  human 
affairs,  but  from  our  imperfect  knowledge  of  human 
nature,  and  from  the  complexity  and  abstruseness  of 
the  subject.  It  is  certain  that,  in  most  cases,  human 
actions  can  be  traced  to  motives  entirely  sufficient  to 
account  for  them  ;  and  it  is  not  to  be  doubted  that  if  we 
were  perfectly  familiar  with  all  the  springs  of  human 
action,  and  all  the  influences,  physical,  moral  and 
spiritual,  which  act  upon  man's  complex  organism,  we 
should  be  able  to  reduce  to  the  rule  of  some  fixed  law, 
effects  which  now  seem  the  result  of  some  inconsistent 
whim  or  unaccountable  and  passing  fancy. 

The  power  of  surrounding  circumstances  to  mould 

147 


148       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


human  character  is  familiar  to  all,  and  it  is  one  of  the 
most  interesting  points  in  the  lives,  of  those  who  have 
become  distinguished  in  any  particular  field  of  labor 
to  note  the  methods  by  which  Divine  Providence  has 
thus  often  prepared  their  hearts  and  minds  for  the 
sphere  for  which  they  were  designed,  and  changed  or 
modified  'heir  own  purposes  and  plans  until  these  were 
in  haimony  with  their  appointed  life-w^ork.  It  was,  as 
formerly  stated,  the  cherished  desire  of  Thomas  Camp- 
bell that  his  son  Alexander  should  become  a  minister 
of  the  gospel  in  the  Seceder  denomination,  to  which  he 
belonged  ;  and  in  this  arrangement  Alexander  seems  to 
have  acquiesced,  rather  from  respect  to  his  father's 
wishes  than  from  any  original  purpose  of  his  own.  It 
w^as  not  until  he  encountered  the  perils  of  the  shipwreck 
that,  as  formerly  stated,  he  finally  resolved,  from  his 
own  convictions  of  duty,  to  devote  himself  to  the 
ministry,  in  pursuance  of  which  determination  he  was 
now  attending  his  preliminary  course  at  the  University. 
Thus  far,  everything  seemed  tending  toward  the  enc 
so  much  desired  by  Thomas  Campbell,  wto,  having 
received  intelligence  of  the  shipwreck,  and  the  conse- 
quent delay  of  the  family  at  Glasgows  had  written  tc 
them  a  letter  full  of  affectionate  solicitude  and  consola- 
tion, and  highl}^  commending  all  their  proposed  arrange- 
ments. But  Alexander's  stay  at  Glasgow,  while  it  left 
his  main  purpose  unaltered,  was  destined  to  work  an 
entire  revolution  in  his  views  and  feelings  in  respect  to 
Ihe  existing  denominations,  and  to  disengage  his  sym- 
pathies entirely  from  the  Seceder  denomination  and 
every  other  form  of  Presbyterianism. 

This  change  seems  to  have  been  occasioned  chiefly 
through  his  intimacy  with  Greville  Ewing.  This  gen- 
tleman seemed  to  take  a  special  interest  in  Alexandei 


NOTICE  OF  GREVILLE  EWING.  149 


and  in  the  family,  and  performed  so  many  kind  offices 
in  their  behalf  that  he  became  greatly  endeared  to 
them.  Alexander  was  frequently  at  Mr.  Ewing's  to 
dinner  or  to  tea,  where  he  formed  many  agreeable 
mtimacies  with  the  guests  at  his  hospitable  board,  and 
acquired,  during  this  intercourse,  an  intimate  knowledge 
of  Mr.  Ewing's  previous  religious  history,  and  that  of 
his  coadjutors,  the  Haldanes  and  others.  As  the  facts 
thus  presented  to  Mr.  Campbell  produced  a  lasting 
effect  upon  his  mind,  it  will  be  necessary  to  present  a 
brief  sketch  of  them,  and  of  the  eminent  men  con- 
cerned in  the  reformatory  movement  then  progressing 
in  Scotland — a  movement  from  which  Mr.  Campbell 
received  his  first  impulse  as  a  religious  reformer,  and 
which  may  be  justly  regarded,  indeed,  as  the  first 
fhase  of  that  religious  reformation  which  he  subse- 
quently carried  out  so  successfully  to  its  legitimate 
issues. 

Among  those  connected  with  the  Haldanes,  Mr. 
Ewing  himself  stood  deservedly  high.  He  possessed 
very  fine  personal  qualities ;  was  a  man  of  deep  and 
fervent  piety,  and  of  varied  and  extensive  learning. 
He  was  particularly  well  acquainted  with  biblical  criti- 
cism, and  was  regarded  as  a  skillful  expositor  of  the 
Sacred  Volume.  He  was  a  native  of  Edinburgh,  and 
had  been  destined  by  his  father  for  the  mercantile 
business;  but  as  soon  as  his  apprenticeship  expiied, 
having  a  strong  predilection  for  the  ministry,  he  ap- 
plied himself  with  great  assiduit}^  to  the  preparatory 
studies  necessary  for  obtaining  license  in  the  Church 
of  Scotland.  After  passing  his  examinations  with  great 
credit,  he  was  licensed  to  preach  at  twenty-five  years 
of  age,  and  in  1793  accepted  a  call  from  the  worship- 
ers in  Lady  Glenorchy's  chapel  in  Edinburgh,  and  was 

13  * 


150       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 

ordained  as  the  colleague  of  Mr.  Jones,  in  connection 
with  whom  he  preached  for  some  years  to  an  immense 
concourse  of  hearers.  It  was  about  this  time  that  the 
brothers  Haldane  commenced  those  enterprises  which 
produced  such  important  religious  changes  in  Scotland, 
and  greatly  influenced  the  course  of  Mr.  Ewing's  future 
labors. 

These  two  brothers,  Robert  and  James  A.  Haldane, 
were  of  a  distinguished  Scottish  ancestry,  and  sons  of 
a  very  pious  mother,  who  was  the  sister  of  the  cele- 
brated Admiral  Duncan  of  the  British  navy.  Both  were 
thus  naturally  led,  from  this  relationship,  to  look  to  the 
sea  as  the  theatre  of  their  future  achievements.  In  due 
time,  Robert,  the  elder,  obtained  a  situation  in  the  navy, 
and  served  with  honor  in  the  war  with  France,  on  board 
of  the  Monarch,  under  his  uncle,  and  afterward  in  the 
Foudroyant,  under  Admiral  Jervis.  In  the  action  of 
the  Foudroyant  with  the  Pegase,  he  was  sent  on  board 
the  captured  vessel  in  a  very  stormy  sea,  in  which  two 
boats  had  been  previously  lost ;  and  he  so  much  dis- 
tmguished  himself  by  his  prudence  and  decision  in 
bringing  the  French  commander  on  board  the  British 
vessel  that  he  received  the  highest  commendation  from 
his  brother  officers  and  from  Admiral  Jervis.  Peace 
being  made  in  1783,  he  relinquished  the  naval  profes- 
sion, and  retired  to  his  fine  estate  near  Stirling,  called 
Airthrey,  to  the  improvement  of  which  he  devoted 
himself,  with  his  accustomed  energy,  for  ten  years.  But 
amid  these  peaceful  pursuits  the  early  religious  im- 
Dressions  received  from  his  mother  revived  with  un- 
wonted force.  He  became  a  daily  student  of  the  Scrip- 
tures, and  devoted  himself,  with  great  earnestness,  to  a 
thorough  examination  of  the  evidences  of  Christianity, 
from  which  he  derived  great  benefit.    About  this  time. 


ROBERT  HALDANE. 


Dr.  Innes,  the  minister  of  the  kirk  in  StirHng,  induced 
him  to  commence  family  worship,  and  it  was  his  deHght 
to  converse  with  Dr.  Innes  and  other  preachers  on  re- 
ligious themes.  It  was,  however,  to  a  conversation 
with  a  pious  stone-mason,  with  whom  he  once  walked 
some  miles  through  the  woods  of  Airthrey,  that  he 
attributed  his  first  clear  conceptions  of  the  plan  of  jus- 
tification, and  of  the  important  truth  that  faith  must  cast 
away  all  reliance  on  frames  and  feelings,  and  rest  only 
upon  Christ.  He  no  sooner  thus  learned  to  rely  upon 
him  alone,  than  he  was  relieved  from  all  the  doubts  and 
uncertainties  which  had  perplexed  his  mind  amidst 
conflicting  religious  theories,  and  came  to  realize  his 
personal  interest  in  the  salvation  of  the  gospel.  From 
this  momicnt  he  determined  to  devote  his  life  and  his 
property  to  the  promotion  of  the  interests  of  religion — 
a  resolution  in  which  his  amiable  and  pious  wife  heartily 
concurred.  "Christianity,"  he  well  observed,  "is  every- 
thing or  nothing.  If  it  be  true,  it  warrants  and  com- 
mands every  sacrifice  to  promote  its  influence.  If  it  be 
not,  then  let  us  lay  aside  the  hypocrisy  of  believing  it." 
"It  immediately  struck  me,"  he  says  in  his  narrative, 
"that  I  was  spending  my  time  in  the  country  to  little 
profit,  whilst,  from  the  command  of  property,  which, 
through  the  goodness  of  God,  I  possessed,  I  might  be 
somewhere  extensively  useful." 

Greatly  impressed  with  the  importance  of  the  mis- 
sionary work  in  India,  then  commenced  by  Mr.  Carey, 
his  first  idea  was  to  go,  with  some  companions,  in  order 
to  introduce  Christianity  among  the  natives  of  Bengal. 
Having  induced  the  amiable  Dr.  Innes,  with  whom  he 
was  on  terms  of  great  intimacy,  to  be  one  of  the 
number,  he  was  persuaded  by  him  to  propose  the  matter 
also  to  Greville  Ewing,  the  doctor's  brother-in-law, 


152       ME2JOiRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


whose  consent  having  been  also  obtained,  as  well  as 
that  of  Doctor  Bogue,  of  Gosport,  England,  an  old  and 
valued  friend  of  Robert  Haldane,  he  proceeded  at  once 
to  make  arrangements  for  the  enterprise.  For  each  of 
his  coadjutors  Mr.  Haldane  was  to  supply  the  neces- 
sary outfit  and  passage-money,  and  also  to  provide  an 
independent  competence  for  those  whose  co-operation 
involved  the  loss  of  their  means  of  subsistence  ;  and  he 
engaged,  furthermore,  to  bestow  the  sum  of  thirty-five 
hundred  pounds  upon  any  one  of  them  who  might  be 
compelled  to  return  home.  He  accordingly  determined 
to  sell  his  beautiful  estate  of  Airthrey,  in  the  cultivation 
and  embellishment  of  which  he  had  taken  so  much 
pleasure,  and  proceeded  to  engage  a  printing  estabHsh- 
ment  and  all  necessary  assistants ;  but,  upon  applica- 
tion to  the  East  India  Company  for  permission  to  estab- 
lish the  mission  among  the  Hindoos,  this  was  positively 
and  unexpectedly  refused.  The  most  earnest  appeals 
having  been  made  in  vain  to  induce  the  Company  to 
revoke  their  decision,  Mr.  Haldane  was  compelled,  in 
the  course  of  tliis  year,  1797,  to  relinquish  the  enter- 
prise, after  having  disposed  of  his  estate.  But  this  dis- 
appointment only  served  to  direct  his  beneficence  into 
other  channels. 

During  the  previous  year  Mr.  Ewing  had  become  the 
editor  of  a  periodical  called  the  "  Missionary  Maga- 
zii  e,"  published  under  the  auspices  of  Doctor  Charles 
Stuart,  of  Edinburgh,  who  had  once  been  a  minister  ol 
the  Kirk  of  Scotland,  but  had  resigned  his  charge, 
become  a  Baptist,  and  was  then  engaged  in  the  prac- 
tice of  medicine.  He  was  a  man  of  high  birth,  being 
a  lineal  descendant  of  the  Regent  Murray,  and  had 
renounced  worldly  distinction,  seeking  only  to  promote 
Christian  and  benevolent  enterprises.    The  object  ot 


RELIGIOUS  APATHY  IN  THE  CHURCH.  153 


the  Missionary  Magazine  was  to  awaken  the  churches 
to  the  importance  of  missions  to  the  heathen  world  ; 
and  it  was  conducted  with  marked  abiHty  by  Mr.  Ewing, 
and  caused  no  Httle  stir  throughout  Scotland,  not  only 
from  tlie  novelty  of  the  subject,  but  from  certain  lean- 
ings toward  Independency,  which  soon  awakened  the 
jealousy  and  hostility  of  the  Kirk.  Religion  was  at 
this  time  at  a  very  low  ebb  in  Scotland.  The  open 
infidelity  of  Hume,  Adam  Smith  and  others  had  infected 
all  ranks,  beginning  with  the  classes  at  the  University 
and  penetrating  the  Church  itself.  The  eminent  Pro- 
fessor Playfair  had  actually  renounced  Christianity,  and 
many  others  who  continued  to  officiate  as  ministers  were 
imbued  with  skepticism  or  Socinianism,*  while  religious 
apathy  seemed  to  brood  over  the  entire  Church,  with 
a  few  brilliant  exceptions.     This  became  strikingly 

*  This  condition  of  affairs  may  be  exemplified  by  the  fact  that  Doctor 
McGill,  minister  of  the  Established  Church  in  Ayr,  published  in  1786  a  book 
entitled  "  A  Practical  Essay  on  the  Death  of  Jesus  Christ,"  in  which  he 
taught,  in  the  most  undisguised  and  offensive  manner,  sentiments  totally  at 
variance  with  the  Scriptures  and  with  the  standards  of  his  own  Church.  He 
taught  *'  that  Christ  was  a  person  of  our  own  order,  and  that,  although  he 
\vas  invested  with  a  veiy  extraordinary  office,  and'  endued  with  extraordinary 
powers,  yet  he  was  not  God,  equal  with  the  Father.  He  endeavored  to 
explain  away  the  doctrine  of  the  atonement,  by  affirming  that  Christ  did  not 
die  as  the  substitute  of  sinners  ;  that  his  priesthood  and  sacrifice  were  merely 
figurative  ;  that  his  errand  into  the  world  was  not  to  purchase  salvation  for 
men,  but  to  make  a  clear  and  distinct  revelation  of  the  rule  of  our  obedience, 
to  exemplify  it  in  his  holy  life,  and  to  assure  sinners  of  their  obtaining  pardon 
upon  their  repentance,  and  of  their  being  accepted  upon  their  sincere 
obedience,"  etc.  It  is  particularly  worthy  of  note,  that  this  book  was  per- 
mitted to  circulate  extensively,  for  at  least  two  or  three  yeais,  without  any 
judicial  cognizance  being  taken  of  its  author,  either  by  the  Presbytery  or 
Synod  to  which  he  belonged,  or  by  the  General  Assembly  ;  and  that  when  a 
complaint  was  made  in  1789,  at  the  meeting  of  the  Synod  of  Glasgow  and 
Ayr,  after  various  postponements  and  appeals,  the  whole  affair  was  finally 
hushed  up  upon  certain  vague  explanations  and  apologies  made  by  Doctor 
McGill,  who  continued  to  officiate  in  the  National  Church  as  befoie — Mc- 
Kerrovv's  "  History  of  the  Secession  Church,'''  p.  359, 

G  * 


154       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL, 


evident  by  the  fact  that  when,  at  length,  the  subject  of 
missions  was  brought  up  in  the  General  Assembly,  upon 
the  resolution  offered,  "That  it  is  the  duty  of  Christians 
to  send  the  gospel  to  the'  heathen  world,"  this,  after 
debate,  was  voted  down  by  a  large  majo.rity — a  favorite 
argument  of  the  opposing  party  being  that  there  was 
plenty  of  ignorance,  unbelief  and  immorality  at  home 
to  occupy  the  efforts  of  all. 

This  remark  struck  with  great  force  the  mind  of 
James  Alexander  Haldane,  who  was  present  at  the  dis- 
cussion, and  was  well  aware  that  no  adequate  efforts 
were  made,  or  were  likely  to  be  made,  by  the  Churcli 
to  remedy  the  evil.  This  remarkable  man  had,  like 
his  brother  Robert,  entered  upon  a  seafaring  life  in  thi* 
East  India  trade,  in  which  the  family  had  already  an 
interest.  After  making  several  voyages  to  India,  in 
which  he  greatly  distinguished  himself  by  his  courage, 
seamanship  and  enterprising  spirit,  and  during  which, 
like  the  Rev.  John  Newton,  he  experienced  many  re- 
markable providential  deliverances,  he  at  length  became 
captain  of  the  East  India  vessel  called  the  MellvilLi? 
Castle.  About  this- time  he  married  a  Miss  Joass,  niece 
of  Sir  Robert  Abercrombie,  and  made  all  necessary 
preparation  for  sailing  with  a  large  East  India  fleet, 
which  was  expected  to  start  from  the  Downs,  under 
convoy,  in  December,  1793.  The  fleet,  however,  being 
unexpectedly  detained  until  the  month  of  May,  he  be- 
came, during  this  interval  of  leisure,  much  impressed 
with  the  subject  of  religion.  He  read  religious  books 
and  a  pordon  of  the  Scripture  every  day,  and  began  to 
form  a  habit  of  prayer.  He  thought  also  of  becoming 
a  communicant  in  the  Church,  and  experienced  a  strong 
inclination  to  abandon  the  sea  in  order  to  devote  him- 
self to  religious  matters,  which  had  now  become  much 


PP OGRESS  OF  J.  A.  HALDANE. 


more  congenial  to  his  feelings.  Receiving  from  his 
brother  Robert  a  letter  earnestly  recommending  this 
step,  he  decided  to  adopt  it,  and  selling  out  his  interest 
in  '*The  Mellville  Castle"  for  fifteen  thousand  pounds, 
he  returned  with  his  wife  to  Scotland,  and  finally  settled 
in  Edinburgh.  Here  his  religious  impressions  continued 
to  deepen.  He  sought  the  society  of  rehgious  persons 
and  continued  to  read  religious  books,  but  was,  we  are 
told,  particularly  devoted  to  the  Scripture,  which  he 
considered  a  certain  authority  ;  and  whenever  he  found 
it  against  any  of  his  opinions,  he  readily  gave  them  up. 
Continuing  his  investigations,  he  began  to  read  the 
Bible  in  a  still  more  child-like  spirit,  without  seeking 
for  any  interpretation  that  should  agree  with  his  own 
ideas.  But  his  own  account  of  his  progress  is  so  inter- 
esting, that  it  is  here  given  in  his  own  words  : 

"  I  now  saw  more  of  the  freeness  of  the  grace  of  the 
gospel,  and  the  necessity  of  being  born  again,  and  was  daily 
looking  for  satisfactory  evidence  of  this  change.  My  desire 
was  now  set  upon  frames  and  feelings,  instead  of  building  on 
the  sure  foundation.  I  got  no  comfort  in  this  way.  Gradually 
becoming  more  dissatisfied  with  myself,  being  convinced 
especially  of  the  sin  of  unbelief,  I  wearied  m3'self  with 
looking  for  some  wonderful  change  to  take  place,  some  in- 
ward feeling  by  which  I  might  know  that  I  was  born  again. 
The  method  of  resting  simply  on  the  promises  of  God,  which 
are  yea  and  amen  in  Jesus  Christ,  was  too  plain  and  easy; 
and  like  Naaman,  the  Syrian,  instead  of  bathing  in  the 
waters  of  Jordan  and  being  clean,  I  would  have  some  great 
work  in  my  mind  to  substitute  in  place  of  Jesus  Christ.  The 
Lord  gradually  opened  my  eyes.  He  always  dealt  with  me 
in  the  tenderest  manner,  and  kept  me  from  those  horrors  of 
mind  which,  in  my  ignorance  and  pride,  I  had  often  desired 
as  a  proof  of  my  conversion.  The  dispensations  of  his 
providence  toward  me  much  favored  the  teaching  which  he 


156       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER.  CAMPBELL. 


has  vouchsafed  to  afford.  The  conversations  of  some  of  the 
Lord's  people  with  whom  I  was  acquainted  were  helpful  to 
my  soul ;  and,  in  particular,  I  may  here  add  that  the  know- 
ledge of  the  Scriptures  that  I  had  acquired  in  early  life  was 
very  useful  to  me  when  my  views  were  directed  to  the  great 
concerns  of  eternity.  Many  things  were  then  brouglit  to  my 
remembrance  which  I  had  learned  when  young,  although 
they  seemed  wholly  to  have  escaped  while  I  was  living  in 
forgetfulness  of  God.  Instead  of  those  deep  convictions 
which  are  experienced  by  so?ne  with  much  horror  of  mind, 
the  Lord  has  rather  shown  me  the  evils  of  sin  in  the  suifering 
of  his  dear  Son,  and  in  the  manifestation  of  that  love  which, 
whilst  it  condemns  the  past  ingratitude,  seals  the  pardon  of 
the  believing  sinner.  In  short,  I  now  desire  to  feel,  and  hope 
in  some  measure  that  I  do  feel,  as  a  sinner  who  looks  for 
salvation  freely  by  grace ;  who  prefers  this  method  of  salva- 
tion to  every  other,  because  thereby  God  is  glorified  through 
[csus  Christ,  and  the  pride  of  human  glory  stained.  I  desire 
daily  to  see  more  of  my  own  unworthiness,  and  that  Jesus 
Christ  may  be  more  precious  to  my  soul.  I  depend  on  him 
for  sanctification  as  well  as  for  deliverance  from  wrath  ;  and 
am  in  some  measure  (would  it  were  more!)  convinced  of  my 
own  weakness  and  his  all-sutiiciency.  When  1  have  most 
comfort,  then  does  sin  appear  most  hateful ;  and  1  aiu  in 
some  measure  made  to  rejoice  in  the  hope  of  being  com- 
pletely delivered  from  it  by  seeing,  in  all  his  beauty,  llim  who 
was  dead  and  is  alive,  and  liveth  for  evermore.  Amen." 

Thus  it  was,  that  both  the  brothers  had  been,  by  a 
careful  study  of  the  Scriptures  and  a  gradual  en- 
lightenment, and  not  by  any  sudden  impulse  or  ex- 
ternal influence,  brought  under  deep  religious  convic- 
tions, and,  in  both,  this  occurred  about  the  same  time, 
though  it  seems  to  have  been  developed  a  liule  earlier 
in  James.  Both  the  brothers  were  strongly  attached  to 
each  other,  and  sympathized  with  each  other  in  their 
religious  changes  and  under^aKings.    After  the  failure 


NOTICE  OF  JOHN  CAMPBELL. 


»57 


of  the  Bengal  mission,  and  while  J.  A.  Haldane  was 
residing  at  Edinburgh,  he  was  greatly  benefited  by  his 
intercourse  with  the  pious  Mr.  John  Aikman,  who  was 
then  attending  the  divinity  lectures  widi  a  view  to  the 
ministry.  Much  was  also  due  to  his  intimacy  with  Mr. 
John  Campbell,  a  man  of  singular  piety,  and  of  re- 
markable practical  and  executive  powers  in  benevolent 
and  Christian  enterprises.  The  mental  changes  he 
had  undergone  closely  resembled  those  of  the  brothers 
Haldane,  in  whose  memoirs,  by  a  son  of  J.  A.  Hal- 
dane, Alexander  Haldane,  Esq.,  the  following  brief  but 
interesting  notice  of  Mr.  Campbell  occurs : 

"  For  many  years  he  had  known  and  believed  the  tnith ; 
but  his  views  of  Christ  had  been  rather  souglit  in  the  reflec- 
tion of  tlie  inward  work  of  the  Holy  Spirit  in  his  heart  than 
in  the  finished  righteousness  of  Christ;  and  he  had  neither 
peace  nor  joy  in  believing.  It  was  a  subjective  rather  than 
an  objective  faith.  Doubts,  fears  and  actual  backshdings 
had  often  shaken  his  hope,  and  driven  him  almost  to  despair, 
even  at  the  time  he  was  esteemed  by  other  Christians  and 
regarded  as  a  pattern.  At  last,  to  use  his  own  earnest  words 
in  a  letter  published  by  Mr.  Newton,  *  the  cloud  which  covered 
the  mercy-seat  fled  away — Jesus  appeared  as  he  is!  My  eyes 
were  not  turned  inward  but  outward.  The  gospel  was  the 
glass  in  which  I  beheld  him.  In  the  time  of  my  aflliction, 
the  doctrine  of  election  appeared  irritating  and  confounding; 
now  it  appears  truly  glorious  and  truly  humbling.  *  «  » 
I  now  stand  upon  a  shore  of  comparative  rest.  Believing, 
I  rejoice.  When  in  search  of  comfort,  I  resort  to  the  testi- 
mony of  God.  This  is  the  field  which  contains  the  pearl 
of  great  price.  Frames  and  feelings  are,  like  other  created 
comforts,  passing  away.  What  an  unutterable  source  of 
consolation  it  is  that  the  foundation  of  our  hope  is  ever 
immutably  the  same  ! — the  sacrifice  of  Jesus  as  acceptable  as 
ever  it  was !    To  this  sacrifice  I  desire  ever  to  direct  my  eye, 

U 


15S        MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


especially  at  the  first  approach  of  any  gloom  or  mental 
change.' 

"After  my  deliverance,"  continues  Mr.  Campbell,  "my 
ideas  of  many  things  were  much  altered,  especially  about  faitli. 
I  perceived  that  this  principle  in  the  mind  arises  from  no  ex- 
ertion in  the  man,  but  the  constraint  of  evidence  without. 
The  Spirit  takes  the  things  of  Christ,  and  discovers  their 
reality  and  glory  in  such  a  manner  to  the  mind  of  man  that 
it  is  not  in  his  power  to  refuse  his  belief.  It  is  no  miglity 
matter,  nor  is  it  any  way  meritorious,  to  believe  the  sun  is 
shining  when  our  eyes  are  dazzled  with  its  beams.  The 
internal  evidences  of  the  truth  of  revelation  had  ten  thousand 
times  more  effect  upon  my  mind  than  all  its  external  evidence. 
There  is  a  divineness,  a  glory  and  excellence  in  the  Scrip- 
tures, perceived  by  enlightened  minds,  which  they  cannot  so 
describe  as  to  make  it  intelligible  to  an  unregenerate  person. 
Formerly  the  major  part  of  my  thoughts  centred  upon  either 
the  darkness  I  felt  or  the  lightness  I  enjoyed.  Now  they  are 
mainly  directed  to  Jesus — what  he  hath  done,  suffered  and 
promised." 

This  John  Campbell  had  a  large  iron-monger  shop, 
overlooking  the  Grass-Market  of  Edinburgh ;  and  is 
described  as  "a  little  man,  active,  with  an  intelligent, 
benevolent  countenance,  a  quick,  dark  eye,  and  a  mind 
far  superior  to  his  position."  Earnest,  single-hearted, 
prayerful  and  devoted  to  his  heavenly  Master,  this  in- 
defatigable and  laborious  man  was  eminently  distin- 
guished for  his  successful  efforts  in  behalf  of  religion 
and  humanit}^ 

"  He  became  in  Edinburgh,"  continues  the  biographer  whose 
sketch  we  here  condense,  "  the  living  model  of  a  city  mis- 
sionary, a  district  visitor,  a  Scripture  reader,  a  tract  distribu- 
tor, a  Sabbath-school  teacher,  and  a  Sabbath-school  founder, 
long  before  Christians  had  learned  to  unite  themselves  to- 
gether in  societies  to  promote  thess  objects.    His  warehouse- 


FOUNDING  OF  SUNDAY-SCHOOLS. 


was  then  the  only  depository  in  Edinburgh  for  rehgious  t'/acts 
and  periodicals,  and  became  a  sort  of  house  of  call,  or  point 
of  reunion,  for  all  who  took  an  interest  in  the  kingdom  of 
Christ.  Mr.  Campbell  was  the  chief  founder  of  the  hist 
tract  society  in  the  world,  at  Edinburgh.  In  1797  he  formed 
there  a  Sabbath-school  society,  independent  of  clerical  super- 
intendence, and  opened  a  number  of  Sabbath  evening  schools, 
which  were  so  successful  that,  in  company  with  James  A. 
Haldane,  he  visited  Glasgow,  Paisley,  Greenock,  and  other 
places,  to  set  before  the  friends  of  religion  the  duty  an  \ 
advantages  of  adopting  the  same  plan.  A  week's  journey 
led  to  the  establishment  of  sixty  Sabbath-schools ;  and  no 
long  time  elapsed  till  there  was  not  a  single  town  in  Scotland 
which  was  not  provided  with  those  most  useful  seminaries.* 
He  was  also  one  of  the  first  directors  of  the  Scottish  Mission- 
ary Society  ;  the  founder  of  the  Magdalen  Asylum  for  the 
reformation  of  unfortunate  females  ;  and  a  stated  visitor  of 
the  jail  and  Bridewell,  whose  unhappy  inmates,  though  aban- 
doned by  almost  every  one  else,  he  endeavored  to  awaken  to 
a  consideration  of  the  one  thing  needful.  In  a  large  village 
of  colliers,  called  Gilmerton,  near  Edinburgh,  he  found  so 
much  ignorance  and  irreligion  that  he  endeavored  to  induce 


*  Sunday-schools  had  been  first  introduced  at  Gloucester,  by  Robert 
Raikes,  some  twenty  years  previously,  and  had  been  extended  to  many  other 
towns  in  England  ;  and  he  is  justly  regarded  as  the  founder  of  the  general 
system  of  Sunday-school  instruction.  It  is  related,  however,  by  Dr.  Fahne- 
stock,  in  his  history  of  the  German  Seventh-day  Baptists  in  the  United  States, 
that  Ludwig  Hoecker,  who  taught  the  common  school  at  their  village  of 
Ephrata,  in  Lancaster  county,  Pennsylvania,  soon  after  his  arrival  in  1739, 
projected  the  plan  of  holding  a  school  in  the  afternoons  of  the  Sabbath,  and 
commenced  it,  in  connection  with  some  of  the  other  brethren,  in  order  to  give 
instruction  to  the  indigent  children  who  were  kept  fiom  regular  school  by 
employments  which  their  necessities  obliged  them  to  be  engaged  in  during 
the  week,  as  well  as  to  give  religious  instruction  to  those  of  better  circum- 
stances. This  continued  for  more  than  thirty  years,  until  the  battle  of 
Brandywine,  when  the  school-room  was  given  up  for  a  hospital  for  a  con- 
siderable time,  and  the  school  was  not  afterward  resumed.  According  to 
this  account,  the  first  Sabbath -school  had  been  established  in  the  United 
States  about  forty  years  before  Ra'kes  opened  his  school  in  Gloucester. 


l6o       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


preachers  of  different  denominations  to  visit  it,  but  without 
effect.  Not  being  as  yet  himseff  in  the  habit  of  pubHc  speak- 
ing, he  at  length  induced  a  young  preacher,  Mr.  Rate,  from 
Dr.  Bogue's  academy  at  Gosport,  to  preach  a  few  times. 
The  interest  produced  was  so  great,  and  Mr.  Aikman  and 
J.  A.  Haldane  were  so  much  impressed  with  the  importance 
of  continuing  the  meeting  after  Mr.  Rate's  departure,  that 
they  both  finally  consented  to  address  the  people." 

It  was  here  at  Gilmerton  that  James  A.  Haldane 
delivered  his  first  sermon  on  the  sixth  of  May,  1797, 
greatly  to  the  satisfaction  and  edification  of  those  pre- 
sent. Large  crowds  continued  for  some  time  to  fiock 
to  these  meetings  to  hear  Mr.  Aikman  and  the  sea- 
captain,  and  great  good  resulted  from  their  earnest  and 
affectionate  appeals.  The  clerg\%  however,  soon  began 
to  manifest  their  hostility  to  lay-preaching ;  and  tlie 
parish  minister  took  means  to  deprive  them  of  tlie 
house  in  which  the  meetings  were  held.  A  spacious 
loft  was  then  obtained,  which  proving  too  small,  t^e 
meetings  were  then  held  in  a  large  barn. 

Shortly  after  this,  the  two  preachers  becoming  greatly 
impressed  wnth  what  they  heard  of  the  coldness  and 
immorality  of  many  of  the  ministers  in  the  north  cf 
Scotland,  resolved  to  travel  through  this  region  and 
preach  to  the  people  in  the  streets  of  the  towns  arJ 
villages.  They  based  their  right  to  preacli  to  the 
people,  as  they  announced  in  a  printed  notice  of  their 
design,  "upon  the  indispensable  duty  of  every  Chris- 
tian to  warn  sinners  to  flee  from  the  wrath  to  come,  and 
to  point  out  Jetsus  as  the  way%  the  truth  and  the  life. 
Whether  a  man,"  they  continued,  "declare  those  im- 
portant truths  to  two  or  two  hundred,  he  is,  in  our  opin- 
ion a  preacher  of  the  gospel,  or  one  who  declan  s  the 
glad  tidings  of  salvation,  which  is  the  precise  meaning 


LABOJiS  OF  y.  A.  HALDANE. 


i6i 


of  the  word  preach.  In  harmony  with  this  view,  we 
find  that,  in  the  beginning,  when  the  members  of  the 
Church  at  Jerusalem,  numbering  then  from  eight  to  ten 
thousand,  were  all  scattered  abroad  except  the  apostles, 
they  went  everywhere  preaching  the  Word." 

Setting  out,  accordingly,  on  their  tour  in  a  light  open 
carriage,  accompanied  a  part  of  the  way  by  Mr.  Rate, 
they  visited  almost  every  place  in  the  north  of  Scotland 
and  the  Orkney  Islands,  distributing  tracts,  preaching 
in  the  open  air  to  great  multitudes,  and  producing  a 
very  remarkable  awakening,  both  among  preachers 
and  people.  From  the  success  of  this  remarkable  tour, 
and  the  abundant  evidence  he  met  with  of  the  truth  of 
the  declaration  made  in  the  debate  on  foreign  missions 
in  the  General  Assembly,  and  with  which  his  mind  had 
been  so  much  impressed  at  the  time,  that  -'there  were 
enough  of  heathen  at  home,"  J.  A.  Haldane,  with  some 
others,  established  at  Edinburgh  a  society  for  pro- 
pagating the  gospel  at  home,  January  ii,  1798.  In 
their  tirst  address  they  declare  : 

"It  is  not  our  desire  to  form  or  to  extend  the  influence 
of  any  sect.  Our  whole  intention  is,  to  make  known  the 
evangelical  gospel  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  In  employing 
itinerants,  schoolmasters  or  others,  we  do  not  consider  our- 
selves as  conferring  ordination  upon  them  or  appointing 
them  to  the  pastoral  othce.  We  only  propose,  by  sending 
them  out,  to  supply  the  means  of  grace  wherever  we  perceive 
a  deficiency." 

The  funds  needed  for  the  operations  of  the  society 
were  chielly  supplied  by  Robert  Haldane,  and  its 
principles  and  plans  were  earnestly  and  abl\^  recom- 
mended through  the  pages  of  the  '*  Missionary  Maga- 
zine."   Mr.  A.  Haldane,  the  biographer,  remarks: 

Of  that  publication,  the  editor,  Mr.  Ewing,  had  not  tlien 
VOL.  I.— L  »4  * 


l62 


MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


left  the  Established  Church,  although  his  position  was  be^ 
coming  every  day  more  untenable.  On  the  24th  December, 
1797,  he  delivered  an  eloquent  and  powerful  sermon  in  de- 
fence of  field-preaching,  which  produced  a  great  sensation, 
tnd  sen-ed  still  more  to  alarm  the  Moderates.  The  occasion 
of  this  sermon  was  a  request  to  preach  on  behalf  of  the 
Edinburgh  Sabbath-evening  schools,  w^hich  had  been  rapidl} 
increasing  under  the  influence  of  the  new  impulse.  Mr. 
Ewing  undertook  to  prove  that  the  unfettered  preaching  of 
the  gospel  was  one  of  those  characters  of  universality  which 
distinguish  the  Christian  from  the  Jewish  dispensation  ;  and 
he  ably  contended  that,  in  the  closing  words  of  the  Apoca- 
lypse, the  wb.ole  system  of  revelation  and  the  whole  mystery 
of  God  seem  to  be  resolved  into  the  provision  made  for  the 
universal  propagation  of  the  gospel.  The  Holy  Spirit  and 
the  Church  unite  their  voice  and  continually  cry  to  sinners. 
Come.  This  precious  invitation  is  so  necessars'  to  be  known, 
and  known  without  a  moment's  dela}*,  that  ever^'  one  that 
heareth  is  commanded  to  repeat  it.  Like  a  multiplying  and 
never-dving  echo,  *  the  joyful  sound'  must  be  on  all  sides 
transmitted  from  one  to  another,  and  in  this  accepted  time, 
in  this  dav  of  salvation,  he  that  is  athirst  may  come,  and 
whosoever  will  mav  take  the  water  of  life  freely." 

In  the  spring  of  1798.  Mr.  Rate  was  sent  out  by  the 
society  to  itinerate  in  Fifeshire,  and  Mr.  Cleghorn  and 
William  Ballantine,  who  had  been  Seceders  and  had 
studied  theology  under  Dr.  Bogue,  were  sent  to  the 
North  to  labor,  where  the  great  awakening  had  taken 
place  during  the  recent  tour  of  J.  A.  Haldane  and  Mr. 
Aikman.  During  the  summer  Mr.  J.  A.  Haldane  and 
Mr.  Aikman,  who  did  not  depend  on  the  societ}-,  but 
acted  independently,  made  a  preaching  tour  in  the 
south  and  west  of  Scotland,  attended  with  much  oppo- 
sition on  the  part  of  the  clergy  and  the  magistrates, 
with  many  striking  incidents  and  great  effect  in  arous- 
ing many  souls  to  the  importance  of  religien.  While 


BOWLAXn  HILL  IN  SCOTLAND. 


-6X  Lanorholm,  in  the  county  of  Roxbur^^h,  thev  were 
taking  a  walk  along  the  banks  of  the  Esk,  when  they 
observed  an  Enorlish  clercjvman  conversino-  with  the 
minister  of  the  parish,  and  were  much  struck  with  his 
appearance.  He  was  of  a  tall,  commanding  figure,  had 
a  piercing  eye,  an  aquiline  nose,  and  a  countenance 
beaming  with  intelligence,  and  with  an  expression  de- 
noting a  natural  vein  of  humor.  After  their  return  to 
their  inn,  they  were  surprised  by  a  call  from  this 
gentleman,  who,  having  heard  of  them,  was  desirous 
of  making  their  acquaintance.  He  proved  to  be  the 
celebrated  Rowland  Hill,  who  was  now  on  his  first  visit 
to  Scotland,  having  been  invited  by  Robert  Haldane  to 
come  and  make  a  tour  in  Scotland,  and  especially  for 
the  purpose  of  opening  the  religious  services  in  a  large 
building  called  the  Circus,  lately  rented  by  Robert  Hal- 
dane, in  Edinburgh.  Next  morning,  while  the  two 
friends  remained  to  prosecute  their  tour,  Mr.  Hill  pro- 
ceeded to  Edinburgh,  to  the  residence  of  James  A. 
Haldane,  in  George  street,  adjoining  the  house.  No.  14, 
in  which  Henry  Brougham,  the  future  Lord  Chancellor, 
then  resided.  He  preached  in  the  Circus  July  29,  and 
subsequently  at  several  points  in  the  open  air,  near 
Edinburgh,  and  also  at  Stirling,  Crief,  Dundee,  Perth 
and  Kinross,  whither  he  was  accompanied  by  Robert 
Haldane,  greatly  adding  to  the  religious  excitement 
which  existed.  Returning  to  the  capital,  he  preached 
again  in  the  Circus,  and  set  off'  on  Monday  morning 
with  Robert  Haldane  to  preach  in  the  church-vard  of 
the  old  Cathedral  at  Glasgow.*    Going  back  to  Edin- 

*  In  the  account  of  his  tour  which  Mr.  Hill  afterward  published,  he 
speaks  thus  of  the  meeting  at  Glasgow :  "  The  scene  was  solemn.  The  old 
Cathedral  stands  externally  in  perfectly  good  repair,  and  much  is  it  to  the 
honor  of  the  city  thai  it  should  so  stand,  as  it  is  the  only  one  left  in  a  perfect 


164       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


burgh,  he  preached  again  in  the  Circus  and  on  Calton 
Hill  to  some  fitteen  or  twenty  thousand  persons  ;  and 
afterward  made  another  short  tour  through  Fifeshire, 
accompanied  this  time  by  James  A.  Haldane,  who  had 
returned  from  his  itineracy.  Coming  back  to  Edin- 
burgh, Mr.  Hill  preached  there  again  to  immense  audi- 
ences twice  on  2d  September,  soon  after  which  he  set 
out  for  home,  accompanied  by  Robert  Haldane,  who 
went  with  him  to  Gloucestershire  on  his  way  to  Gos- 
port  to  visit  his  old  friend  Dr.  Bogue. 

Shortly  before  this,  Robert  Haldane  had  taken  hold 
of  a  project,  which  originated  w^th  John  Campbell,  to 
obtain  from  Atrica  thirty  or  thirty-five  children,  and, 
after  educating  them  in  Great  Britain,  to  send  them 
back  to  their  native  country  as  missionaries.  They 
were  to  be  children  of  the  chiefs  or  principal  men 
among  the  tribes,  and  of  sufficient  age  to  be  able  to 
retain  their  native  language.  For  the  accomplishment 
of  this  enterprise,  Robert  Haldane  pledged  the  sum  of 
seven  thousand  pounds.  Accordingly,  in  June,  1799, 
Mr.  Macaulay,  the  Governor  of  Sierra  Leone,  arrived 
with  twenty  boys  and  four  girls,  and  John  Campbell 
was  immediately  despatched  to  London  to  bring  them 
to  Edinburgh,  where  Mr.  Haldane  had  already  pre- 

state  of  preservation  in  that  part  of  the  kingdom.  Underneath  were  the 
remains,  I  may  venture  to  say,  of  millions,  waiting  for  the  resurrection.  Here 
i  stood  on  a  widely  extended  space,  covered  or  nearly  covered  with  the  living 
— all  immortals ;  five  thousand,  I  should  suppose,  at  least.  What  -.olemn 
work  to  address  such  multitudes !  Who  is  sufficient  for  these  things  I 
attempted  to  illustrate  that  passage.  Isaiah  Ix.  19:  'Thy  God,  thy  glory.' 
Could  we  but  explain  to  sinners  and  make  them  feel  that  God,  a  God  in 
Christ,  is  their  glory,  and  that  it  is  their  privilege  to  glorify  God  in  return, 
we  should  have  more  than  abundant  recompense  for  all  our  little  toil  in  a 
work  so  glorious."  It  may  be  here  added  that,  near  the  spot  where  Mr, 
Hill  then  preached,  is  the  vault,  within  the  walls  of  the  Cathedral,  where  the 
mortal  remains  of  Robert  Haldane  now  reoose. 


LIBERALITY  OF  R.  HALDANE. 


165 


pared,  for  their  reception,  a  large  house  in  the  King's 
Park,  afterward  used  as  the  Deaf  and  Dumb  Asylum, 
and  described  by  Walter  Scott  in  his  "Heart  of  Mid- 
Lothian,"  as  that  of  the  "Laird  of  Dumbiedykes." 
Being  detained,  however,  in  order  to  be  inoculated  for 
the  small  pox,  Mr.  Macaulay,  with  some  other  Directors 
ot  the  Sierra  Leone  Company,  began  to  hesitate  about 
placing  the  children  under  Mr.  Haldane's  exclusive 
care,  on  account,  as  was  believed,  of  tlie  liberality  of 
his  religious  views.  Mr.  Haldane,  however,  very  pro- 
perly refusing  to  consent  to  any  change  in  the  original 
arrangement,  and  the  children  having  created  great 
interest  in  London,  funds  were  at  length  otherwise  pro- 
vided, and  the  children  were,  after  some  years,  sent 
back  to  Africa,  carrying  with  them  many  of  the  arts 
of  civilized  life,  though,  unfortunately,  their  training 
had  not  been  that  which  Mr.  Haldane  proposed  to  give, 
far  more  attendon  having  been  paid  to  their  secular 
than  to  their  religious  education.  The  whole  affair, 
however,  serves  to  place  in  a  strong  light  the  Christian 
enterprise  and  munificent  liberality  of  Robert  Haldane. 

It  was  during  the  progress  of  this  affair,  that  he 
became  interested  in  several  other  important  enter- 
prises. He  had  already  found  it  difficult  to  obtain  a 
regular  supply  of  ministers  to  preach  at  the  Circus 
building  he  had  rented  in  Edinburgh ;  and  he  had  con- 
ceived the  idea  of  having  a  number  of  pious  young 
men  educated  for  the  ministry.  He  had  also,  while  on 
his  travels  with  Mr.  Hill,  determined  to  erect,  in  the 
chief  towns  of  Scotland,  large  buildings  for  preaching, 
after  the  Whitefield  model,  called  Tabernacles.  Upon 
his  return  to  Edinburgh,  he  conferred  with  his  brother, 
and  the  matter  was  broached  to  Mr.  Innes  and  Mr. 
Ewing.    The  latter  entered  fully  into  his  plans  :  and 


1 66        MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 

on  29lh  November,  delivering  his  last  disccarse  in 
Lady  Glenorchy's  chapel,  he,  on  ist  December,  re- 
signed his  charge  and  left  the  Church  of  Scotland.  A 
few  days  afterward,  about  twelve  of  those  chiefly  in- 
terested in  the  preaching  at  the  Circus,  and  in  the 
Society  for  propagating  the  gospel  at  home,  including 
the  two  Haldanes,  Mr.  Ewing,  Mr.  Aikman,  Mr.  John 
Campbell,  George  Gibson  and  John  Richie,  met  for 
consultation,  and  after  prayer  and  deliberation,  resolved 
to  form  themselves  into  a  Congregational  Church.  Mr. 
Ewing  drew  out  a  plan  for  its  government,  and  J.  A. 
Haldane  was  invited  to  become  the  pastor.  His  earn- 
est, taithful  and  successful  labors  hitherto  in  the  evan- 
cjelical  field  which  he  had  chosen :  the  remarkable 
scriptural  knowledge  he  had  acquired,  and  his  prayer- 
fulness,  kindly  and  unwearied  attention  to  the  sick,  and 
eminent  social  and  personal  qualities,  rendered  him 
admirably  fitted  for  this  position :  and  although  he 
modestlv  refjarded  himself  as  better  suited  to  mere 
evangelical  labor,  he  nevertheless,  when  the  call  was 
persisted  in,  yielded  to  it  as  the  voice  of  Providence. 

The  avowed  object  in  forming  this  church  was  to 
enjoy  the  benefit  of  Christian  fellowship  on  a  scriptural 
plan,  to  observe  the  ordinances,  and  avoid  that  con- 
tracted spirit  which  would  exclude  from  the  pulpit,  or 
from  occasional  communion,  any  faithful  preacher  of 
the  gospel  or  sincere  lover  of  Christ.  It  was  consti- 
tuted in  January,  1799,  and  about  three  hundred  and 
ten  persons  at  once  united  in  it,  consisting  not  only  of 
those  who  had  become  awakened  under  the  preaching 
of  J.  A.  Haldane,  Rowland  Hill  and  others,  but  of 
many  old  members  of  the  Established  Church.  J.  A. 
Haldane  was  duly  ordained  on  3d  Februar\%  1799,  ^h'j 
service  being  conducted  by  Messrs  Taylor  of  Y(.tK 


STUDENTS  FOR  THE  UIXIS7R2'. 


167 


shire,  Garie  of  Perth,  and  Greville  Ewing.  Mr.  Hal- 
dane  answered  at  length  to  the  questions  propounded, 
giving  an  interesting  account  of  the  views  and  motives 
which  had  led  him  to  engage  in  preaching,  and  ac- 
cepting the  charge  in  dependence  on  the  grace  of  Jesus 
Christ,  though  stipulating  that  he  might  still  occa- 
sionally labor  as  an  itinerant,  to  which  he  thought  he 
had  been  especially  called.  James  A.  Haldane  thus 
became  the  first  minister  of  the  first  church  formed 
among  the  new  Congregationalists  of  Scotland  :  and 
continued  most  faithfully  and  successfully  to  discharge 
the  duties  then  assumed,  for  fitty-two  years,  up  to  the 
time  of  his  triumphant  death,  February  8.  185 1,  in  his 
eighty-third  year. 

As  soon  as  J.  A.  Haldane  had  consented  to  officiate 
at  Edinburgh,  his  brother  Robert,  in  furtherance  of  his 
plans,  proceeded  to  Glasgow,  and  purchasing,  at  a  cost 
of  three  thousand  pounds,  a  very  large  building  in 
Jamaica  street,  which  had  been  used  as  a  circus,  con- 
verted it  into  a  tabernacle  for  a  congregation,  over 
which  Mr.  Ewing  was  to  preside.  From  Glasgow  he 
went  in  company  with  Mr.  Ewing  to  Stirling,  to  pro- 
pose to  Mr.  Innes  a  similar  arrangement  with  regard  to 
Dundee.  To  this  Mr.  Innes  finally  consented,*  and 
accordinfjlv  broke  off  his  connection  with  the  Church 
of  Scotland.  A  number  of  students  for  the  ministry 
having  been  by  this  time  collected,  the  first  class  was 
placed  under  the  care  of  Mr.  Ewing,  who  remained  in 
Edinburgh  during  the  winter,  and  removed  to  Glasgow 
in  May  following.  The  class  commenced  with  twenty- 
tour,  all  of  whom  were  Presbyterians. 

*  It  is  related  by  the  biographer  of  the  Haldanes,  that  the  hesitation  of 
Mr.  Innes  to  leave  the  Church  of  Scotland  terminated  when  he  was  ordered 
to  assist  personally  in  the  ordination  of  a  minister  who  was  a  profane 
swearer,  and  charo^ed  as  sudh  in  the  open  congregation. 


l68       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


•'Some  of  us,"  says  Mr.  Monroe,  one  of  the  number,  "be- 
longed to  the  National  Establishment,  others  to  the  Relief, 
and  not  a  few  were  Burghers  and  Anti-Burghers.  The  only 
qualifications  for  admission  to  the  seminary  were  genuine 
piety,  talents  susceptible  of  cultivation,  and  a  desire  to  be 
useful  to  our  fellow-sinners  by  preaching  and  teaching  the 
w^ords  of  eternal  life.  The  gi*and  object  proposed  by  the 
zealous  originators  of  the  scheme  was,  to  qualify  pious  young 
men  for  going  out  literally  to  the  highways  and  hedges  to 
preacli  the  gospel,  unconnected  with  the  peculiarities  of  any 
denomination."*  "The  students  were  all  maintained,"  re- 
marks Mr.  Haldane's  biographer,  "  at  Mr.  Haldane's  expense, 
according  to  the  scale,  for  each  mari  ied  and  unmarried  stu- 
dent, drawn  up  at  the  time  by  those  well  acquainted  with 
such  matters.  Before  their  admission,  they  underwent  a  strict 
examination  as  to  their  abilities  and  qualifications.  But  next 
to  the  importance  of  engaging  in  the  work  on  purely  Chris- 
tian principles,  nothing  was  more  strongly  impressed  upon 
their  minds  than  the -assurance  that  there  was  no  design  to 
elevate  them  in  their  social  position,  and  that  it  was  not  in- 
tended to  make  gentlemen  of  such  among  them  as  were 
mechanics,  but  catechists  and  preachers ;  and  that  after 
their  term  of  study  was  over,  they  must  not  look  to  their 
patron  for  support,  but  to  their  own  exertions  and  the  lead- 
ings of  Providence. "t 

In  June,  1800,  J.  A.  Haldane  took  another  tour  in 
company  with  John  Campbell,  visiting  Ayr,  Port-Pat- 
rick, Aran  and  Kintyre,  preaching  every  day  in  the 
open  air  to  large  numbers.    On  this  trip  they  were 


*  Mr.  Maclay,  who  went  out  afterward  as  a  missionary  to  America,  and 
became  a  popular  Baptist  minister  in  New  York,  was  one  of  this  first  class. 

t  The  Dundee  Tabernacle  was  not  opened  till  the  19th  of  October,  1800, 
but,  during  the  intervaJ,  Robert  Haldane  collected  another  class  of  about 
forty  missionary  students  and  catechists,  whom  he  placed  under  Dr.  Innes, 
to  be  transferred  in  the  second  xear  of  their  studies  to  Mr.  Ewing  at  Glas- 
gow.   Another  class  of  students  ^^as  placed  under  Dr.  Bogue  at  Gosport 


y.  A.  HALDANKS  VISIT  TO  IRELAND,  169 


held  for  some  time  under  arrest  by  the  Highland  chiefs, 
at  the  instigation  of  the  clergy.  But  notwithstanding 
the  opposition,  great  good  was  effected,  and  a  marked 
religious  reformation  was  accomplished,  especially  in 
Kin  tyre. 

With  regard  to  Robert  Haldane,  he  not  only  largely 
maintained  the  religious  enterprises  previousl}'  spoken 
of,  but  published  at  his  own  expense  myriads  of  re- 
ligious tracts,  and  distributed  Bibles  and  Testaments, 
when  as  yet  there  were  no  tract  or  Bible  societies.  He 
had  formed,  also,  many  Sabbath-schools ;  and  inviting 
Andrew  Fuller  to  Scotland,  aided  largely,  by  his  own 
liberality,  example  and  influence,  in  promoting  the  Ser- 
ampore  translation  of  the  Scriptures.  He  also  some- 
times labored  in  preaching,  until  he  was  compelled  to 
refrain  from  public-speaking  on  account  of  a  spitting  of 
blood.  Soon  after  his  brother  became  pastor  of  the 
Circus  Church,  he  erected,  at  the  head  of  Leith  Walk 
in  Edinburgh,  a  spacious  place  of  worship  called  the 
Tabernacle,  capable  of  holding  four  thousand  persons, 
entirely  at  his  own  expense.  Not  long  afterward, 
owing  to  the  vast  size  of  the  congregation,  Mr.  Aik- 
man,  co-pastor  with  J.  A.  Haldane,  concluded  to  build, 
at  his  own  cost,  a  chapel,  in  the  old  town  of  Edin- 
burgh, where  he  continued  to  preach  to  a  part  of  the 
congregation. 

In  May,  1801,  James  A.  Haldane  made  a  trip  to  the 
south,  and  preached  in  Dumfries  and  the  neighboring 
towns  and  villages.  He  then  crossed  over  to  Ireland, 
in  September,  where  he  was  very  kindly  received, 
being  allowed  to  preach  in  the  parish  church  of  Porta- 
down.  At  Coleraine,  he  first  became  acquainted  with 
Dr.  Alexander  Carson,  who  had  been  a  classmate  of 
Greville  Ewing  in  Scotland,  and  had  lately  left  the 

15 


170        .MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


Presbyterians,  and  become  an  Independent.  At  Omagh, 
he  was  kindly  received  by  James  Buchanan,  who, 
afterward  coming  to  America,  was,  for  many  years, 
British  Consul  at  New  York,  and  became  one  of  Alex- 
ander Campbell's  warmest  personal  friends,  and  an  earn- 
est advocate  of  the  religious  reformation  urged  by  the 
latter.  It  was  while  on  this  tour  that  J.  A.  Haldane 
visited  and  preached  at  Rich-Hill,  as  formerly  related.* 
It  was  about  this  time  (1802)  that  the  studies  of  the 


*  From  Mr.  A.  Haldane's  memoir  the  following  notice  of  a  trip  to  the 
Highlands  is  here  condensed,  for  the  sake  of  certain  facts  which  it  presents  : 

"In  the  summer  of  x8o2  he  visited  Derbyshire,  England,  preaching  with 
much  acceptance  at  many  points.  In  the  summer  of  1803  he  made  a  tour 
into  the  Highlands.  About  this  time  some  of  the  students  from  the  semina- 
ries who  had  been  sent  out  as  missionaries  began  to  produce  considerable 
effect  in  Ireland  and  elsewhere.  Among  them,  a  Mr.  Farquharson,  a  young 
man  of  zeal  and  piety,  but  whose  natural  capacity  seemed  hardly  to  warrant- 
his  continuing  in  academical  studies,  was  sent  away  from  Dundee  to  Breadal- 
bane,  at  the  end  of  his  first  six  months,  to  see  if  he  could  not  be  of  use  as  a 
Scripture-reader  in  that  district,  where  the  poor  uneducated  Highlanders  had 
neither  Bibles  nor  the  preaching  of  the  gospel.  At  first,  he  experienced 
great  opposition,  and  but  three  families  would  receive  him.  But  he  went 
from  village  to  village  during  the  winter,  reading  the  Bible  and  speaking  a 
few  words  to  all  who  would  listen.  At  length,  in  1802,  through  the  efforts  of 
this  humble  youth,  a  remarkable  awakening  occurred,  sho^^^ng  what  may  be 
accomplished  by  the  Divine  word,  read  or  spoken,  even  by  those  least  gifted, 
if  they  possess  true  piety  and  zeal.  To  this  point  James  Haldane  first 
directed  his  course,  in  company  with  John  Campbell. 

"  At  this  time  many  persons  in  the  district  were  sick  with  a  contagious 
fever,  but  Mr.  Haldane  did  not  hesitate  to  visit  and  pray  with  them.  Among 
others  he  visited  a  Mrs.  Sinclair,  whose  husband,  though  much  opposed  to 
any  departure  from  the  Established  Church,  was  so  much  impressed  with 
Mr.  Haldane's  piety  and  kindness,  that  he  became  quite  favorable,  and  his 
son,  Donald  Sinclair,  after  his  father's  death,  always  opened  his  house  to 
Mr.  Haldane  and  other  ministers  of  the  connection,  when  they  were  in  that 
part  of  the  country.  Preaching  for  some  time  through  the  Highlands,  where 
Mr.  Haldane's  name  was  ever  after  regarded  with  veneration,  they  proceeded 
to  John  O'Groat's  house,  from  whence  they  passed  again  into  the  Orkneys^ 
and  thence  returned  to  Edinburgh.  Soon  after  he  undertook  another  tour 
with  Mr.  Campbell  to  the  north  of  England,  preaching  on  his  return  at 
Greenock,  Paisley  and  at  Glasgow." 


EDUCATION  OF  MISSIONARIES. 


171 


second  class  of  Mr.  Ewing's  missionary  students  ended. 
The  Glasgow  Seminary  was  then  closed,  and  another 
one  was  opened  in  Edinburgh,  on  a  larger  scale,  under 
the  instruction  of  Mr.  Aikman  and  John  Campbell  in 
theology,  and  Thomas  Wemyss  as  classical  tutor,  the 
whole  being  under  the  immediate  superintendence  of 
the  brothers  Haldane.  Subsequently,  John  Campbell 
retired,  and  was  succeeded  by  William  Stevens,  once 
an  actor,  but  then  a  popular  and  powerful  preacher. 
He  came  from  Aberdeen  to  assist  in  the  tabernacle  at 
Edinburgh,  and  remained  there  until  he  became  a 
Baptist,  upon  which  he  removed  to  Rochdale  in  Eng- 
land, where  he  continued  to  preach  for  many  years 
until  his  death.* 


*  The  course  of  study  of  these  classes  generally  extended  over  two  years, 
with  a  vacation  of  six  weeks  in  ever)-  year,  and  embraced  the  English  gram- 
mar and  rhetoric,  the  elements  of  Greek  and  Hebrew,  Latin  (in  the  case  of 
the  last  three  classes),  lectures  on  systematic  theolog)',  and  essays  upon  pre- 
scribed subjects.  Each  student,  in  rotation,  delivered  sermons  before  the 
class,  the  tutor  making  his  remarks.  One  day  in  each  week  each  student 
was  required  to  speak,  in  rotation,  from  a  passage  of  Scripture  appointed  for 
that  purpose,  the  tutor  making  concluding  observations.  The  students  were 
supported,  had  medical  attendance  when  needed,  their  education  and  class 
books  were  given  them,  and  they  had  access  to  a  large  and  well-selected 
library- — all  at  the  expense  of  Mr.  Robert  Haldane.  In  addition  to  the 
seminaries  already  mentioned,  others  were  established.  One  at  Elgin  under 
Mr.  Ballant}-ne,  one  at  Granton  under  Mr.  Mcintosh,  and  one  under  Rev. 
Mr.  Hamilton  at  Armagh  in  Ireland  ;  subsequently  there  was  another  at  Paris 
under  the  care  of  MM.  Francois  and  Henri  01i\-ier.  Both  the  Haldanes 
also  contributed  afterward  to  the  support  of  theological  students  taught  by 
Mr.  Carson  of  lubbermore  in  Ireland,  many  of  whose  theological  works 
were  published  at  the  expense  of  Robert  Haldane.  He  made  efforts  also  to 
introduce  Bibles  and  tracts  into  Italy  and  Germany,  but  was  unable  to  suc- 
ceed. In  all,  about  three  hundred  young  men  were  educated  and  sent  out 
from  the  seminaries,  and,  though  many  of  them  were  sent  out  with  rath^ir 
meagre  attainments,  owing  to  the  urgent  demand  for  laborers,  there  were 
choice  spirits  among  them,  who  pushed  on  their  private  studies  with  vigor, 
and  made  attainments  in  actual  scholarship  superior  to  many  students  of  the 
Universit).',  and  became  eminently  useful,  both  as  preachers  and  as  wTiters. 


17-      ^fE^^olRS  of  alexaxder  Campbell. 


In  the  summer  of  1804  James  A.  Haldane  again 
visited  England,  and  passed  from  thence  over  to  Dublin, 
and  preached  a  number  ot'  times  at  the  Bethesda  Epis- 
copal Chapel,  where  Mr.  Mathies  and  the  learned 
John  Walker  of  Trinity  College  then  officiated-  Mr. 
Walker  had  not  left  the  Church  of  EnHand  at  this 
time,  but  sympathized  largely  in  the  efforts  of  the 
Haldanes  and  concurred  to  a  considerable  extent  in 
their  religious  views. 

Thus  it  was  that,  during  this  eventful  period,  manv 
individuals,  not  altogether  coinciding  in  their  views 
upon  all  points,  were  nevertheless  co-operating  with 
each  other  in  the  effort  to  spread  simpler  views  of  the 
gospel,  and  awaken  men  to  a  true  sense  of  religion. 
Through  the  intercourse,  personal  or  epistolary,  which 
existed  among  them,  their  knowledge  of  the  Bible, 
which  was  practically  regarded  by  them  all  as  the  only 
true  guide  in  religion,  was  greatly  increased,  and  their 
views  of  manv  questions  \Nere  changed  or  modified. 
Among  all  these  efforts,  however,  none  were  so  scrip- 
tural, so  simple,  and  so  consistent  as  those  of  the 
brothers  Haldane  ;  and  it  was  mainly  in  consequence  of 
this  that  theirs  were  most  successful,  It  is  not  to  be 
doubted,  however,  that  without  the  liberality  of  Robert 
Haldane,  the  views  and  principles  he  endeavored  to 
promote  would  have  required  many  more  years  to 
obtain  the  circulation  and  influence  they  then  possessed. 
Before  Alexander  Campbell's  visit  to  Glasgow,  Robert 
Haldane  had  already  expended  about  sixty  thousand 
pounds  for  the  spread  of  the  gospel  at  home ;  and  the 
innumerable  ministries  thus  set  on  foot,  together  with 
the  incessant  and  effective  labors  of  his  brother  James 
Alexander,  added  to  his  own  personal  efforts,  all  brought 
to  bear  within  a  few  years  upon  religious  society,  pro- 


LABORS  OF  R.  HALDANE.  l7S 

duced  a  most  powerful  impression,  which  was  felt 
throughout  almost  the  whole  Protestant  world.* 


*  Among  the  results  of  the  personal  labors  of  Robert  Haldane,  none  were 
more  remarkable  than  those  which  proceeded  from  his  visit  to  Geneva  a  few 
years  later,  and  immediately  after  the  peace  in  1816.  He  had  long  desired  to 
do  something  for  the  effective  promotion  of  the  gospel  in  France,  and  left 
home  for  this  purpose,  but,  finding  no  opening  at  Paris,  he  was,  from  what 
he  heard  of  the  state  of  religion  at  Geneva,  induced  to  visit  that  city.  The 
love  of  doctrinal  speculation,  engendered  by  the  Calvinian  system,  had  here 
issued  in  an  almost  complete  abandonment  of  those  simpler  evangelical 
truths  with  which  Calvin  himself  began  his  reformation.  The  pastors  and 
the  professors  of  the  divinity-school  had,  indeed,  with  scarcely  an  exception 
become  Arians  and  Socinians.  "They  taught,"  says  Mr.  Haldane  in  his 
letter  to  Mr.  Bickersteth,  "neither  law  nor  gospel  fully,  and  their  doctrine  did 
not  seem  to  affect  the  consciences  of  their  hearers."  A  few  exceptions  there 
were  among  them,  and  especially  a  Mr.  Moulinie,  who  held  the  divinity  of 
Christ,  but  was  otherwise  poorly  informed  in  the  gospel,  and  with  whom  Mr 
Haldane  could  make  but  little  progress.  Discouraged,  he  visited  the  other 
cantons,  and,  at  Berne,  succeeded  in  awakening  the  mind  of  a  young  minis- 
ter, M.  Galland.  At  Lausanne,  he  was  induced  to  return  to  Geneva,  through 
the  persuasion  of  a  zealous  English  lady,  a  Miss  Grant,  whom  he  met  there, 
and  in  order  that  he  might  see  a  young  minister  six  miles  from  Geneva,  M. 
Gaussen,  of  whom  he  had  heard  a  favorable  account.  Finding  still  no  appa- 
rent opening  at  Geneva,  he  was  about  to  proceed  to  Montauban,  when  he  was 
providentially  brought  into  communication  with  a  student  who  had  been 
deputed  by  Mr.  Moulinie  to  show  Mrs.  Haldane  a  model  of  the  mountains. 
"With  this  student,  Mr.  James,"  says  Mr.  Haldane,  "I  immediately  entered 
into  conversation  respecting  the  gospel,  of  which  I  found  him  profoundly 
ignorant,  although  in  a  state  of  mind  that  showed  he  was  willing  to  receive 
information.  Next  morning  he  came  with  another  student,  Charles  Rieu, 
equally  in  darkness  with  himself  I  questioned  them  respecting  their  per- 
sonal hope  of  salvation,  and  the  foundation  of  that  hope.  Had  they  been 
trained  in  the  schools  of  Socrates  or  Plato,  and  enjoyed  no  other  means  of 
instruction,  they  could  scarcely  have  been  more  ignorant  of  the  doctrines  of 
the  gospel.  They  had,  in  fact,  learned  more  of  the  opinions  of  the  heathen 
philosophers  than  of  the  doctrines  of  the  Saviour  and  his  apostles.  To  the 
Bible  and  its  contents  their  studies  had  never  been  directed.  After  some 
conversation,  they  became  convinced  of  their  ignorance  of  the  Scriptures, 
and  exceedingly  desirous  of  information.  I  therefore  postponed  my  intended 
departure  from  Geneva." 

The  two  students  above  named  soon  brought  six  others,  with  whom  Mr. 
Haldane  had  frequent  and  long  conversations.  Others  continuing  to  come, 
Mr.  Haldane  agreed  to  meet  them  regularly  three  times  a  week  for  religious., 

15  * 


174       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL, 


Notwithstanding  his  unbounded  liberality,  however, 
Robert  Haldane  was  not  permitted  to  escape  the 
slanderous  insinuations  by  which  Satan  usually  tries  to 
impair  the  influence  of  those  who  seek  to  promote  the 
interests  of  the  kingdom  of  God.  Thus  he  was  charged 
with  making  money  by  renting  the  seats  in  the  taber- 
nacles. But  the  truth  was,  the  income  arising  from  the 
rent  of  the  seats  in  the  tabernacles  went  to  the  support 
of  the  preachers  and  of  the  seminaries.  Thus  Mr. 
Ewing  was  to  have  two  hundred  pounds  annually,  Mr. 
Haldane  agreeing  to  make  up  this  amount  if  there 
should  be  any  deficiency  in  the  amount  derived  from 
seat-rents,  and  allowing  him  two  hundred  pounds  ad- 
instruction  ;  and  taking  up  the  Epistle  to  the  Romans,  he  expounded  to  them 
this  important  portion  of  the  word  of  God  during  the  whole  winter,  and  until 
the  close  of  the  session  in  the  following  summer,  having  in  his  class  nearly 
all  the  students  of  theology,  and  instructing  in  the  evening,  and  often  till  late 
at  night,  other  students  attending  at  Geneva,  as  well  as  a  number  of  the  resi- 
dent citizens  of  the  place,  of  both  sexes,  who  desired  to  be  informed  re- 
specting the  gospel.  Meanwhile,  the  pastors  and  professors  in  the  Faculty 
began  to  preach  openly  against  Mr.  Haldane's  views,  and  to  insist  upon  their 
own.  They  taught  that  the  Saviour  was  the  first  of  created  beings  ;  that  the 
gospel  was  useful,  but  not  indispensable  to  salvation,  and  various  other 
speculations,  Arian,  Socinian  and  Arminian.  Mr.  Haldane,  on  the  other 
hand,  collecting  their  arguments,  proved  to  the  students  their  fallaciousness, 
and  showed  that  their  tenets  were  entirely  inconsistent  with  the  Scriptures. 
The  controversies  thus  maintained  naturally  gave  rise  to  great  excitemeiU, 
and  to  sundry  persecutions  on  the  part  of  the  clergy.  Notwithstanding  all 
these  oppositions,  however,  great  good  was  effected.  Many  of  the  students, 
and  among  them,  M.  Malan,  F.  Monod,  Henri  Pytt,  and  Merle  D'Aubigne, 
were  called  not  only  to  comprehend  the  true  nature  of  Christ's  salvation,  but 
to  suffer  for  his  name  such  privations  and  indignities  as  the  clergy  could 
inflict ;  the  latter,  D'Aubigne,  being  refused  ordination  and  compelled  to  leave 
his  native  city,  in  order  to  finish  his  studies  at  Berlin  ;  and  it  is  largely  to 
these  labors  of  Robert  Haldane  at  Geneva  that  the  continent  of  Europe  was 
blessed  with  that  religious  awakening  by  which,  through  the  subsequent 
ministrations  of  the  above-named  students,  with  those  of  Adolphe  Monod, 
Tholuck,  Julius  Miiller  and  others,  a  mighty  barrier  has  been  erected  against 
that  flood  of  Rationalism  which  threatened  to  obliterate  all  the  teachings  of 
the  Lutheran  Reformation. 


MR.  E  WINGS  DISAGREEMENT. 


i75 


ditional  while  he  was  teacher  of  the  seminary.  Not- 
withstanding all,  however,  groundless  complaints  were 
not  wanting  on  the  part  even  of  some  who  co-operated 
with  Mr.  Haldane  in  his  religious  enterprises.  Thus 
even  Afr.  Ewing^  with  his  large  and  wealthy  con- 
gregation, seemed  to  think  that  Mr.  Haldane  should 
make  a  present  of  the  Glasgow  Tabernacle  to  the 
church,  and  both  were  quite  dissatisfied  when  he,  who 
had  his  own  views  with  regard  to  the  best  appropriation 
of  his  means,  would  only  agree  to  give  one  thousand 
pounds  of  the  purchase-money,  desiring  to  devote  the 
other  two  thousand  pounds  to  the  printing  and  circula- 
tion of  the  Scriptures.  It  was  during  Mr.  Campbell's 
residence  at  Glasgow  that  the  unhappy  difficulty  be- 
tween Robert  Haldane  and  Mr.  Ewing,  arising  partly 
from  this  affair,  created  a  good  deal  of  public  excite- 
ment. After  hearing  the  matter,  however,  at  Mr. 
Ewing's,  Mr.  Campbell  was  very  decided  in  his  con- 
viction that  Mr.  Ewing  was  in  the  wrong.  The  latter 
had  previously  become  dissatisfied  because  Mr.  Hal- 
dane, being  not  well  pleased  with  certain  divergencies 
from  his  views  of  religious  reform  which  began  to  be 
entertained  by  Mr.  Ewing,  had  removed  the  Glasgow 
Seminary  from  under  his  care  to  Edinburgh  ;  yet  on 
Mr.  Haldane's  part,  these  divergencies,  which  had  re- 
spect chiefly  to  church  order  and  church  ordinances, 
seemed  to  occasion  no  diminution  of  Christian  regard 
for  Mr.  Ewing,  with  whom  he  still  desired  to  remain  or 
terms  of  religious  fellowship. 


CHAPTER  XI. 


Reformatory  views  of  the  Haldanes — Division — Religious  influences  at  Glai»- 
gow — Abandonment  of  Presbyterianism — Helensburgh — Embarkation. 

THE  knowledge  which  he  obtained  during  his  inti- 
macy with  Mr.  Ewing,  in  regard  to  the  religious 
reformation  then  progressing  in  Scotland,  made  a  deep 
impression  on  the  mind  of  Alexander  Campbell.  That 
devotion  to  the  Bible  by  which  the  movement  was 
characterized  was  entirely  consonant  with  his  own 
cherished  feelings ;  and  that  independence  of  spirit 
which  led  the  Haldanes  to  establish  a  system  of  lay- 
preaching  and  itineracy,  and  to  endeavor  to  carry  the 
gospel  into  every  town  and  hamlet  in  spite  of  clerical 
opposition,  was  most  congenial  to  his  own  character 
and  disposition.  Such,  indeed,  was  the  contrast  be- 
tween the  unselfish  and  liberal  proceedings  of  the 
Haldanes  and  their  coadjutors,  and  the  course  which 
the  clergy  pursued  under  the  influence  of  their  narrow 
policies  and  bigoted  sectarianism,  that  it  is  not  surpris- 
ing to  find  him  stating,  as  he  did  in  after  years,  that  he 
imbibed  disgust  at  the  popular  schemes,  chiefly  while 
a  student  at  Glasgow."  Nor  is  it  strange  that  the 
munificent  liberality  of  the  elder  brother,  Robert,  and 
the  earnest  and  abundant  labors  of  the  younger,  James 
A.  Haldane,  filled  him  with  admiration.  He  felt  his 
own  devotion  to  the  cause  of  human  salvation  and 
advancement  strengthened,  and,  while  without  means 

176 


DOCTRINAL  VIEWS. 


177 


to  imitate  the  example  of  the  former,  he  felt  that  he 
might,  at  least,  follow  that  of  the  latter  in  preaching 
the  gospel  without  charge.  Hence  it  was  that,  w^hen  he 
commenced  his  public  ministry,  he  resolved  that  he 
would  preach  the  gospel  without  fee  or  reward.  To 
the  purpose  then  formed  he  steadfastly  adhered  through- 
out his  subsequent  life,  not  only  demanding  nothing 
for  his  services  as  a  preacher,  but  defraying  his  own 
traveling  expenses,  in  all  his  many  tours  through  the 
greater  part  of  the  United  States,  as  well  as  in  Canada 
and  in  Europe. 

As  it  respects  the  doctrines  taught  by  the  Haldane^, 
he  found  that  they  did  not  fully  approve  the  views  of 
Glas,  Sandeman  and  of  Walker,  which  were  at  that 
time  much  discussed,  and  with  which  he  had  himself 
become  somewhat  acquainted.  The  Haldanes  regarded 
the  writings  of  Glas  and  Sandeman  as  exhibiting,  here 
and  there,  noble  views  of  the  freeness  of  the  gospel 
and  the  simplicity  of  faith;  but  to  their  system,  as  a 
whole,  and  especially  to  the  intolerant  spirit  manifested 
by  them  and  their  followers,  both  the  brothers  were 
always  strongly  opposed.  With  regard  to  faith,  they 
regarded  Sandeman's  view,  that  it  was  the  mere  assent 
of  the  understanding  to  testimony,  and  that  faith  in 
Christ  did  not  differ  from  faith  in  any  othpr  historical 
personage,  as  frigid  and  defective.  They  regarded  it 
as  resting,  indeed,  upon  the  evidence  furnished  by  the 
Holy  Spirit  in  the  Scriptures,  but  as  embracing  not 
only  the  understanding  but  the  heart ;  and  both  of 
them  have  remarked  that  "trust  or  confidence  in  Christ 
seemed  substantially  to  express  the  meaning  of  the 
term."  This  simple  and  comprehensive  view  was  that 
which  Mr.  Campbell,  in  his  subsequent  religious  history, 
himself  adopted,  and  continued  to  advocate  during  his 

VOL.  I. — M 


178        MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


entire  life.  Amidst  his  numerous  controversies,  indeed, 
he  was  often  obhged,  in  contending  against  the  populai 
errors  upon  the  subject,  to  insist  upon  the  absolute 
necessity  of  evidence,  and  to  assert,  most  truthfully, 
that  where  there  was  no  evidence,  there  could  be  no 
faith ;  yet  he  ever  regarded  true  faith  in  Christ  as 
implying  a  willingness  to  submit  to  his  authority,  and 
as  consisting  in  a  heartfelt,  personal  trust  in  Him  as  the 
Son  of  God  and  the  appointed  Saviour  of  mankind. 

The  object  of  the  Haldanes  had  not  been  the  inculca- 
tion of  new  tenets.  They  wished  rather  to  awaken  the 
community  from  their  apathy  to  greater  religious  zeal, 
and  had  no  idea,  in  the  beginning,  of  separating  from 
the  Church  of  Scotland,  with  whose  doctrines,  as  ex- 
hibited in  the  Westminster  Confession,  they  substantially 
agreed.  They  had,  however,  simpler  views  of  the 
gospel,  and  labored  especially  to  impress  upon  men 
the  divinity,  dignity  and  the  glory  of  Christ,  and  the 
all-sufficiency  of  the  work  of  salvation  which  he  ac- 
complished ;  and  to  enforce  the  great  principle  of  justi- 
fication by  faith.  Thus  far,  their  reformation  was  a 
revival  of  that  of  Luther  and  Calvin,  from  whose  spirit 
and  teaching  Protestants  in  general  had  at  that  time 
greatly  departed.  When  finally  compelled,  through 
the  opposition  and  intractability  of  the  clergy,  to  form  a 
separate  congregation,  they  were  unexpectedly  led  to 
enter  upon  a  new  chapter  of  church  reform,  and  from 
the  teaching  of  the  Scriptures,  to  which  they  were 
accustomed  to  refer  as  the  only  authority,  to  adopt  the 
independent  or  congregational  form  of  church  govern- 
ment. It  was  to  Mr.  Ewing,  whose  mind  was  much 
engaged  with  this  particular  subject,  that  this  change 
was  mainly  due.  He  had  advocated  it  before  in  the 
Missionary  Magazine,  and  in  his  religious  sentiments 


D/SCrSS/O.VS  OF  CHURCH  ORDER.  179 


generally  he  was  much  more  favorable  to  the  views  of 
Glas  and  Sandeman  than  were  the  Haldanes.  Indeea, 
his  introduction  of  the  works  of  Sandeman  into  the  sem- 
inary at  Glasgow  gave  umbrage  to  the  Haldanes.  who 
protested  against  it,  and  it  was  one  of  the  reasons  tor 
the  transfer  of  the  seminary  to  Edinburgh.  When  the 
new  churches  were  first  formed,  it  was  adopted  as  a 
principle  that  ecclesiastical  usages  should  be  conformed 
to  the  practice  of  the  apostolic  churches.  Hence,  whiles 
the  Scottish  National  Church  attended  to  the  Lord's 
Supper  only  twice  a  year,  Mr.  Ewing  first  introduced, 
at  Glasgow,  the  practice  o«f  celebrating  it  every  Lord's 
Day.  This  was  soon  after  adopted  by  the  Edinburgh 
church,  and  the  rest  of  the  new  churches.  Mr.  Ewing 
next  proposed  a  weeklv  church-meeting,  besides  the 
Lord's  Day  meeting,  which  was  to  be  for  social  wor- 
ship and  mutual  exhortation.  Various  publications 
were  at  this  time  made  upon  the  subject  of  church 
order,  as  Mr.  Ewing's  "Rules  of  Church  Government ;" 
"Reasons  for  separating  from  the  Church  of  Scotland," 
by  Dr.  Innes  ;  a  pamphlet  by  Alexander  Carson,  con- 
taining his  reasons  for  separating  from  tht^  Presby- 
terians, and  a  volume  by  James  A.  Haldane,  published 
in  1805,  entitled  "Views  of  the  Social  Worship  of  the 
First  Churches."  which  quickh'  ran  through  two  edi- 
tions. To  these  publications,  replies  were  made  by  the 
Rev.  Mr.  Brown  of  Langton  and  others,  which  occa- 
sioned other  pamphlets  from  J.  A.  Haldane,  Mr.  Ewing 
and  Mr.  Carson.  Thus  the  subject  of  church  order 
came  to  occupy  a  large  share  of  attention,  and  gave 
rise  to  much  discussion  and  disagreement  among  the 
members  of  the  churches.  It  was  about  this  time  that 
William  Ballantine  published  his  "Treatise  on  the 
Elders  Office,''  which  brought  matters  to  a  crisis,  and 


l8o       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


was  the  means  of  producing  a  widespread  division  in 
the  new  churches.  In  this  treatise  he  insisted  upon  a 
pluraHty  of  elders  in  every  church,  and  upon  the  great 
importance  of  mutual  exhortation  on  the  Lord's  Day, 
as  the  means  of  obtainincr  them.  Mr.  Ballantine  had 
first  been  othciatino-  in  Thurso,  but  afterward  in  the 
Tabernacle  at  Elgin,  where  he  had  under  his  charge 
one  of  the  classes  of  missionary  students  supported  by 
Robert  Haldane.  The  adoption  of  his  views  by  the 
Haldanes,  and  the  debates  which  they  occasioned, 
caused  great  disaffection  amongst  the  churches ;  and 
when  J.  A.  Haldane.  during  the  spring  previous  to 
Alexander  Campbell's  visit  to  Glasgow,  informed  his 
congregation  at  Edinburgh  that  he  could  no  longer 
conscientiously  baptize  children,  and,  in  the  month  of 
April,  was  himself  immersed,  the  division,  which  had 
been  for  some  time  imminent,  immediately  occurred  in 
the  cliurch  at  Edinbur^rh.  Some  of  the  members  went 
/  back  to  the  Established  Church  ;  some  to  Mr.  Aikman's 
church  in  College  street,  while  a  considerable  number 
concluded  to  become  a  separate  church,  and  rented  a 
room  to  meet  in.  The  remainder,  about  two  hundred 
In  number,  remained  with  J.  A.  Haldane,  agreeing  to 
make  the  question  of  baptism  a  matter  of  forbearance. 
It  was  not,  indeed,  so  much  the  change  in  J.  A.  Hal- 
dane's  views  of  baptism,  as  the  doctrine  urged  by 
Ballantine  and  others  that  it  was  not  only  the  privilege 
but  the  duty  of  the  members  in  general  to  speak  in  the 
church  on  the  Lord's  Day,  that  was  the  real  cause  of 
division.  This  practice,  which  had  been  introduced 
several  years  before,  under  the  title  of  "church  order," 
had  been  found  largely  productive  of  church  ^//sorder, 
and  threatened  to  destroy  completely  the  pastoral  office. 
Many  debates  and  dissensions,  and  some  local  schisms. 


CONGREGATIONAL  DISSENSIONS.  i8l 


as  at  New  Castle  and  London,  had,  indeed,  already 
been  produced  by  thus  allowing  incompetent  members 
(for  in  these  cases  the  most  ignorant  are  generally  the 
most  forward)  to  undertake  the  office  of  public  teachers 
and  exhorters — an  office  which,  in  the  primitive  Church, 
could  safely  be  exercised,  under  apostolic  direction, 
only  by  those  possessed  of  spiritual  gifts. 

These  dissensions,  and  the  division  which  took  place 
immediately  after  J.  A.  Haldane's  immersion,  were 
earnestly  deprecated  by  both  the  brothers,  and  sin- 
cerely^ regretted  by  many  pious  men  in  all  the  religious 
parties,  who  regarded,  approvingly,  the  remarkable 
success,  thus  far,  of  the  effort  to  awaken  a  deeper  re- 
ligious interest  among  the  people.  The  division  spread 
rapidly  from  Edinburgh  through  all  the  churches  of  the 
connection  ;  and,  as  the  pecuniary  assistance  of  Robert 
Haldane  could  no  longer  be  consistently  continued  to 
those  who  were  opposed  to  his  views  of  church  reform, 
and  who,  with  Mr.  Ewing  and  the  leaders  of  the 
seceding  party,  refused  to  have  visible  communion  any 
longer  with  those  who  adhered  to  the  Haldanes,  this 
great  effort  to  establish  Congregationalism  in  Scotland 
was  deprived  of  that  support  which  had  hitherto  so 
largely  contributed  to  its  success.  Accordingly,  the 
cause  of  Independency  from  this  time  languished,  whilst 
the  prominent  religious  parties,  who  had,  at  length, 
become  awakened  to  more  correct  views  of  the  gospel, 
and  to  greater  earnestness,  began  to  exert  a  better 
influence ;  and,  under  the  leadership  of  Chalmers  and 
others,  to  preach  the  gospel  in  greater  purity,  and  to 
adopt  various  successful  methods  of  promoting  religious 
knowledge. 

This  disruption  among  the  Independents  connected 
with  the  Haldanes  had  taken  place  during  the  year 

la 


ME.^fOIRS  OF  ALEXAXDER  CAMPBELL. 


preceding  Mr.  Campbell's  attendance  at  the  Glasgow 
University,  and  the  questions  involved  were  still  fre- 
quent subjects  of  discussion  at  Mr.  Ewing's.  The  Hal- 
danes,  who  regarded  the  preaching  of  Christ  crucihed 
as  the  great  essential  matter,  and  wished  all  differences 
about  church  order  and  church  ordinances  to  be  mattei"^ 
of  forbearance,  continued  to  persevere  in  the  course 
they  had  adopted.  Believing  that  there  should  be  a 
plurality  of  qualitied  elders  in  every  church,  Robert 
Haldane  had  consented  to  act  for  a  time,  with  his 
brother  James,  in  the  church  at  Edinburgh.  In  the 
course  of  a  fev.-  months,  he  himself  abandoned  pedo- 
baptist  views,  and  wa-  immersed.  The  same  change 
took  place  also  with  various  other  leading  men  in  the 
connection.  John  Campbell  had  long  since  been  im- 
mersed, and  was  now  acting  as  pastor  at  Kingsland 
Chapel,  near  London,  where  he  continued  to  labor  for 
thirty-six  years,  with  the  exception  of  five  years  which 
he  spent  as  a  missionary  and  explorer  in  Africa.  Mr. 
Innes,  also,  who  came  to  Edinburgh,  soon  after  the 
disruption,  to  preach  for  a  portion  of  the  members  who 
had  broken  off  from  the  Tabernacle,  in  a  few  months, 
likewise,  changed  his  views  on  the  subject  of  baptism, 
and  was  immersed.*    The  same  change  had  occurred 

*  The  incident  which  hastened  the  decision  of  Dr.  Innes,  who  was  already 
unsettled  on  the  subject  of  baptism,  is  thus  related  by  one  familiar  with  the 
facts  :  "  While  he  was  pastor  of  the  church  at  Barnard's  rooms,  one  of  the 
deacons,  haWng  occasion  to  be  on  the  top  of  a  building,  fell  to  the  ground 
and  was  taken  up  dead.  The  \ndovv  of  this  man  made  applicatic«i  to  Dr. 
Innes  to  have  her  child  sprinkled  The  woman,  however,  was  not  a  Chiis- 
tiaii,  and  Dr.  Innes  told  her  that  he  would  not  baptize  the  child,  as  the  fathei 
was  dead,  and  she  made  no  profession  of  religion.  The  woman  replied  that 
he  had  baptized  all  the  children,  not  on  her  account,  but  because  of  their 
father,  and  that  this  child  was  as  much  entitled  to  be  baptized  as  the  others. 
Dr.  Innes,  never  ha\'ing  had  a  case  like  this  before,  concluded  to  bring  it 
before  the  church  for  their  consideration,  and  told  the  woman  to  await  their 


CHANGES  IN  REGARD    TO  BAPTISM. 


■83 


with  William  Stevens,  who,  as  before  related,  had  suc- 
ceeded John  Campbell  as  teacher  in  the  Edinburgh 
Seminary.  The  acute  and  critical  Dr.  Carson,  also, 
had  experienced  the  same  change  of  views  on  the  sub- 
ject, and  now  occupied  the  same  position  as  the  Hal- 
danes,  believing  that  immersion  only  was  baptism,  but 
in  his  church  at  Tubbermore  not  making  it  a  term  of 


decision.  When  the  subject  was  introduced,  about  one-half  of  the  church 
were  for  baptizing  the  child,  and  the  other  half  were  opposed  to  it.  During 
the  discussion,  the  fourteenth  verse  of  the  seventh  chapter  of  First  Corinth- 
ians, was  again  and  again  recited  as  proof  for  admission  of  the  child  to  bap- 
tism. One  side  insisted  that  this  child  was  as  '  holy'  as  the  other  children 
who  had  been  baptized  in  the  lifetime  of  the  father.  To  this  it  was  replied, 
that  the  holiness  of  the  child  was  dependent  on  the  life  of  the  father,  and 
that  his  death  put  an  end  to  it ;  that  as  the  child  nonjo  was  no  longer  'holy,' 
and  the  mother  an  unbeliever,  it  would  be  a  profanation  of  the  ordinance  to 
apply  it  to  such  a  child.  The  other  party  replied  that  it  was  not  on  account 
of  the  believing  husband  that  the  child  was  entitled  to  baptism,  but  accord- 
ing to  the  text  under  discussion,  which  said  that  'the  unbelieving  wife  was 
sanctified  by  the  husband,'  it  seemed  clear  that  the  holiness  of  the  child  was 
to  be  ascribed  to  the  wife,  for  the  text  said,  'else  were  your  children  unclean, 
but  now  are  they  holy.'  Why?  Because  the  unbelie\ang  wife  was  sanctified. 
To  this  it  was  replied  again,  that  if  both  holiness  and  sanctification  were 
derived  in  that  way,  then  the  unbelieving  woman  was  as  much  entitled  to  be 
baptized  as  the  child. 

"  During  this  curious  discussion,  one  in  the  church  said  that  as  sanctifica- 
tion and  holiness  proceeded  from  nothing  this  side  of  the  throne  of  God,  and 
that  as  nothing  they  could  say  could  either  sanctify  the  woman  before  them 
or  make  the  child  '  holy,'  they  would  act  a  wise  part  by  giving  up  the  sub- 
ject altogether.  This  was  a  matter  that  could  not  be  settled  by  the  meeting 
of  one  evening,  and  another  appointment  being  made,  the  crowd  that  came 
together  were  entertained  for  hours  with  a  general  discussion  on  the  subject 
of  infant  baptism.  The  text  in  Corinthians  was  given  up  as  having  nothing 
to  do  with  baptism,  and  Dr.  Innes  announced  at  the  close  that  he  could  no 
longer  baptize  infants — that  a  Baptist  church  had  the  advantage  of  them, 
inasmuch  as  nobody  made  application  to  it  that  did  not  profess  conversion, 
and  was  thus  able  to  answer  for  himself;  that  during  the  discussion  not  one 
example  or  precept  for  infant  baptism  had  been  adduced.  As  much  stress 
was  laid  on  the  Abrahamic  Covenant  in  that  controversy.  Dr.  Innes  pub- 
lished a  work  on  the  subject,  '  Eugenio  and  Epinetus,  or  Conversations  on 
Infant  Baptism.'  which  gave  great  satisfaction  to  m^ny  an  inquirer." 


l84.       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


communion.    A  great  number  of  the  Glasite  Indepen- 


views  of  communion  and  of  church  discipHne,  had 
given  rise  to  the  Scotch  Baptists,  who  found  in  x\rchi- 
bald  McLean  a  very  able  champion  of  their  principles. 
It  was  the  works  of  McLean  that  had  revolutionized 
the  views  of  William  Jones,  the  author  of  the  History 
of  the  Waldenses,  who  was  baptized  at  Chester  in  1786, 
and  who  was  at  this  time  (1809)  presiding  over  the 
Scotch  Baptist  Church  in  London.  A  similar  change 
of  views  in  regard  to  baptism  had  occurred  among  a 
party  of  Independents,  gathered  together  at  Glasgow 
by  the  "Benevolent  Magistrate,"  the  father-in-law  of 
Robert  Owen — David  Dale,*  who  had  died  at  Glasgow 

*  Mr.  Dale  was  a  native  of  Ayrshire,  and  had  received  careful  religious 
training  in  boyhood,  and  being  thus  instructed  at  home  in  the  principles  of 
Divine  truth  was,  from  his  youth,  noted  for  seriousness  and  piet}\  On  quitting 
the  paternal  roof,  he  first  became  a  hand-loom  weaver  at  Paisley,  where  he 
was  connected  with  the  congregation  of  Dr.  Wotherspoon,  Manifesting 
great  zeal  in  all  matters  connected  with  the  interest  of  the  gospel,  he  became 
the  intimate  friend  of  Dr.  Wotherspoon,  and,  when  the  doctor  removed  to 
America,  was  his  regular  correspondent.  Removing  to  Glasgow  in  1761,  he 
after  a  time  established  a  prosperous  business  in  the  linen-yarn  ti-ade.  The 
introduction  of  the  cotton  manufacture  depriving  him,  at  length,  of  this 
branch  of  trade,  he  became  agent  for  Sir  Richard  Arkwight  &  Co.  for  the 
sale  of  cotton  yarns.  Soon  afterward  he  engaged  in  the  manufacture  of 
yarns,  first  as  partner  and  then  as  sole  proprietor  of  the  cotton  mills  at  New 
Lanark.  Here  he  erected  neat  houses,  with  a  garden  attached  to  each,  for 
the  workmen,  and  put  in  force  regulations  to  promote  their  health  and  morals 
and  secure  the  education  of  their  children,  and  his  system  proved  so  efifec- 
live  that  the  "Lanark  Mills"  became  an  object  of  curiosity  to  travelers. 
Besides  this,  Mr.  Dale  became  one  of  the  magistrates  of  Glasgow,  and  in 
the  time  of  the  dearth  in  1800  he  signalized  himself,  as  is  related  by  his 
biographer,  by  the  scheme  he  originated  and  carried  into  execution  of  im- 
porting a  large  cargo  of  foreign  corn  at  his  own  expense,  and  selling  it  to  the 
people  at  prime  cost,  and,  in  many  instances,  giving  it  gratis.  In  consequence 
of  this  public-spirited  and  seasonable  act,  he  obtained  the  name  of  the 
Benevolent  Magistrate." 


THE  BENEVOLENT  MAGISTRATE.  1 85 


about  two  and  a  half  years  before  Mr.  Campbell  took 
up  his  sojourn  there.  This  eminent  man,  who,  by  his 
genius  and  enterprise,  had  accumulated  great  wealth, 
which  he  devoted  largely  to  Christian  enterprises,  had 
been  brought  up  in  the  Church  of  Scotland,  but  was 
gradually  led  to  reject  creeds  and  other  human  com- 
positions, as  possessed  of  any  authority  in  matters  of 
faith  and  duty,  and  to  appeal  to  the  Scriptures  alone. 
He  was  led  to  this  view  through  the  influence  of  Mr. 
Barclay,  a  Scotch  clergyman,  who  founded  the  sect  ol 
the  Bereans,  so  called  because,  after  the  example  of  the 

When  he  became  an  Independent,  and  adopted  weekly  communion,  he, 
with  a  number  of  friends,  hired  a  room  in  which  they  met  for  worship,  there 
being  no  religious  body  at  that  time  in  Glasgow  coinciding  with  them  in 
sentiment.  In  1769  one  of  his  friends  built  a  meeting-house,  and  a  church 
was  organized  by  the  election  of  a  number  of  elders,  one  of  whom  was  Mr. 
Dale.  His  modest  nature  shrunk  from  so  great  a  responsibilit\-,  and  it  was 
only  after  a  protracted  mental  struggle,  which  seriously  affected  his  health, 
that  he  was  at  length  prevailed  upon  to  undertake  the  duties  of  the  office. 

The  successive  divisions  which  subsequently  occurred  in  the  church  greatly 
annoyed  and  grieved  him,  but  "  Mr.  Dale  continued,"  sap  his  biographer, 
"  unshaken  in  his  attachment  to  the  Independent  form  of  church  govern- 
ment. He  prosecuted  his  ministry  amongst  the  remaining  members,  to 
whom  he  was  instant  in  season  and  out  of  season.  His  flow  of  worldly 
prosperity  had  no  influence  either  in  contracting  the  range  of  his  benevolence 
or  deadening  the  vitality  of  his  religious  affections.  His  charity  was  exten- 
sive and  unostentatious  ;  and  whilst  he,  of  course,  directed  his  first  attention 
to  those  of  his  poorer  brethren  in  the  church — the  household  of  faith — he 
was  a  liberal  supporter  of  all,  and  an  active  director  in  many  of  the  philan- 
thropic and  missionary-  institutions  of  his  day.  During  several  of  his  later 
years  he  felt  the  weight  of  increasing  infirmities,  although  he  was  not  con- 
fined until  within  a  few  weeks  of  his  death.  Feeling  his  end  approaching, 
he  sent  for  some  leading  members  of  his  chnrch,  whom  he  exhorted  to 
remain  steadfast  in  their  Christian  profession,  and  gave  them  the  d)nng 
testimony  of  his  faith  in  the  gospel,  asked  their  forgiveness  if  at  any  time 
he  had  given  them  offence,  and  prayed  for  a  blessing  on  them  ;  after  which, 
as  the  elders  of  Ephesus  did  to  Paul,  they  'fell  upon  his  neck  and  kissed 
him,  sorrowing  most  of  all  for  the  words  which  he  spake,  that  they  should 
see  his  face  no  more.'  Exhausted  with  this  parting  scene,  he  rapidly  sank, 
and  the  following  day,  the  17th  of  April,  1806,  he  departed,  in  the  sixty-eighth 
yeai  of  his  age,  deeply  regretted  by  all  parties." 

16  * 


r86       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


ancient  Bereans,  they  professed  to  build  their  rehgioua 
system  on  the  Scriptures  alone.  This  party  first  as- 
sembled as  a  separate  societ}'  in  Edinburgh,  in  1773. 
Mr.  Dale  was  led  by  his  new  principles  to  adopt  Inde- 
pendency, and  he  became  finally  the  pastor  of  the 
church  thus  formed  at  Glasgow.  Contendon  soon  after 
arose  about  points  of  church  order  and  discipline  ;  such 
as  the  regular  use  of  the  Lord's  Prayer,  rising  to  sing, 
the  audible  utterance  of  "■'amen"  by  the  worshipers,  etc. 
A  portion  of  the  church  broke  off  and  joined  the  Glas- 
ites,  and  Air.  Dale  continued  with  the  remainder,  who 
advocated  mutual  forbearance  in  regard  to  things  not 
clearly  revealed,  and  who  continued  for  some  time  in 
harmony.  But  difi:erences  of  opinion  again  manifested 
themselves — First,  In  regard  to  the  right  of  elders  to 
contract  second  marriages,  which  some  alleged  was 
forbidden  by  Paul's  precept,  that  the  elder  was  to  be 
*'the  husband  of  one  wife,"  but  which  Mr.  Dale  re 
garded  as  merely  a  prohibition  of  polygamy  :  Second 
In  respect  to  a  community  of  goods,  which  was  strenu- 
ously advocated  by  the  poorer  members,  but  which  Mr. 
Dale  held  was  only  a  temporary  and  partial  practice  of 
the  primitive  Church,  and  nowhere  commanded  ;  and, 
Third,  Respecting  infant  baptism,  which  a  large  num- 
ber protested  against  as  unscriptural.  These  latter, 
among  whom  was  Mrs.  Dale,  being  unable,  through 
conscientious  scruples,  to  yield  this  latter  point,  a  new 
secession  occurred,  Mr.  Dale  continuing  with  the  re- 
maining members,  and  devoting  the  remainder  of  his 
life  and  his  great  wealth  to  missionary  and  philanthropic 
purposes. 

It  may  appear  somewhat  singular  that,  at  this  period, 
none  of  the  questions  connected  with  infant  baptism 
and  immersion  which  had  thus  caused  so  manv  divisions 


INTIMACY  WITH  GRBVILLE  SWING. 


.87 


in  Scotland,  and  in  regard  to  which  Mr.  Campbell 
became  afterward  so  distinguished,  engaged,  at  this 
time,  his  attention  in  the  least.  This  may  be  accounted 
for,  however,  by  the  fact  that  immersion  was  not  made  ^ 
a  term  of  communion  by  the  Haldanes,  and  was  never 
urged  upon  any,  being  left  as  a  matter  of  choice  to 
private  and  individual  consideration.  In  the  next  place, 
Mr.  Ewing  and  his  coadjutor,  the  amiable  and  accom- 
plished Dr.  Wardlaw,  who  had  left  the  Burghers  and 
was  now  an  Independent  minister,  residing  in  Glasgow, 
and  who  was  often  at  Mr.  Ewing's,  were  both  vehe- 
mently opposed  to  immersion,  and  earnest  advocates  of 
infant  baptism,  in  favor  of  which  they  both  subse- 
quently wrote  treatises,  which  were  severely  criticised 
and  confuted  by  Mr.  Ewing's  former  classmate  at  the 
University,  Alexander  Carson  of  Tubbermore.  Under 
the  circumstances,  therefore,  this  particular  subject  was 
not  likely  to  become  a  matter  of  discussion  at  Mr. 
Ewing's,  in  his  family  or  among  his  guests,  and  Mr. 
Campbell's  attention  seems  to  have  been  entirely  con- 
fined to  the  main  purposes  of  the  reformation  under- 
taken by  the  Haldanes,  and  to  those  principles  of 
Independency  and  church  order  in  which  Mr.  Ewing 
was  particularly  interested. 

Mr.  Ewing  frequently  invited  parties  of  students  to 
his  house  along  with  Alexander,  who  was  greatly 
impressed  with  his  piety  and  learning  during  these 
interviews,  as  well  as  from  hearing  his  lectures  and 
discourses,  which  he  took  the  opportunity  of  doing 
frequently  on  Sunday  evenings,  having  to  attend  service 
in  the  day-time  at  the  Seceder  church.  Mr.  Ewing 
still  preached  in  the  spacious  building  which  had  been 
used  as  a  circus.  The  pulpit  was  in  the  centre  of  the 
building,  and  Mr.  Ewing's  audience  generally  consisted 


88       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


ot  trom  one  thousand  to  two  thousand  persons,  though 
the  building  would  have  held  a  much  greciter  number. 
Mr.  Ewing  was  a  very  fine  lecturer,  and  very  popular 
both  as  a  man  and  as  a  preacher,  as  was  also  Mr. 
Wardlaw,  who  frequently  officiated.  Between  them 
and  the  Seceder  preacher,  Mr.  Montre,  there  was  a 
considerable  contrast,  for  the  latter,  though  a  good 
man,  and  influential  and  even  popular  in  his  party, 
was  a  prosy  speaker.  His  church  was  large,  and 
during  his  attendance,  Alexander  noted  down  various 
criticisms  and  remarks  upon  his  delivery,  with  which 
he  seems  to  have  been  by  no  means  pleased.  He 
therefore  availed  himself  of  all  the  opportunities  that 
presented  themselves  for  "occasional  hearing,"  and  thus 
heard  Mr.  Ewing  frequently,  sometimes  Mr.  Mitchel 
at  Anderston,  as  well  as  Dr.  Balford  at  George's  Square, 
and  Dr.  Wall  at  the  Salt  Market,  with  all  of  whom  he 
formed  an  agreeable  personal  acquaintance.  He  heard 
also  a  number  of  probationers  in  all  the  churches. 

The  opportunity  which  he  thus  enjoyed  at  Glasgow, 
of  hearing  preachers  of  diflerent  denominations,  and 
the  intimacy  he  enjoyed  with  them,  tended  greatly  to 
foster  his  native  independence  of  mind,  and  to  release 
him  from  the  denominational  influences  of  his  religious 
education — an  effect  which  was,  doubtless,  facilitated 
by  the  fact  that  his  revered  father,  to  whose  religious 
sentiments  he  was  accustomed  to  pay  the  utmost  defer- 
ence, was  now  separated  from  him  by  the  wide  Atlantic. 
It  was,  however,  by  the  facts  relating  to  the  Haldanes, 
so  often  recounted  to  him  by  Mr.  Ewing  and  others, 
that,  as  formerly  intimated,  the  change  in  his  religious 
views  was  chiefly  due.  He  was  particularly  impressed 
with  the  persistent  opposition  of  the  clergy  of  the 
various  establishments  to  every  overture  for  reforma- 


CONSCIENTIOUS  MISGIVINGS. 


tion  ;  with  the  unscrupulous  methods  they  often  resorted 
to  to  hinder  the  progress  of  tlie  truths  they  refused  to 
admit,  and  the  disposition  they  constantly  manifested  to 
exercise  the  power  which  they  possessed  in  an  arbitrary 
manner.  He  became,  therefore,  gradually,  more  and 
more  favorable  to  the  principles  of  Congregationalism 
entertained  by  Mr.  Ewing,  which  secured  an  entire 
emancipation  from  the  control  of  domineering  Synods 
and  General  Assemblies,  and  which  seemed  to  him 
much  more  accordant  with  primitive  usage.  At  the~^ 
same  time,  he  did  not  feel  himself  at  liberty  to  abandon 
rashly  the  cherished  religious  sentiments  of  his  youth, 
and  the  Seceder  Church  to  which  his  father  and  the 
family  belonged,  and  in  which  he  had  thought  it  his 
duty  to  be  a  regular  communicant. 

lie  was  in  this  unsettled  state  of  mind  as  the  semi- 
annual communion  season  of  the  Seceders  approached, 
and  his  doubts  in  regard  to  the  character  of  such  relig- 
ious establishments  occasioned  him  no  little  anxiety  ot 
mind  concerning  the  course  proper  for  him  to  pursue. 
His  conscientious  misgivings  as  to  the  propriety  of 
sanctioning  any  longer,  by  participation,  a  religious 
system  which  he  disapproved,  and,  on  the  other  hand, 
his  sincere  desire  to  comply  with  all  his  religious  ob- 
ligations, created  a  serious  conflict  in  his  mind,  from 
which  he  found  it  impossible  to  escape.  At  the  time 
of  preparation,  however,  he  concluded  that  he  would 
be  in  the  way  of  his  duty,  at  least,  and  that  he  would 
go  to  the  elders,  and  get  a  metallic  token,  which  every 
one  who  wished  to  communicate  had  to  obtain,  and  that 
he  would  use  it  or  not,  afterward,  as  was  sometimes 
done.  The  elders  asked  for  his  credentials  as  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Secession  Church,  and  he  informed  them  that 
his  membership  was  in  the  Church  in  Ireland,  and  that 


190       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL, 


he  had  no  letter.  They  replied  that,  in  that  case,  it 
would  be  necessary  for  him  to  appear  before  the  session 
and  to  be  examined.  He  accordingly  appeared  before 
them,  and  being  examined,  received  the  token.  The 
hour  at  which  the  administration  of  the  Lord's  Supper 
was  to  take  place  found  him  still  undecided,  and,  as 
there  were  about  eight  hundred  communicants,  and 
some  eight  or  nine  tables  to  be  served  in  succession,  he 
concluded  to  wait  until  the  last  table,  in  hopes  of  being 
able  to  overcome  his  scruples.  Failing  in  this,  how- 
ever, and  unable  any  longer  conscientiously  to  recog- 
nize the  Seceder  Church  as  the  Church  of  Christ,  lie 
threw  his  token  upon  the  plate  handed  round,  and  when 
the  elements  were  passed  along  the  table,  declined  to 
partake  with  the  rest.  It  was  at  this  moment  that  the 
struggle  in  his  mind  was  completed,  and  the  ring  of 
the  token,  falling  upon  the  plate,  announced  the  instant 
at  which  he  renounced  Presbyterianism  for  ever — the 
leaden  voucher  becoming  thus  a  token  not  of  com- 
munion but  of  separation.  This  change,  however,  was 
as  yet  confined  to  his  own  heart.  He  was  yet  young, 
and  thought  it  unbecoming  to  make  known  publicly  his 
objections,  and  as  he  had  fully  complied  with  all  the 
rules  of  the  Church,  he  thought  it  proper  to  receive  at 
his  departure  the  usual  certificate  of  good  standing. 

At  the  close  of  the  University  session  in  the  month 
of  May,  as  there  was  no  prospect  of  obtaining  for 
some  time  a  suitable  vessel  to  transport  the  family  to 
America,  he  was  urged  by  some  of  his  Glasgow  friends 
to  go  to  Helensburgh  as  tutor  for  their  families,  who 
were  to  spend  the  summer  at  this  agreeable  watering- 
place.  He  accordingly  went  thither  in  the  beginning 
of  June,  and  having  obtained  pleasant  lodgings,  taught 
a  number  of  families,  among  which  were  those  of  Mr^ 


SOJOURN  AT  HELENSBURGH. 


Monteith,  Mr.  R.  Burns,  Mr.  Wardlaw,  Mr.  Buchan- 
non  and  others.  Helensburgh  seemed  to  him  a  very 
beautiful,  healthful  place,  and  a  fine  seaport.  It  lies 
in  Dumbartonshire,  nearly  opposite  Greenock,  on  the- 
north  shore  of  the  Clyde,  which  here  forms  an  estuary 
some  six  miles  in  width.  The  most  of  his  acquaintances 
here  were  ladies,  the  male  members  of  these  families 
being  occupied  in  Glasgow  during  the  greater  part  of 
the  week.  Here,  freed  from  the  routine  and  confine- 
ment of  the  college  course,  he  spent  some  time  very 
delightfully  in  the  midst  of  a  highly  cultivated  and- 
refined  society,  and  in  instructing  the  young  ladies  an( 
others  who  were  his  pupils.*  His  only  regret  was, 
that,  from  the  demands  made  upon  his  time  in  teaching, 
as  well  as  by  necessary  social  calls  and  the  evening 
walks  of  parties  of  ladies,  for  whom  the  escort  of  the 
youthful  tutor  was  constanth'  in  requisition  in  order  to 
visit  the  shady  groves  and  to  enjoy  the  fine  prospects 
from  various  points  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  village, 
he  had  but  little  time  for  the  reading  he  desired  to  ac- 
complish. He  by  no  means,  however,  neglected  his 
religious  improvement,  as  various  pious  reflections  and 
annotations  upon  passages  of  Scripture,  written  down 
during  this  period,  evince.  His  naturally  lively  tem- 
perament, tempered  by  religious  sobriety,  his  fine 
powers  of  conversation,  and  his  agreeable  manners 
rendered  him  a  pleasant  companion  to  all ;  and  the 
happy  associations  which  he  enjoyed  at  Helensburgh, 
for  a  brief  period,  seem  to  have  thrown  over  this  por- 
tion of  his  life  a  charm  which  he  felt  quite  reluctant 
to  dissolve,  when,  after  a  five  weeks'  residence,  a  favor- 
able opportunity  of  emigrating,  in  a  ship  from  Green- 


*  Among  his  young  lady  pupils  are  mentioned  the  names  of  the  Misses 
Hutton,  Buchannon,  Keltin,  Mitchel,  Montusha  and  Burns. 


192       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


ock,  presented  itself,  and  he  had  to  return  to  Glasgow 
in  order  to  make  preparations  for  the  voyage.  Before 
leaving  Helensburgh,  however,  being  requested  by  one 

of  his  friends,  a  Mr.  K  g,  to  write  something  for 

him  as  a  memento,  he  endeavored  to  express  his  feel- 
ings in  the  following  lines : 

On  a  beautiful  vale  adjacent  to  the  seaport  village  where 
I  often  spent  the  evening  hours. 

"  Where,  gently  pointing  to  the  eastern  skies, 
Grove-clad  Camcascan  hills  high-tow'ring  rise, 
Thence,  from  a  spring,  Drummora  gently  flows, 
And,  as  it  wends  its  way,  still  larger  grows. 
Till  in  a  murmuring  brook  it  swiftly  glides 
And  hides  its  treasures  in  the  ceaseless  tides. 
Along  its  winding  course  a  valley  lies. 
Where,  all  around,  in  gay  luxuriance  rise 
The  spreading  trees,  the  lowly  plant  and  flower ; 
The  hazel  copse,  the  shrub,  and  woodbine  bower — 
There,  in  its  golden  beauty,  smiles  the  broom, 
And,  close  beside,  the  mjTtle  in  full  bloom. 
There  the  young  elm  and  beech,  in  shady  rows, 
With  other  shrubs,  entwine  their  pliant  boughs, 
And  form  the  cool  retreat,  the  sweet  alcove, 
The  seats  of  pleasure  and  the  haunts  of  love ; 
And  there  how  oft  at  even  have  I  seen 
The  fair  ones  sporting  through  their  alleys  green  ! 
And  heard  them  sweet  address  each  herb  and  flower; 
Tell  this  one's  beauties,  that  one's  genial  power ; 
With  deep  botanic  skill  on  every  leaf  descant,  ' 
And  ail  their  virtues  in  poetic  numbers  chant ! 
How,  at  their  coming,  did  the  grove  rejoice  ! 
The  birds,  to  charm  them,  strain  their  mellow  voice  1 
The  flowers,  to  please  them,  with  each  other  vie  ! 
The  trees,  to  shade  them,  lift  their  heads  on  high  1 
How  did  the  hills  return  their  accents  sweet 
And  in  soft  echoes  all  their  joy  repeat ! 
How  did  the  brook  that  murmured  harsh  below, 
Now  change  its  movement  and  more  gently  flow ! 
Thus  would  they  sit,  near  yon  translucid  spring, 
Tell  their  glad  tales  and  then  alternate  sing. 
Here  cheerful  sport,  till  evening  dews  were  feared. 
And  moonbeams  trembling  in  the  brook  appeared ; 


DEPARTURE  FROM  GLASGOW. 


Then  would  they  homeward  bend  their  winding  way, 
And  through  the  groves  in  many  a  gambol  play. 
Fair  spot !  and  wilt  thou  not  like  me  soon  change  ? 
And  in  thy  bowers  the  fair  ones  cease  to  range  ? 
Will  not  thy  flowers,  that  with  each  other  vie 
Beneath  thy  shades,  soon  droop  their  heads  and  die  ? 
For  rne,  no  more  Til  wander  through  thy  glades, 
Seek  thy  close  coverts,  and  thy  cooling  shades. 
No  more  within  thy  shady  bowers 
I'll  spend  my  lonely  evening  hours ; 
And  now,  you  groves  and  vales  and  lucid  well, 
And  all  you  beauteous  seats  of  mirth,  farewell !" 

These  lines  afford  a  fair  specimen  of  his  skill  in 
versification,  and  while  they  betray  the  absence  of  that 
delicacy  of  ear  which  readily  detects  redundant  or 
defective  measure,  tliey,  at  the  same  time,  exhibit 
poetic  fancy  and  feeling. 

It  required  about  a  fortnight  in  Glasgow  to  make 
the  necessary  preparation  for  the  voyage,  and  then  a 
further  delay  was  occasioned  because  tlie  shij)  in  w  hich 
he  had  taken  passag,e  conditionally,  the  Latonia,  Cap- 
tain IvIcCray,  master,  from  New  ^*ork  and  bouiul  tiierc, 
was,  with  all  other  vessels  in  part,  detained  by  an  order 
from  government,  until  a  warlike  expedition  then  fating 
out,  the  destination  of  which  was  to  be  kept  secret, 
should  have  time  to  leave  the  coast.  At  length,  on  the 
31st  of  July,  with  much  regret,  he  took  leave  of  his 
many  warm  friends  at  Glasgow,  whose  memory  he 
continued  to  cherish  through  life,  especially  that  of 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Ewing,  with  whom  he  was  most  intimate. 
He  regarded  Mrs.  Ewing  as  a  very  pious  and  excellent 
Christian  lady,  and  in  alter  \ears  oflen  spoke  with 
'much  sympathy  of  the  sad  accident  by  wiiich,  in  1828, 
she  was  suddenly  deprived  of  life.*    Passing  down  to 


*  In  the  simmier  of  the  year  referred  to,  Mr.  anrl  Mrs.  Fwing,  with  a  party 
of  friends,  had  gone  to  visit  the  fulls  (jf  Clyde.    'I'hcir  carriage  being  over- 
vui-  1. — N  17 


194        MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


Greenock  by  the  Flyboat  with  his  mother  and  the 
family,  they  arrived  there  so  late  at  night  that  it  was 
with  some  difficulty  they  could  find  lodgings  ;  but  hav- 
ing at  length  succeeded,  two  days  more  were  spent  at 
Greenock  in  completing  their  preparations,  and  at 
length,  everything  being  on  board,  the  vessel  weighed 
anchor  on  the  3d  August,  1809,  and  they  prepared  to 
bid  adieu  to  Scotland,  in  which,  from  the  time  of  the 
shipwreck,  they  had  spent  just  three  hundred  da3's. 

turned,  they  were  all  precipitated  down  a  steep  declivity,  and  Mrs.  Ewing 
sustained  so  much  injury  that  she  survived  only  a  few  days.  Mr.  Ewing 
never  wholly  recovered  from  the  shock  of  this  bereavement,  which  was  soon 
followed  by  other  severe  afflictions.  Not  long  after,  a  stroke  of  paralysis 
deprived  him  of  his  physical  though  not  of  his  mental  powers,  and  in  a  few 
days  "  he  fell  asleep"  so  gently  that,  in  the  words  of  Dr.  Wardlaw,  who 
preached  the  funeral  sermon,  "  it  could  hardly  be  called  death — it  was  the 
imperceptible  cessation  of  life,  a  breathing  out  of  his  spirit,  delightful 
emblem  of  his  entering  into  peace." 


CHAPTER  XII. 


Departure — Incidents  at  Sea — The  Ocean — The  New  \Vt)ild--D/.  Mason — 
Journey  over  the  Mountains — Reunion. 

THE  Frith  of  Clyde  is,  in  many  respects,  ill  adapted 
for  the  purposes  of  navigation,  especially  as  it 
regards  vessels  depending  on  sails.  Its  channel  is 
narrow  ;  it  is  exposed  to  squalls ;  rendered  dangerous 
by  shallows,  and  can  be  safely  navigated  only  when  the 
wind  blows  from  certain  directions.  The  ship  Latonia, 
however,  after  stopping  till  next  day,  August  4,  1809, 
at  the  bank  below  Greenock,  weighed  anchor  for  the 
last  time,  and  although  the  wind  was  by  no  means  the 
most  favorable,  being  from  the  N.  W.,  managed  to  get 
out  of  the  Clyde,  and  into  the  Channel.  It  was  not 
until  Saturday,  the  5th,  that  a  fair  and  gentle  breeze 
from  the  right  quarter  carried  the  vessel,  in  a  few  hours, 
out  of  the  North  Channel,  and  past  the  dimly-seen 
northern  coast  of  Ireland,  so  that  on  the  following  day, 
which  was  Sunday,  about  twelve  o'clock,  they  were 
fairly  out  of  sight  of  land  on  the  bosom  of  the  Atlantic. 

Alexander  was  now  for  three  days  confined  by  sea- 
sickness, and  had  no  sooner  recovered  sufficiently  to 
appear  again  on  deck  than  he  learned  to  his  surprise 
that  the  ship  had  sprung  a  leak.  The  sailors  were 
greatly  dismayed  and  depressed,  believing  that  it  would 
be  with  great  difficulty  and  much  extra  labor  that  they 
would  be  able  to  make  land  again,  and  fearing  that,  as 

195 


196        MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXAXDER  CAMmELL. 

there  were  only  eight  hands  on  board,  beside  the  mate» 
the  cook  and  the  cabin  boy,  they  would  be  unable  to 
manage  the  vessel.  Under  these  circumstances,  Alex- 
ander went  down  into  the  cabin  and  entreated  the 
captain,  who  was  at  this  time  unwell,  lo  give  orders  to 
put^back,  but  the  latter,  too  well  aware  of  the  uncer- 
tainty of  the  wind  and  the  perils  of  the  Scottish  coast, 
determined  to  continue  the  voyage.  The  pumps  accord- 
ingly were  set  to  work,  with  great  ditficulty,  owing  to 
the  tar  which  had  found  its  way  into  them  from  the  pre- 
vious car<;o,  and  earnest  etibrts  were  made  to  counteract 
the  leak.  On  the  following  day,  Monday,  tlie  7th,  there 
was  a  very  heavy  gale,  and  the  sea  ran  so  high  that, 
amidst  the  tossings  of  the  ship,  the  leak  was  almost  for- 
gotten, and  the  passengers  retired  at  night,  uncertain  as 
to  what  mi^ht  be  their  t'ate  before  morninir.  About  mid- 
night,  however,  the  wind  fell,  and  Alexander,  together 
with  the  other  male  passengers,  went  to  work  to  assist 
the  sailors  at  the  pumps,  when  he  found  by  experiment 
that  it  would  require  ten  minutes  out  of  every  hour,  or 
four  hours  of  hard  work  out  of  the  twent^'-four,  to  keep 
the  water  from  o-aininix- 

During  the  following  week  the  wind  proved  very 
favorable,  blowinjj  <jentlv  from  the  N.  and  N.  E.,  and 
as  the  vessel  sped  along  its  way,  Alexandei  took  gicai 
interest  in  observing  the  denizens  of  the  mighty  deep, 
which  frequently  appeared  around  the  vessel.  ElTorts 
were  made  to  catch  the  black-tish  bv  means  of  small 
harpoons,  but  without  success.  On  one  occasion  the 
captain,  while  leaning  over  a  rope  to  strike  at  a  por- 
poise, was  so  unlucky  as  to  drop  his  watch  into  the  sea. 
This  vveek  they  spoke  a  vessel  bound  from  Trinidad  to 
Dublin,  and  on  Saturday,  August  19,  found  themselves 
in  long.  34°  lat.  42^.    They  spoke  also  a  vessel  out 


DANGERS  AT  SEA. 


197 


fifteen  days  from  Boston,  bound  to  Liverpool.  On  the 
Tuesday  of  the  following  week  they  had  a  very  severe 
gale  with  the  wind  from  N.  N.  E.,  accompanied  with 
sudden  squalls,  one  of  which,  about  eleven  o'clock, 
carried  away  the  foretopmast.  The  ship  ran  before 
the  wind  all  day,  rolling  heavily  for  want  of  the  fore- 
sail ;  but  the  wind  then  subsiding,  the  sailors  were 
employed  for  two  days  in  fitting  up  a  mast  in  the  room 
of  the  one  lost.  From  this  time  until  the  26th  their 
progress  was  delayed  by  head-winds  and  calms.  On 
the  Sunday  during  this  period  Alexander  witnessed,  to 
him,  the  novel  sight  of  a  burial  at  sea.  As  the  parents 
of  the  deceased,  a  child  of  one  Andrew  McDonald,  a 
passenger  on  board,  had  desired  a  coffin,  contrary  to 
the  custom  of  interment  at  sea,  and  sufficient  weight 
had  not  been  placed  in  it  to  sink  it  when  committed 
to  the  deep,  it  floated  off  astern,  and  was  painfully 
watched  for  a  considerable  time  while  it  remained  in 
view. 

Toward  the  close  of  this  week  the  weather  became 
again  rough.  "On  Friday  night,"  he  says  in  his  journal, 
''a  dreadful  storm  arose,  and  the  lightning  flashed  from 
pole  to  pole.  We  were  very  apprehensive  of  danger, 
but  He  who  rules  all  things  made  the  wind  cease  about 
twelve  o'clock."  Acrain  he  records:  "Saturdav  niifht, 
26th.  An  awful  lightning  contmued  for  a  consider- 
able time,  although  accompanied  with  no  noise  »)f 
thunder.  The  glare  would  continue  sometimes  for  a 
quarter  of  an  hour  without  intermission.  This  ap- 
peared to  us  very  ominous,  but  on  Sabbath  morning, 
27th,  the  wind  began  to  rise  in  a  fearful  manner  from 
the  south,  and  immediately  the  most  terrific  squall  ever 
seen  by  any  individual  on  board  ensued.  A  thick, 
small  rain  accompanied  it,  and  the  spray  blew  over  the 

17  * 


19S        MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


vessel  to  such  a  degree  that  one  could  not  discern 
another  at  half  the  ship's  length."  The  fury  of  the 
storm  continued  to  increase  until  every  one  on  board 
apprehended  certain  destruction,  and  the  most  experi- 
enced seamen  said  they  thought  every  moment  would 
be  their  last.  The  mizzenmast  was  ordered  to  be  cut 
down,  but  it  was  found  impossible  to  effect  it.  The 
sails  that  had  not  been  furled  were  all  torn  to  pieces  ; 
the  foretopmast  was  again  carried  off,  and  the  main- 
topmast  would  probably  have  shared  the  same  fate  had 
they  not  succeeded  in  taking  it  down.  Soon  after,  the 
quarter-railing  was  broken  off  by  a  heavy  sea,  and  the 
tiller-rope  having  given  way,  the  ship  became  un- 
manageable for  a  time,  until  they  succeeded  in  replacing 
il.  After  nine  o'clock,  to  the  great  joy  of  all,  the 
storm  began  to  abate,  the  wind  veering  to  N.  W.  ;  the 
sea,  however,  continued  to  run  for  a  long  while  "moun- 
tain high."  They  were  happy  to  find  that  the  hull  of 
the  ship  had  sustained  no  material  damage,  though  the 
bowsprit  was  cracked  half  way  through  at  its  thickest 
part.  "Such,"  he  adds,  "was  that  dreadful  storm,  and 
such  its  effects,  but  thanks  be  to  that  God  who  raises  the 
winds  and  quells  the  tumults  of  the  seas,  that  it  did  not 
prove  fatal  to  us  all ;  and  may  He  out  of  His  great 
mercy,  bless  it  as  a  fatherly  reproof  to  us  all,  and  in- 
struct us  by  it  to  be  in  a  habitual  preparation  for  death 
when  He  calls  for  us."  In  view  of  his  deliverance  on 
this  occasion,  he  renewed  his  vows  of  fealty  to  His 
service,  and  again  solemnly  consecrated  his  life  to  the 
ministry  of  the  gospel. 

On  the  following  morning  about  eight  o'clock,  the 
sea  still  running  high,  they  discerned  a  ship  to  the 
northward,  steering  toward  the  west.  Observing  the 
wrecked  appearance  of  the  Latonia,  she  soon  came 


DENIZENS  OF  THE  DEEP. 


199 


alongside  to  offer  assistance.  She  proved  to  be  the 
Francis,  Captain  Taylor,  who,  happening  to  be  an 
acquaintance  of  Captain  McCray,  kindly  gave  him  a 
spare  foresail,  which  was  greatly  needed.  Soon  after, 
the  Francis  passed  out  of  sight,  the  Latonia  being 
unable,  for  want  of  canvas,  to  keep  her  company.  For 
several  days  afterward  they  had  unpleasant  weather, 
with  occasional  squalls  and  head-winds.  At  length,  on 
the  4th  of  September,  the  wind  became  fair,  and  the 
ship  was  borne  along  at  the  rate  of  from  six  to  eight 
miles  an  hour  for  several  days. 

During  this  period,  Alexander  was  much  interested 
in  the  various  aquatic  animals,  which  now  presented 
themselves  in  greater  numbers.  On  one  occasion,  he 
was  surprised  with  the  appearance  of  a  number  of 
whales  some  thirty  feet  long,  spouting  up  the  water  to  a 
considerable  height.  He  was  delighted  with  the  beau- 
tiful dolphins  which  appeared  around  the  ship,  and  was 
greatly  entertained  in  seeing  them  frequently  pursue 
the  flying-fish,  and  sometimes  with  so  much  eagerness 
as  to  leap  a  considerable  distance  out  of  the  water  in 
order  to  seize  them.  These  fl3^ing-fish  he  found  to  be 
from  six  to  twelve  inches  in  length,  of  a  light  color  and 
furnished  with  pectoral  fins,  nearly  as  long  as  the  body, 
by  means  of  which  they  could  project  themselves  from 
the  water  to  a  considerable  distance,  often  striking 
against  the  sails  and  sides  of  the  ship.  The  porpoises, 
who  were  almost  constant  attendants,  he  found  to  vary 
Irom  three  to  seven  feet  in  length,  having  a  tapering 
snout  and  a  comparatively  small  mouth.  On  some  occa- 
sions, he  amused  himself  in  fishing,  and  with  hook  and 
line  succeeded  in  catching  a  large  dolphin,  but  in  at- 
tempting to  get  it  on  board,  the  line  broke  and  he 
failed  to  secure  his  prize.    The  captain,  who  was  also 


200       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL, 


fond  of  the  sport,  struck  a  porpoise  with  a  small  har 
poon,  which,  however,  by  the  rapid  movement  of  the 
vessel,  soon  lost  its  hold,  and  was  drawn  in,  bent  like  a 
piece  of  wire. 

On  Tuesday,  I2th  September,  they  were  hailed  by 
an  English  vessel  of  twenty  guns,  from  St.  Croix  to 
London.  On  Friday,  15th,  they  spoke  the  Brutus  from 
New  York,  thirteen  da3's  out,  and  about  this  time  got 
out  of  the  Gulf  Stream,  in  which  they  had  been  sailing 
for  some  days,  and  whose  temperature  Alexander  was 
surprised  to  find  so  much  higher  than  that  of  the  sur- 
rounding ocean.  On  Tuesday,  19th,  they  spoke  the 
ship  Venice,  bound  from  New  York  to  Lisbon,  and 
were  informed  that  a  non-intercourse  bill  had  been 
passed,  and  that  the  English  Ambassador  had  arrived  at 
New  York.  Continuincr  their  course  with  occasionallv 
light  winds,  they  judged  from  the  change  in  the  color 
of  the  water  from  a  bluish  to  a  greenish  hue,  and  from 
floating  masses  of  rockweed  and  eelgrass,  that  they 
were  not  very  far  from  land  ;  but,  upon  sounding,  found 
no  bottom  at  one  hundred  and  twenty  fathoms.  On 
Saturday,  23d,  a  river  bird,  the  kingfisher,  appeared 
and  flew,  with  weary  wing,  around  the  vessel,  attempt- 
ing to  alight  upon  the  rigging.  This  evidence  of  near- 
ing  land  was  hailed  with  great  joy  by  the  passengers 
and  crew ;  and  was  compared  by  Alexander  in  his 
journal  to  the  "soul-reviving  return  of  the  dove  to 
Noah's  ark  with  the  olive  branch  plucked  off ;"  to  the 
"return  of  spring;"  to  "good  news  from  a  distant 
land  :"  to  the  "dawn  of  day  to  the  benighted  traveler," 
and  to  the  "cheering  sound  of  liberty  to  the  captive 
slave,"  so  irksome  his  long  confinement  upon  shipboard 
had  become  to  his  active  temperament.  On  Monday, 
25th  of  September,  they  were  delayed  by  head-winds, 


OCCUPATION  ON  SHIPBOARD.  201 


and  upon  sounding,  found  bottom  at  sixty  fathoms. 
The  captain  to-day  succeeded  in  harpooning  a  por- 
poise, which  was  brought  on  board.  Alexander,  ever 
observant  and  curious  in  the  investigation  of  facts, 
found  it  to  be  four  feet  long  and  sixteen  inches  through, 
and  that  the  fat  parts  of  it,  when  boiled,  produced  about 
one  gallon  of  oil.  He  also  found  that  the  liver  and 
some  of  the  fleshy  parts  were  tender  and  palatable 
when  cooked,  and  not  much  unlike  fresh  pork.  To- 
ward evening,  Black  Island  and  No  Man's  Land  be- 
came visible  from  the  mast  head,  and  upon  sounding 
they  found  twenty-eight  fathoms,  when  they  wore  ship, 
and  sailed  S.  S.  W.  On  Monday,  they  found  them- 
selves oft^  Sandy  Hook,  but  the  wind  being  unfavorable, 
it  was  not  until  Tuesday  morning,  September  26th,  that 
they  were  enabled  to  approach  the  coast,  when,  for  the 
first  time  for  fifty-one  days,  they  obtained  from  the  deck 
a  distinct  view  of  the  land  and  of  the  Irce^  upon  the 
distant  hills,  a  most  joyful  sight  to  the  weary  and  storm- 
tossed  voyagers. 

Notwithstanding,  however,  all  the  perils  and  discom- 
forts to  which  he  had  been  subjected  during  the  voyage, 
Alexander  had  found  many  sources  of  enjoyment.  He 
had  pursued  his  private  studies  and  his  usual  readings 
and  religious  exercises  with  the  family,  as  regularly  as 
the  circumstances  would  permit.  He  sought  every  op- 
portunity of  gaining  information  from  the  officers  and 
passengers  on  the  ship,  and,  when  not  thus  engaged  on 
deck,  was  never  weary  of  contemplating  the  grandeur 
of  the  ocean.  Filled  wath  the  loftiest  conceptions  of 
the  Divine  Majesty,  he  contemplated  with  awe  the 
sublime  displays  of  power  exhibited  in  its  boundless 
extent,  its  innumerable  tenantry,  its  mighty  waves  and 
howling  tempests,  and,  in  the  midst  of  his  novel  ex- 


202        MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXAXDER  CAMPBELL. 


periences,  gave  expression  to  his  feelings  in  the  fol- 
lowing poem,  under  date  of  August  i6,  which  he 
entitled 

T/ic  Ocean.'' 

"  Ere  yet,  in  brightness,  had  the  radiant  sun 
In  Eastern  skies  the  course  of  day  begun. 
Ere  yet  the  stars  in  dazzling  beauty  shone, 
Or  yet,  from  Chaos  dark,  old  earth  was  won  ; 
When  darkness  o'er  the  deep  extended  lay. 
And  night  still  reigned,  unbounded  yet  by  day  ; 
When  awful  stillness  filled  the  boundless  space, 
And  wild  confusion  sat  on  Nature's  face. 
Old  Ocean  then  in  silent  youth  did  stray. 
And  countless  atoms  on  its  bosom  lay. 
Th'  Almight}-  spoke  ;  its  waters  trembling  fear'd 
They  yawned  ;  and  straight  in  haste  dry  land  appear'd. 
The  land  he  bounds  ;  and  to  the  waters  said, 
Here,  Ocean,  let  thy  haughty  waves  be  stayed. 
They  swelled  ;  and  angry  at  their  bounds,  the)  luOi, 
And  pour  their  rage  against  the  peaceful  shi)re. 

See  Ocean's  varied  face,  its  wat'ry  fields  ; 
The  dreadful  terrors  which  it  constant  yields  ; 
See  liquid  valleys  sink,  and  mountains  rise, 
Behold  them,  angry,  tow'ring  to  the  skies ; 
In  pride  they  rear  their  hoary  heads,  and  rage. 
And  soon  they  sink,  like  man's  declining  age. 
See  yonder  azure  wave,  in  l)eauteous  trim. 
Rise  from  the  mighty  deep,  and  slowly  swim  ; 
From  gay  green  youth  to  hoary  age  it  tends, 
Then  to  the  depths  below  it  quick  descends ; 
And  where,  ere  while,  it  reared  its  lofty  head 
The  spot's  unknown!,  another's  in  its  stead. 

Next  look  where  skies  and  seas  converging  tend ; 
See  waters  joined  to  waters  without  end  ; 
See  next  thyself,  borne  on  the  mighty  food. 
Supported  on  the.  floating  fragile  wood. 
Behold  thyself,  the  central  point,  and  learn 
The  Almighty's  power  and  goodness  to  discern. 
Think  on  the  depths,  unfathomed  yet  below, 
Where  living  myriads  wander  to  and  fro  ; 
In  liquid  caves  their  young  ones  sport  and  play, 
And  through  cerulean  waves  they  wanton  stray. 
Think  of  the  countless  species  there  that  roam. 


THE  OCEAN. 


The  difTrence  scant,  and  yet  each  knows  its  own. 
But  as  on  earth  they  practice  right  and  wrong, 
In  seas,  the  weak  fall  victims  to  the  strong ; 
And  thus  'tis  ordered  through  the  scaly  brood. 
That  they  by  strength  should  win  their  daily  food. 

Swift  from  the  depths  then  let  thy  thoughts  ascend, 
O'er  Ocean's  rolling  waves  thine  eyes  extend, 
When  night  comes  on,  and  darkness  veils  the  skies ; 
When  black'ning  clouds,  and  howling  storms  arise  : 
When  dismal  horror  broods  upon  the  deep, 
And  awful  terrors  wake  the  mind  from  sleep, 
See,  from  the  poles,  the  forked  lightnings  fly. 
And  paint  in  solemn  glares  the  black'ning  sky : 
Then,  from  the  south,  Vegin  the  dreadful  blasts, 
Hark !  how  they  roar  amidst  the  groaning  masts  : 
See  hemp  and  canvas  to  their  force  give  way, 
And  through  the  air  in  shreds  and  fragments  stray. 
Lo  !  expectation,  wit,  and  judgment  fail, 
Man's  counsel  and  his  arm  no  more  avail. 
Despair  and  horror  fill  the  aching  breast. 
No  time  to  think,  and  for  the  soul  no  rest. 

But  while  man,  trembling,  waits  his  dreadful  fate, 
And  thinks  what  unknown  scenes  him  soon  await, 
At  His  command,  who  bids  the  tempest  fly, 
The  storm  subsides,  hope  gladdens  every  eye  ; 
The  clouds  clear  off",  and  tranquil  calm  pervades. 
Save  where  the  wat'ry  mountains  rear  their  heads ; 
But  soon  they  sink  when  angry  tempests  cease, 
And  all  is  changed  to  gentle,  joyous  peace. 
Now  joy  fills  every  breast  and  every  eye. 
Speaks  in  each  look,  and  dispels  every  sigh. 

Then,  at  th'  approach  of  beauteous  smiling  mom, 
The  sun's  glad  beams  the  sky  and  sea  adorn, 
In  heaven's  high  arch,  tipp'd  with  the  morning  ray, 
The  checker'd  clouds  smile  at  th'  approach  of  day ; 
The  radiant  sun  then  lifts  his  glad'ning  face, 
Unnumbered  charms  attend  him  in  his  race, 
The  trembling  waves  reflect  his  golden  rays. 
And,  in  the  deep,  what  dazzling  beauties  blaze  ! 
And  see,  when  in  the  western  wave  he  hides, 
In  heaven's  grand  vault,  the  moon  in  beauty  rides. 
All  o'er  the  deep  her  silver  radiance  sheds. 
And  in  her  light  the  stars  soon  hide  their  heads. 
Fair  daughter  of  the  lonely  silent  night ! 
Thou  climb'st  thv  course  alone,  in  radiance  bright. 


204       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


Thy  di (Trent  forms,  thy  varied  face,  how  few 

On  Ocean  wide,  thy  dazzling  beauties  \new  ! 

And  for  that  few,  dost  thou  still  wander  here, 

Through  the  long  night,  their  friendless  souls  to  cheer  l 

Thy  face  recalls  the  mern'r)-  of  the  past, 

In  visions  sweet,  too  pleasing  far  to  last. 

Thou  paint"st  in  lovely  forms,  in  beauteous  mien. 

Each  happy  hour  we  spent,  each  lovely  scene. 

Whose  sweet  remembrance  wakes  the  soul  to  joys. 

While  fancy  free  the  vacant  heart  decoys. 

Thus  while  we  wander  through  the  mighty  deep 
Some  foreign  clime,  some  distant  shore  to  seek, 
These  mighty  scenes  our  wand'ring  minds  engage. 
Too  great  to  tell,  or  for  th'  historic  page. 
But  let  us  still  that  Power,  that  Goodness  love, 
That  rules  o'er  all  below  and  all  above  ; 
Each  of  His  creatures  move  at  His  command 
In  the  great  sea,  or  on  the  spacious  land." 

Soon  after  they  had  first  obtained  a  clear  view  of  the 
American  coast,  the  wind  fell,  and  the  vessel  could 
make  no  progress ;  but  at  two  o'clock  on  Wednesday 
morning  a  fine  breeze  from  the  N.  sprung  up,  and 
carried  them  along  the  southern  shore  of  Long  Island 
at  the  rate  of  six  or  seven  miles  an  hour.  About  day- 
light the  Highlands  of  Neversink  became  visible,  and 
soon  after  the  Light  House.  Taking  in  a  pilot  oft 
Sandy  Hook,  the}^  passed  through  the  Narrows,  and 
reached  the  Quarantine  ground  about  eight  o'clock, 
where  the}'  cast  anchor.  Next  morning,  Thursday, 
September  28,  the  vessel  was  boarded  by  the  health 
officer,  and  was  required  to  remain  but  one  day,  which 
was  spent  on  shore  in  washing  and  cleaning  up,  in 
company  with  the  passengers  of  the  ship  Protection, 
Captain  Bairnes,  amongst  whom  Alexander  recognized 
several  of  those  who  had  been  shipwrecked  with  him 
in  the  Hibernia  the  year  before.  In  the  evening,  they 
returned  on  board,  and  on  the  following  morning  at  ten 
o'clock  cleared  out  of  Qiiarantine,  and  in  the  afternoon 


DR.  JOHN  M.  MASON. 


20> 


of  Friday,  September  29,  1809,  cast  anchor  in  the 
harbor  of  New  York.  Next  day  (Saturday)  Alex- 
ander spent  in  searching  for  lodgings,  but  did  not 
succeed  in  obtaining  any  that  were  suitable.  On  the 
Loid's  Day,  he  went  into  the  city  again,  in  order  to 
hear  Dr.  Mason  preach  in  the  forenoon.* 

The  next  day,  October  2,  and  the  \\\o  succeeding 
days,  Alexander  spent  in  viewing  the  city,  with  whose 
commercial  enterprise  and  activity  he  was  much  im- 
pressed, and  in  making  the  necessary  arrangements 
for  departure.  On  Thursday  morning,  October  5,  he 
started  with  the  family  for  Philadelphia,  and  arrived 
there  on  Saturday  morning,  October  7.  With  the  fine 
buildings,  regular  streets   and  clean  appearance  of 

*  This  Dr.  John  M.  Mason  was  the  son  of  the  eminent  Dr.  John  Mason 
who  had  been  sent  in  1761  by  the  Anti-Burgher  Secession  Synod  as  a  mis- 
sionary to  America.  He  died  in  New  York  in  1792,  and  was  succeeded  br 
his  distinguished  son,  Dr.  John  M.  Mason,  who  was  an  eloquent  and  popular 
preacher,  and  a  man  of  rich  and  varied  scholarship.  He  became  somewhat 
distinguished  as  a  theological  writer.  His  first  work,  which  was  on  the  more 
frequent  observance  of  the  Lord's  Supper,  excited  considerable  interest 
The  Scottish  churches  had  been  accustomed  to  observe  the  Lord's  Supper 
not  more  than  twice  a  year,  and  in  some  cases  only  once.  Connected  with 
its  observance  there  were  so  many  additional  services — as  the  preparation 
sermon  ;  the  fast  on  the  preceding  Thursday,  and  the  thanksgiving  day  on 
the  following  Monday,  etc.,  often  occupying  an  entire  week — that  frequent 
communion  was  quite  impracticable.  The  eminent  John  Erskine,  ir  1749, 
had  called  the  attention  of  the  Church  of  Scotland  to  this  evil,  in  his  "Essay 
to  promote  the  more  frequent  dispensation  of  the  Lord's  Supper  ;"  but  the 
movement  he  initiated  resulted  only  in  diminishing  slightly  the  number  of 
sermons  delivered  at  communion  seasons.  Renewing  the  effort,  Dr.  Mason 
endeavored  to  induce  the  Church  to  cease  the  observance  of  extra  days  and 
ser^'ices,  to  which  they  had  become  so  much  attached  that  they  regarded  it 
as  almost  a  profanation  of  the  Lord's  Supper  to  celebrate  it  without  them. 
Dr.  Mason's  "  Letters"  on  the  subject  had  the  effect  of  producing  the  desired 
change  in  many  congregations,  and  as  his  views  on  this  and  various  other 
subjects  harmonized  with  those  of  Alexander  and  his  father  Thomas  Camp- 
bell, they  both  entertained  towards  him  warm  feelings  of  regard  and  sym- 
pathy. Alexander,  therefore,  saw  and  heard  him  now  for  the  first  time  with, 
greal  interest 

18 


2o6       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL, 


this  city  he  was  much  pleased.  But  little  time,  how- 
ever, was  allowed  him  for  observation,  for  having  made 
arrangements  with  a  wagoner,  John  Hunter,  to  convey 
the  family  to  Washington,  on  Monday  at  four  o'clock 
they  resumed  their  journey  w^estward — an  undertaking 
at  that  time,  of  no  small  magnitude,  the  distance  to 
Washington  being  about  three  hundred  and  fifty  miles, 
over  a  rough  road  crossing  the  various  lofty  ridges  of 
the  Allegheny  mountains. 

Proceeding  accordingly,  sometimes  riding  in  the 
wagon  which  conveyed  also  their  luggage,  and  some- 
times walking  by  way  of  change,  the  travelers  pursued 
their  way,  observing  the  various  novel  objects  along 
the  road  with  an  interest  constantly  renewed.  The 
first  portion  of  the  road  being  tolerably  good  and  level, 
they  progressed  the  first  day  about  thirty  miles,  and 
finally  reached  a  tavern,  where,  as  evening  was  ap- 
proaching, they  concluded  to  rest  for  the  night.  Adja- 
cent to  the  tavern  was  an  extensive,  unbroken  forest, 
which  particularly  excited  Alexander's  interest  by  its 
magnificence  and  its  novelty,  for  Ireland  is  almost  des- 
titute of  woods,  and  thus  far  in  America  their  way  had 
led  them  through,  comparatively,  a  cleared  and  culti- 
vated portion  of  the  country.  After  all  had  supped,  and 
arrangements  were  made  for  the  night,  Alexander  con- 
cluded to  take  a  ramble  through  the  woods,  which  were 
already  assuming  here  and  there  their  autumnal  tints. 

As,  in  former  years,  he  had  bathed  in  the  bright 
streams  of  his  native  isle,  oppressed  then  with  a  con- 
sciousness of  the  civil  and  religious  misrule  and  dis- 
cord, the  hatred,  the  bigotry,  superstition  and  revenge 
which  brooded  over  the  land,  he  now  in  the  country  of 
his  adoption,  for  the  first  time,  with  new  feelings  of 
delight  and  an  indescribable  sense  of  relief,  plunged 


A  RAMBLE  IN  THE  FOREST. 


207 


into  the  depths  of  an  American  forest.  In  the  exalta- 
tion of  his  youthful  feelings  he  seemed  to  have  reached 
a  land  of  enchantment.  The  moon,  already  high  in 
heaven  and  nearly  at  the  full,  seemed  to  mingle  its  sil- 
very beams  with  the  sun's  golden  radiance  reflected  from 
the  western  sky.  The  mighty  trees,  in  all  their  wild 
luxuriance,  stood  around  him,  forming  aloft,  as  it  were, 
a  new  heaven  of  verdure  ;  while,  beneath,  he  trod  upon 
the  soil  of  a  new  world — the  land  of  liberty  and  of 
Washington,  whose  liberal  institutions  had  long  been 
the  object  of  his  admiration.  All  nature  around  him 
seemed  to  sympathize  with  his  emotions.  The  balmy 
air,  fresh  from  the  wild  mountain  slopes,  the  new  varie- 
ties of  birds,  which  from  almost  every  tree  seemed,  to 
his  fancy,  to  chant  their  evening  song  in  praise  of  the 
freedom  of  their  native  woods,  the  approaching  shades 
of  evening,  veiling  the  distant  landscape  in  a  gentle 
haze, — all  seemed  to  speak  of  liberty,  security  and  peace. 
He  was  far  from  being  an  enthusiast,  but,  on  this  occa- 
sion, all  the  bright  hopes  and  glowing  fancies  of  his 
youthful  nature  seem  to  have  been  aroused.  Keenly 
susceptible  as  he  was  to  impressions  of  grandeur,  and 
tending  still,  in  the  habitual  workings  of  his  mind, 
to  religious  thought,  as  he  ranged  through  the  deep, 
untrodden  glades,  or  paused  beneath  the  canopy  of 
verdure  which  the  wild  vine  had  woven  as  the  woof 
upon  the  spreading  warp  of  branching  oaks,  his  heart 
overflowed  with  gratitude  and  reverence. 

There  is,  indeed,  something  amidst  the  deep  forest, 
as  yet  untracked  by  human  footsteps,  that  is  well  calcu- 
lated to  arouse  such  feelings,  as  has  been  remarked 
even  in  ancient  times.  Hence  the  forests  of  oak  be- 
came the  temples  of  the  Druids,  and  it  is  Seneca  who 
says  to  his  friend  Lucilius  : 


2o8       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


"  If  you  come  to  a  grove,  thick  planted  with  ancient  trees 
which  have  outgrown  the  usual  altitude,  and  which  shut  out 
the  view  of  the  heaven  with  their  interwoven  boughs,  tlie 
vast  height  of  the  wood,  and  the  retired  secresy  of  the  place^ 
and  the  wonder  and  awe  inspired  by  so  dense  and  unbroken 
a  gloom,  in  the  midst  of  the  open  day,  inspire  you  wnth  the 
conviction  of  a  present  Deity."* 

Whether  or  not  this  effect  be  due  to  the  causes  sug- 
gested by  the  Roman  moralist,  or  to  others  vet  un- 
defined, may  indeed  be  questioned.  It  may  be  that 
the  mind,  comparing  unconsciously  the  gigantic  growths 
around  with  the  lowly^  herbage  of  the  cultivated  fields, 
receives  a  strong  impression  of  Divine  power.  Or  it 
may  be  that,  gazing  down  the  natural  vistas,  where 
tree  succeeds  tree  in  the  distant  perspective,  ending  in 
the  faint  and  reduced  images  of  others  still  more  re- 
mote, there  is  created  an  impression  of  the  Infinite  in 
the  seeming  fact  of  unlimited  distance.  For  the  idea 
of  this  seems  to  be  most  strikingly  conveyed  when 
gradually  retreating  parts  of  some  vast,  complex  object 
are  contemplated.  Out  at  sea,  the  view  of  a  shoreless 
ocean  does  not  so  much  impress  the  mind  with  the 
sense  of  vastness  as  it  confounds  the  perceptions  by 
deceitful  appearances.  The  line  of  the  horizon  does 
not  seem  to  be  very"  far  away.  The  whole  watery 
waste  is  comprehended  in  a  single  view,  and  what  is 
seen  seems  to  have  no  tendency  to  suggest  that  w^hich 
reflection  teaches  must  be  y^et  unseen.  It  is  when, 
amidst  a  group  of  islands,  the  surface  is  meted  out  in 
distances,  or  when,  nearing  the  coast,  its  headlands 
become  visible,  that  a  better  idea  is  formed  of  the 
vastness  of  the  ocean,  and  that  the  shores  which  bound 
it  to  the  eye  serve  only  to  enlarge  it  to  the  mind.    It  is 


*  Seneca,  Epist  41. 


YOUTHFUL  IMPRESSIONS. 


209 


SO,  likewise,  when  we  view  the  heavens.  By  day,  the 
whole  expanse  above  is  seen  at  a  glance,  as  one  over- 
arcliing  vault  of  ether.  It  is  at  night,  when  star 
behind  star  glitters  in  the  firmament,  and  the  still  more 
distant  clusters  tax  the  vision  to  separate  star  from  star, 
and  the  yet  more  remote  nebulae  lead  the  mind  back 
still  farther  into  the  infinite  regions  of  space,  that  it  can 
form  a  much  more  pleasing  and  forcible  conception  of 
the  illimitable.  As  the  ladder  of  the  patriarch's  vision 
afforded,  by  its  successive  steps,  the  means  of  ascend- 
ing to  the  heavens,  so  nature  seems  in  her  various 
provinces  to  furnish  to  the  mind  those  gradations  by 
which  ■  it  is  enabled  to  reach  the  higher  realms  of  the 
unseen,  and  commune  with  congenial  themes  connected 
with  eternity  and  futurity.  But,  however  those  feel- 
ings may  be  accounted  for  which  arise  in  the  sensitive 
mind  amidst  the  grandeur  and  the  solitude  of  the  forest, 
it  is  certain  that  the  youthful  emigrant  manifested  on 
this  occasion  the  marked  impressibility  of  his  nature  ; 
and,  reveling  in  the  thronging  fancies  of  his  expand- 
ing and  far-reaching  mind,  became  so  engrossed  with 
his  ow^n  thoughts  that  he  was  unconscious  of  the  lapse 
of  time,  and  discovered  to  his  surprise,  when  the  effer- 
vescence of  his  feelings  had  somewhat  abated,  that  it 
was  quite  late,  and  that  the  night  had  long  since  closed 
its  curtains  around  him. 

Returning  to  the  hotel,  he  found  that  all  its  inmates 
had  retired  to  rest,  a  light  having  been  left  for  him 
upon  the  table.  Upon  attempting  to  fasten  the  door, 
he  was  surprised  to  find  it  without  lock  or  bolt,  and 
with  nothing  but  a  latch,  as  he  perceived  was  also  tlie 
case  with  the  door  of  his  sleeping  apartment.  Coming 
direct  from  the  Old  World,  where  nocturnal  outrages 
were  frequent,  and  every  house  had  its  bolts  and  bars^ 

VOL.  I.— O  18  * 


aiO       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL, 


he  was  much  impressed  with  such  a  token  of  fearless 
security,  and  congratulated  himself  still  more  in  having 
reached  a  country  where  the  fabled  golden  age  seemed 
to  be  restored,  and  where  robbery  and  injustice  ap- 
peared to  be  undreaded  and  unknown.  In  attempting 
to  account  for  this,  to  him,  unwonted  security,  his  ex- 
perience in  the  Old  World  led  him  to  refer  it,  in  a  large 
measure,  to  the  absence  of  Catholicism  ;  and,  after  his 
devotions,  he  gradually  fell  into  slumber  amidst  grate- 
ful reflections  upon  the  goodness  of  Providence  in 
bringing  him  to  a  land  under  the  benign  influence  of 
the  free  institutions,  the  equal  rights,  the  educational 
advantages,  and  the  moral  and  religious  elevation 
secured  to  all  in  a  purely  Protestant  community. 

He  had,  indeed,  long  been  convinced  that  life,  pro- 
perty, character,  as  well  as  religious  liberty,  were  all  in 
greater  jeopardy  in  Papal  than  in  Protestant  states,  and 
had  been  wont  to  regard  the  Protestant  North  of  Ire- 
land and  the  Papal  South  of  the  same  island  as  truth- 
ful and  unambiguous  exponents  of  the  fruits  and  tend- 
encies of  the  two  respective  religious  systems.  The 
tree  of  liberty,  he  thought,  could  only  flourish  in  Pro- 
testant soil  and  in  a  Protestant  atmosphere ;  and  sub- 
sequently, as  he  passed  along  through  the  interior,  and 
found  all  houses  and  places  in  the  same  happy  state  of 
security,  and  every  door  opening  merely  with  a  latch, 
like  the  wicket  of  Goldsmith's  hermit,  he  became  more 
and  more  confirmed  in  his  opinions.  He  found,  how- 
ever, after  a  while,  when  his  judgment  became  more 
mature,  and  he  had  opportunity  for  more  extended 
observation,  that  the  best  human  government  fails  to 
secure  immunity  from  private  wrongs,  and  that  the 
nocturnal  pilfering,  which  in  Ireland  he  had  been 
accustomed  to  hear  charged  upon  the  lower  orders  of 


THE  ALLEGHANIES. 


211 


the  Catholic  population,  might  sometimes  occur  even  in 
Protestant  America.  He  soon  learned  too,  by  personal 
experience,  that  sectarian  bigotry  and  cferical  intoler- 
ance had  changed  their  cHmate,  and  not  their  spirit,  in 
crossing  the  Atlantic,  and  that  no  government  or  party 
or  people  is  exempt  from  those  errors  and  moral  delin- 
quencies which  belong  to  a  common  humanity. 

Setting  off  again  early  next  morning,  they  pursued 
their  way,  and  found  the  country  to  become  more  broken 
and  uncultivated.  Full  of  youthful  spirits,  and  inter- 
ested or  amused  by  everything  he  saw,  Alexander 
cheered  up  his  mother  and  sisters  with  his  genial 
pleasantry,  and  endeavored  to  lighten  the  fatigues  of 
travel.  Entering  at  last  the  mountainous  region  which 
occupies  the  central  part  of  Pennsylvania,  they  were 
delighted  with  the  grandeur  of  the  views  which  it 
afforded,  and  the  wild  and  romantic  character  of  the 
country.  For  hours,  the  road  led  them  through  deep 
forests,  and  up  the  steep  mountain  sides,  which  were 
covered  with  various  species  of  oak,  and  with  the  birch, 
the  chestnut  and  the  beech ;  or,  here  and  there  upon 
the  rocky  cliffs,  with  clumps  of  pine  and  cedar.  Occa- 
sionally, they  passed  by  clearings,  even  upon  the  very 
summits  of  the  mountain  ridges,  where  they  found  the 
soil  to  produce  abundant  pasture  beneath  the  dead 
timber,  which,  having  been  simpl}^  girdled,  stretched 
its  bare  and  decaying  branches  like  gigantic  and  im- 
ploring arms  toward  the  heavens.  Upon  the  skirts  of 
these  clearings  they  admired  the  rich  undergrowth  of 
the  surrounding  woods,  amidst  which  the  mountain-ash 
displayed  its  magnificent  corymbs  of  scarlet  berries ;  or 
again,  descending  the  western  slopes,  they  found  the 
undergrowth  to  consist  chiefly  of  the  broad-leafed  laurel, 
with  its  beautiful  dark  evergreen  foliage,  sheltering  the 


212       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL, 


lowly  mountain-tea  and  other  plants  of  new  and  various 
torms.  Or  again,  they  traversed  extensive  districts  more 
rugged  and  barren,  and  poorly  timbered  with  dwarfed 
and  stunted  black-oak  or  the  tall  and  gloomy  hemlock. 

Nothing,  however,  was  fitted  to  al^brd  more  delight, 
especially  to  the  females  of  the  party,  than  the  rich 
colors  with  which  autumn  had  tinged  many  of  the 
forest  trees.  Here  the  brio^ht  ^^'olden  hue  of  the  hickorv, 
and  the  beautiful  orange  tints  of  the  maple,  were  con- 
trasted with  the  dark  green  of  the  unchanging  pine. 
Here  the  scarlet  oak  {J^icrcus  coccinca)  and  the  bril- 
liantly tinted  tupelo,  shone  resplendent  amidst  surround- 
ing verdure,  and  the  ampelopsis,  or  American  iv}-, 
covered  cioselv  with  its  digitate  leaves  of  crimson  the 
lofty  trunks  of  decaying  trees.  Thus  their  slow  and 
toilsome  progress  over  the  numerous  and  loftv  ridges 
of  the  AUeghanies  and  across  the  intervening  valleys 
was  cheered  and  enlivened  by  the  strangeness  and  the 
beauty  of  the  objects  which  presented  themselves  along 
the  route.  Birds  of  gay  and  varied  plumage,  which 
had  been  unknown  amidst  the  solitude  and  silence  of 
the  primeval  tbrest,  flitted  from  tree  to  tree  along  the 
borders  of  the  cultivated  districts.  The  active  squirrel 
mounted  to  the  topmost  branches  in  quest  of  nuts  ;  vari- 
ous wild  animals  were  suddenly  started  from  the  thick- 
ets along  the  way ;  and  sometimes,  amid  the  deeper 
recesses  of  the  mountains,  might  still  be  seen  in  the 
distance  a  few  timid  deer,  hastening  to  the  security  of 
their  accustomed  haunts. 

Reachinor  sometimes  the  summit  of  one  of  the  moun- 
tains  early  in  the  morning,  they  would  see  these  vast 
parallel  and  unbroken  ridges  trending  toward  the  S.  W. 
as  far  as  the  eye  could  reach,  and  forming,  upon  all 
sides,  the  distant  horizon  with  their  dark  uplifted  sum- 


THE   WAT- SIDE  INN. 


313 


uiits,  (!^tnly  seen  through  the  bhaish  haze,  nhich,  at 
this  S':;ason  of  the  year,  usually  prevails.  Beneath, 
the  deep  valley  into  which  the  road  seemed  about  to 
descend,  would  be  in  its  lower  part  concealed  by  the 
thick  mist  which  had  formed  durinor  the  nicrht,  and 
w'hich  lay  sleeping  on  its  bosom  like  accumulated 
masses  'A  the  purest  snow.  Sometimes,  upon  descend- 
ing, thf^y  would  find  a  wide  and  rich  valley  of  undu- 
lating land  interposing  itself  for  many  miles  between 
the  m(/untain  chains,  and  divided  into  cultivated  farms, 
with  here  and  there  a  thriving  town  or  village.  As  the 
hotels  along  the  route  were  usually  located  in  the 
valleys,  they  would  frequently,  in  the  arrangement  for 
tlie  day's  travel,  reach  the  top  of  one  of  the  mountains 
in  J.he  afternoon,  when,  the  mists  having  been  long 
since  dissipated,  the  deep  and  rugged  gorges  winding 
amongst  the  mountains  became  visible  to  a  great  dis- 
tance, occasionally  opening  into  a  cleared  and  fertile 
cove,  where  the  sunlight  would  be  seen  occasionally 
flashing  from  a  pure  and  rapid  stream  of  water,  and 
where,  sheltered  in  a  quiet  nook,  by  the  side  of  the 
road,  they  would  find  the  inn  which  was  to  be  their 
resting-place  for  the  night. 

These  inns,  at  this  period,  along  the  chief  thorough- 
fares of  travel  between  the  East  and  West,  were,  many 
of  them,  very  spacious  and  comfortable  buildings,  and 
abundantly  provided  with  all  necessary  comforts  for  the 
traveler.  They  were  sometimes  frame  buildings,  with 
long,  capacious  porches  in  front  and  rear.  Others  were 
built  with  a  species  of  blue  limestone,  which,  contrast- 
intj  with  the  white  mortar  between  the  blocks,  and  the 
white  window  frames  and  green  Venetian  shutt(Ts.  pro- 
duced a  pleasing  effect,  and  formed  solid  and  substan- 
tial structures.    On  the  opposite  side  of  the  read  were 


2  14       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


usually  placed  the  spacious  stables,  sheds,  and  othei 
outbuildings  required  for  the  accommodation  of  team- 
sters ;  and,  near  at  hand,  was  the  immense  w  3oden 
trough,  into  which  poured  constantly,  from  a  hydrant, 
a  stream  of  pure  water,  carried  under  the  ground  in 
wooden  pipes  from  a  spring  upon  the  side  of  the 
neighboring  hill.  As  the  hotel  stood  back  some  dis- 
tance from  the  road,  abundant  room  was  left,  in  the 
wide  recess,  thus  ibrmed  for  the  wagons  and  other  vehi- 
cles, from  which  the  horses  were  disengaged.  The 
interior  of  the  hotel  itself  was  usually  plain,  but  com- 
modious— a  bar-room,  connected  with  a  dining-room, 
and  this  with  the  kitchen,  on  one  side  of  a  wide  hall; 
and,  upon  the  other,  the  parlors  for  the  better  sort  of 
guests.  These  were  sometimes  entirely  covered  vvith 
carpeting  of  domestic  manufacture.  At  other  times, 
onl}'  the  middle  portions  were  thus  covered,  the  rest  of 
the  floor  being  strewed  with  white  sand,  arranged  in 
curving  lines  and  forming  various  patterns,  according 
to  the  taste  of  the  tidy  hostess.  In  some  cases,  the 
white  sand  was  used  as  an  entire  substitute  for  carpet- 
ing, and  gritted  unpleasantly  beneath  the  feet.  Above 
stairs  were  usually  the  comfortable  sleeping  apart- 
ments. At  this  period,  hotels  of  this  character  could 
be  found  every  ten  or  twenty  miles,  but  since  the  es- 
tablishment of  railroads  and  the  tunneling  of  the  moun- 
tains, their  glory  has  departed,  and  they  are  now  "few 
and  far  between,"  and  doing  but  little  business,  since 
passengers  can  travel  at  their  ease,  seated  on  the  soft 
plush  or  velvet  cushions  of  luxurious  cars,  and  over  as 
great  a  distance  in  an  hour  as  could  be  accomplished 
by  the  old  road-wagon  in  a  day. 

Tt  was  the  evening  of  about  the  tenth  day  of  their 
journey  when,  the  Campbell  family  had  stopped  to  rest 


UNEXl    C  TED  INTER  VIE  IV. 


for  the  night  at  such  an  inn  as  has  been  described.  Al 
a  similar  inn,  some  'ifteen  miles  westward,  and  at  the 
same  hour,  there  wai  seen  to  alight  a  tall  young  man, 
dressed  in  black,  w^ho,  having  attended  to  the  wants  of 
his  jaded  horse,  entered  the  hotel,  and  took  his  seat  in 
the  parlor  with  some  other  travelers  who  had  previously 
arrived.  He  was  considerably  above  the  medium 
height,  erect  and  graceful.  His  face  was  somewhat 
round,  with  delicate  features,  a  fair  complexion  and  an 
ample  forehead,  with  clustering  locks  of  brown  hair. 
He  was  scarcely  seated,  when  there  was  another  arrival 
of  two  rather  elderly  men,  also  from  the  West,  who 
had  with  them  a  couple  of  led  horses  equipped  as  for 
females.  One  of  the  men  was  tall,  broad-shouldered 
and  athletic,  with  black  hair,  piercing  eyes  and  bushy 
e}'ebrows.  The  other  w^as  about  the  middle  stature, 
fair,  and  of  an  exceedingly  engaging  countenance  and 
manner.  Entering  the  parlor,  the  latter  gracefully 
saluted  the  company,  and  courteously  begged  to  inquire 
if  any  of  them  had  come  from  the  eastward,  and  had 
passed,  during  the  day,  a  wagon  containing  a  family 
of  emigrants.  He  informed  them,  with  the  greatest 
frankness,  that  his  name  was  Thomas  Campbell,  and 
that  he  was  from  Washington,  Pennsylvania,  on  his 
way  to  meet  his  family,  who  had  recently  arrived  at 
New  York  from  Scotland,  and  were  now  on  their  way 
from  Philadelphia,  and  from  whom  he  had  been  sepa- 
rated about  two  years.  His  friend,  Mr.  John  McElroy, 
had  been  so  kind  as  to  accompany  him  with  led  horses, 
as  a  means  of  relief  to  his  wife  and  daughters  from  the 
confinement  of  the  wagon.  His  appearance  and  cour- 
teous bearing  at  once  secured  marked  respect,  and  he 
received  from  some  of  those  present  such  information 
as  led  him  to  hope  that  he  would,  in  all  probability, 


2l6        MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL 


meet  his  famih"  during  the  course  of  the  next  day. 
The  tall  \  oung  man  w  ho  had  previously  entered  was 
particularly  struck  with  Thomas  Campbell's  dignified 
appearance  and  demeanor.  He  noted  the  intelligence 
that  beamed  in  his  countenance,  and  perceived  by  his 
conversation  that  he  was  a  person  ot"  superior  education 
and  refinement. 

When  the  company  were  called  in  to  supper,  they 
found  that  the  landlad3^  who  was  addicted  to  the  use  of 
spirituous  liquor,  had  become  intoxicated.  She  had 
decked  off  her  table  fantasticalh'  with  flowers,  and  was 
evidently  disposed  to  be  very  annoying  to  her  guests  by 
her  impertinence  and  garrulity.  These  were,  however, 
delighted  to  witness  the  readiness  w^ith  which  Mr. 
Campbell  comprehended  the  situation  of  affairs,  and 
the  grace  and  dignity  with  which  he  repressed  the 
demonstrations  of  ebriety  on  the  part  of  the  hostess. 
Advancing  to  the  table,  he  said,  ''With  your  leave, 
gentlemen,  I  will  give  thanks  for  these  blessings  ;"  which 
he  proceeded  to  do  in  grave  and  solemn  terms,  and 
during  the  repast  maintained  and  directed  the  conversa- 
tion so  as  to  reduce  the  landlady  to  a  respectful  silence. 
The  tall  stranger  soon  perceived  that  Mr.  Campbell 
was  a  minister  of  the  gospel ;  and  though  he  was  him- 
self a  minister,  and  felt  singularly  attracted  toward  Mr. 
Campbell,  and  desired  to  enter  into  conversation  with 
him,  he  put  so  modest  an  estimate  upon  his  own  attain- 
ments that  he  could  not  summon  courage  to  do  so,  and 
thouc^ht  it  best  for  him  to  remain  in  the  backi^round. 
Redring,  accordingly,  soon  afterward  to  rest,  he  set  off 
upon  his  eastward  journey  early  in  the  morning,  and, 
after  riding  about  ten  miles,  met  the  wagon  and  the 
family,  which,  from  the  account  of  the  evening  before, 
he  knew  to  be  Mr.  Campbell's.    As  'le  bowed  to  them 


FAMILY  RE-UNTTED. 


217 


and  passed  on,  he  particularly  noticed  Alexander,  but 
he  little  thought,  at  the  time,  that  with  this  youth  and 
his  father,  whom  he  had  thus  casually  met,  he  himself 
would  be  in  a  few  years  an  earnest  fellow-laborer  in 
promoting  the  interests  of  a  new  and  important  religious 
reformation.  Yet  so  it  was  that  Providence,  which 
oi'ien  foreshadows  the  events  of  human  life,  had  given 
him,  as  it  were,  a  silent  introduction  in  advance  to  those 
who  were  hereafter  to  modity  greatly  his  religious  lite. 
For  this  tall  stranger  w^as  no  other  than  Adamson 
Bentley,  a  young  but  influential  Baptist  preacher  of 
Ohio,  who,  being  engaged  also  to  some  extent  in  the 
mercantile  business,  was  now  on  his  way  to  Philadel- 
phia to  purchase  a  stock  of  goods,  and  who  became 
afterward  the  chief  instrument  of  introducing  the  primi- 
tive gospel  into  the  Western  Reserve. 

Not  long  after  Mr.  Bentley  had  left  the  inn,  Thomas 
Campbell  and  Mr.  McElroy  resumed  their  journey, 
and,  soon  after  Mr.  Bentley  had  passed  the  wagon, 
they  came  in  sight  of  it,  and  presently  felt  assured 
that  it  w^as  the  object  of  their  search.  Quicken- 
ing their  pace,  they  soon  approached  so  near  that 
Mr.  Campbell  was  recognized  by  the  family,  to  their 
great  joy  and  astonishment,  as  they  did  not  expect  to 
see  him  until  their  arrival  at  Washington.  The  meet- 
ing of  the  mother  and  children  with  the  husband  and 
father,  from  whom  they  had  been  so  long  separated, 
was  very  affecting.  With  ardent  love  beaming  in  his 
benignant  countenance,  Thomas  Campbell  kissed  and 
embraced  them  all  with  the  utmost  tenderness,  remark- 
ing how  much  the  children  had  grown  and  improved 
since  he  left  them.  When  Jane  was  presented  to  him, 
so  much  changed  in  appearance  by  the  efl?'ect  of  the 
small-pox  that  he  would  not  have  recognized  her,  he 

19 


2l8       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


said,  in  a  tone  of  the  kindest  sympathy,  as  he  took  her 
into  his  arms,  "And  is  this  my  little  white-head?"  a 
phrase  of  endearment  amongst  the  Irish,  and  kissing 
her  affectionately,  crave  thanks  to  God  for  her  recovery, 
and  for  the  kind  Providence  which  had  at  length  brouglit 
them  all  once  more  together. 

After  introducing  his  kind  friend,  John  McElrov,  and 
spending  a  little  time  in  mutual  inquiries  and  congratu- 
lations, they  all  proceeded  on  their  wa\'  westward,  the 
led  horses  furnishing  an  agreeable  change  occasionally 
from  the  confinement  of  the  wagon  and  the  fatigue  of 
walking.  It  was  not  long  until  they  surmounted  the 
most  western  of  the  mountain  ranges,  the  Chestnut 
Ridge,  and  descended  into  the  rich  plateau  of  undulating 
land  which,  stretching  for  hundreds  of  miles  toward  the 
west,  formed  the  upper  part  of  the  great  Valley  of  the 
Mississippi,  and  which  is  watered  by  the  Ohio  and  its 
numerous  tributaries.  They  were  delighted  to  enter 
this  fertile  region,  which  was  to  be  their  future  home, 
and  to  bid  adieu  to  the  rugged  mountains  which  seemed 
to  recede  from  them  toward  the  east,  and  formed,  with 
their  dark  masses,  the  line  of  the  horizon,  sending  down 
at  short  intervals  rapidly-descending  spurs,  like  enor- 
mous buttresses,  which,  extending  out  a  considerable 
dist'ince  into  the  plain,  lost  themselves  at  length  in 
its  gentle  undulations.  This  plateau  was  tolerably 
thickly  settled,  and  the  remainder  of  their  route  led 
them  through  cultivated  farms,  and  through  groves  of 
oak,  walnut,  ash  and  locust,  and  across  or  along  the 
numerous  smaller  streams  which  flow  into  the  Monon- 
gahela  river.  Reaching  this  river  at  length,  they 
crossed  it  by  the  ferry  at  Williamsport.  and  entered  the 
county  of  Washington,  and,  in  the  evening,  found 
themselves  near  the  residence  of  the  Rev.  Samuel 


RECITALS  OF  THE  PAST. 


219 


Ralston,  a  Presbyterian  preacher  of  considerable  influ- 
ence, and  President  of  the  Trustees  of  Jefferson  Col- 
lege at  Canonsburg.  Being  acquainted  with  him, 
Thomas  Campbell  called  over  to  see  him,  and  to  intro- 
duce his  son  Alexander,  and  they  were  hospitably 
entertained  during  the  night  by  Mr.  Ralston.  Next 
day  they  reached  the  town  of  Washington,  where,  in 
a  field  adjoining,  a  house  had  been  provided,  in  which 
they  were  once  more  to  find  a  resting-place  and  to  form 
an  unbroken  family  circle. 

During  the  three  days  in  which  they  had  thus  been 
journeying  along  in  company,  Mrs.  Campbell  had 
related  to  her  husband  the  various  incidents  which  had 
occurred  in  the  history  of  the  family  since  his  departure 
from  Ireland  ;  and  Alexander  and  the  other  children 
had  likewise  detailed  their  several  experiences,  dangers 
and  deliverances  during  their  separation  from  him. 
He,  in  turn,  gave  them  a  particular  account  of  what 
had  befallen  him  in  America,  and  of  what  he  had 
learned  of  the  character  of  the  country.  With  the 
latter  he  expressed  himself  greatly  delighted,  both  as 
to  climate,  natural  resources  and  inhabitants,  but  espe- 
cially as  regarded  the  freedom  of  the  government  and 
the  security  and  protection  it  aflforded  to  all.  He  then 
went  on  to  detail  his  religious  trials  and  the  persecutions 
he  had  undergone  at  the  hands  of  the  Seceder  clergy, 
on  account  of  his  efforts  to  effect  a  reformation  and  to 
promote  Christian  union  on  the  basis  of  the  Holy  Scrip- 
tures. As  he  described  the  contumely  which  had  been 
heaped  upon  him  ;  the  slanders  circulated  ;  the  deter- 
mined opposition  to  the  slightest  overture  in  favor  of 
relaxing  the  strict  usages  of  the  party ;  the  unjust  pro- 
ceedings of  the  Presbytery  and  the  Synod,  and  the  evil 
feelings  of  jealousy,  animosity  and  envy  that  manifestly 


220       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


insiigated  their  sectarian  opposition,  he  expressed  his 
sincere  conviction  that,  had  they  possessed  the  power, 
he  would  have  suffered  martyrdom  at  their  hands,  or, 
as  he  expressed  it,  that  "  nothing  but  the  law  of  the 
land  had  kept  his  head  upon  his  shoulders."  Alexander 
could  not  but  feel  indignant  at  this  recital,  and  felt  more 
and  more  the  correctness  of  the  conclusion  to  which  he 
had  himself  already  come  in  regard  to  hierarchical 
establishments  and  the  rule  of  the  clergy.  He  was 
greatly  surprised,  how^ever,  when  informed  by  his  father 
that  the  latter  had  actually  dissolved  his  connection  with 
the  Seceders,  as  he  could  no  longer  feel  justified  in 
sanctioning  their  proceedings  by  remaining  with  them  ; 
and  that  he  had  been  for  some  time  past  preaching 
independently  to  audiences  made  up  of  individuals  of 
different  parties,  who  were  willing  to  listen  to  his  over- 
tures for  Christian  union  upon  the  basis  of  the  Bible 
alone.  Alexander  was  greatly  rejoiced  at  this  announce- 
ment, and  could  not  but  admire  the  ways  of  Providence, 
which  had  thus,  through  a  bitter  experience,  delivered 
his  father  from  the  shackles  of  partyism,  so  that,  instead 
of  fearing  opposition  from  him  to  the  views  to  which  he 
had  himself  been  definitely  brought  while  in  Ghisgow, 
he  found  him  already,  though  by  a  somewhat  different 
method,  led  practically  to  the  very  same  conclusions. 
To  overcome  the  force  of  Thomas  Campbell's  early 
predilections,  and  his  strong  attachment  to  the  people 
amongst  whom  he  had  so  long  and  so  faithfully  labored, 
required,  indeed,  a  much  more  potent  agency  than 
could  be  derived  from  mere  observation  of  the  practical 
workings  of  the  system  in  regard  to  others.  It  needed 
that  he  should  have  himself  a  personal  experience  of  the 
effects  of  that  stern  and  t3Tannous  spirit  of  sectarianism 
which  had  concealed  from  him  its  true  disposition  beneath 


PR  O  VI DENT  I AL  PREPARA  TION, 


221 


the  smile  of  approval,  until  his  gradually  increasing  desire 
for  Christian  union  led  him  to  contravene  its  arbitrary 
decrees.  It  was  then  that  he  discovered  to  his  surprise 
its  real  character,  and  was  compelled  suddenly  to  turn 
away  with  aversion  from  the  religious  body  which  he 
had  loved  and  espoused.  Thus  it  was  that  Providence 
had  removed  out  of  the  way  the  only  obstacle  which 
could  have  prevented  him  from  sympathizing  fully  in 
the  liberal  and  independent  views  which  his  son  had 
imbibed  in  Scotland,  and  had  thus  prepared  the  minds 
of  both  the  father  and  the  son  for  that  important  work 
in  which  they  were  henceforth  destined  to  co-operate. 

The  train  of  circumstances  which  had  given  this 
preparation  to  the  father,  and,  in  divorcing  him  from  his 
connection  with  the  Seceders,  had  suddenly  placed  him 
in  a  position  to  give  practical  effect  to  his  long-cherished 
views  of  a  much-needed  religious  reformation,  were, 
as  has  been  slated,  detailed  to  Alexander  and  the 
family  along  the  way.  This  relation  was  necessarily 
givt-n  at  intervals,  and  intermingled  with  various  in- 
quiries, explanations  and  digressions  which  it  is  un- 
necessary to  recapitulate.  As,  however,  a  particular 
account  of  these  events  is  essential  to  the  purposes  of 
tiiese  memoirs,  and  to  a  proper  understanding  of  the 
circumstances  in  which  Alexander  was  shortly  to  be 
phiced,  it  will  be  given  in  a  connected  form  in  the 
following  chapter 

19  * 


CHAPTER  XIII. 


Spirit  ol  Part^' — Failure  to  comprehend  Christian  Liberty — Persecutions — 
Principle  of  Reformation — Overtures  for  Christian  Union. 

IT  has  been  already  mentioned,  in  a  preceding  por- 
tion of  the  narrative,  that  Thomas  Campbell  had 
found  the  Seceder  Synod  in  session  at  Philadelphia 
upon  his  landing  (May,  1807),  ^^d,  upon  presenting 
his  credentials,  had  been  cordially  received,  and  at 
once  assigned  by  it  to  the  Presbytery  of  Chartiers  in 
Western  Pennsylvania.  Upon  his  arrival  at  Washing- 
ton, he  was  most  happy  to  renew  his  acquaintance  with 
the  amiable  family  of  the  Achesons,  and  with  a  number 
of  old  friends  who  had  previously  emigrated  from  Ire- 
land. One  day,  a  woman,  learning  that  a  preacher 
from  the  North  of  Ireland  had  come  to  Washington, 
called  at  the  house  at  which  he  stayed  to  see  him,  and 
introduced  herself  as  the  wife  of  James  Hanen.  She, 
and  her  husband  and  family,  lived  in  the  neighborhood 
of  the  town,  and  had  come  in  from  Ireland  in  1805, 
two  years  before.  She  immediately  recognized  Mr. 
Campbell,  and  told  him  that  on  a  former  occasion  in 
Ireland  she  had  walked  six  miles,  from  where  she 
lived  in  county  Down,  to  Newry,  to  attend  at  the  com- 
munion services  in  the  Seceder  Church,  and  distinctly 
recollected  having  noticed  him  there  as  one  of  the 
officiating  clergymen.  He  was  much  pleased  w^ith  the 
intelligence  and  acuteness  of  his  warm-hearted  country- 
222 


SECTARIAN  JEALOUSY. 


223 


woman,  and  soon  afterward  went  out  to  visit  her  and 
her  family,  who  became  much  attached  to  him,  and 
followed  him  subsequently  in  his  views  of  reformation, 
James  Hanen  and  wife  being  two  of  the  first  seven 
immersed  on  a  profes^^ion  of  the  primitive  faith. 

In  a  few  weeks,  James  Foster  and  Thomas  Hodgens, 
with  their  families,  arrived,  and  settled  upon  a  farm 
near  Mount  Pleasant,  sometimes  called  "Hickory,"  a 
small  village  about  ten  miles  north  of  Washington. 
Mr.  Campbell  thus  found  himself  pleasantly  situated  in 
the  midst  of  old  friends  and  neighbors,  who  knew  his 
worth,  and  were  hence  disposed  to  take  pleasure  in 
attending  his  ministrations,  and  in  impressing  their 
own  high  estimate  of  Mr.  Campbell's  qualifications  and 
personal  character  upon  their  neighbors  and  acquaint- 
ances of  different  religious  parties.  With  these,  Mr. 
Campbell  soon  became  popular,  as  his  many  excellen- 
cies and  his  liberal  religious  spirit  became  generally 
known.  The  Seceder  congregations,  who  were  not  very 
numerous,  were  much  pleased  at  having  so  important 
an  accession  to  their  ministry,  and  as  they  saw  more 
and  more  of  Mr.  Campbell's  earnestness,  piety  and 
abilit3%  they  came  to  regard  him  as  the  most  learned 
and  talented  preacher  in  their  ranks. 

He  had  not,  however,  been  very  long  thus  engaged 
in  his  regular  ministrations  among  the  churches  before 
some  suspicions  began  to  arise  in  the  minds  of  his 
ministerial  brethren  that  he  was  disposed  to  relax  too 
much  the  rigidness  of  their  ecclesiastic  rules,  and  to 
cherish  foj  other  denominations  feelings  of  fraternity 
and  respect  in  which  they  could  not  share.  They 
were  therefore  induced,  after  a  time,  to  keep  a  wary 
eye  upon  his  movements,  though  it  was  strongly  sur- 
mised by  some  that,  as  they  were  cast  into  the  shade 


224.       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


by  Mr.  Campbell's  greater  abilities  and  popularity, 
their  course  was  dictated  less  by  their  jealousy  of 
their  party  interests  than  by  personal  feelings  of  envy — 
a  passion  which,  it  has  been  found,  may  dwell  even  in 
clerical  bosoms.  It  happened  that,  about  this  time,  he 
was  deputed  to  visit  a  few  scattered  members  of  the 
flock  who  were  living  some  distance  up  the  Alleghany 
above  Pittsburg,  and  to  hold  amongst  them,  in  con- 
junction wnth  a  young  minister,  a  Mr.  Wilson,  wiio 
accompanied  him,  a  communion,  or,  as  it  was  termed,  a 
** sacramental"  celebration.  This  part  of  the  country 
was  then  thinly  settled,  and  it  was  seldom  tliat  minis- 
terial services  were  enjoyed  by  the  various  fragments 
of  religious  parties,  which,  having  floated  ofl'  from  the 
Old  World  upon  the  tide  of  emigration,  had  been  tlirown 
together  in  the  circling  eddies  of  these  new  settlements. 
It  happened  that,  on  this  occasion,  Mr.  Campbell's 
sympathies  were  strongly  aroused  in  regard  to  the 
destitute  condition  of  some  in  the  vicinity  who  be- 
longed to  other  branches  of  the  Presbyterian  family, 
and  who  had  not,  for  a  long  time,  had  an  opportunity 
of  partaking  of  the  Lord's  Supper,  and  he  felt  it  his 
duty,  in  the  preparation  sermon,  to  lament  the  existing 
divisions,  and  to  suggest  that  all  his  pious  hearers,  who 
felt  so  disposed  and  duly  prepared,  should,  without 
respect  to  party  difl?erences,  enjoy  the  benefits  of  the 
communion  season  then  providentially  atlbrded  them. 
Mr.  Wilson  did  not,  at  the  time,  publicly  oppose  these 
overtures,  but  finding,  from  these  proceedings  and  from 
his  conversations  and  discussions  with  Mr.  Campbell, 
that  the  latter  had  but  little  respect  for  the  division 
walls  which  the  diflerent  parties  had  built  up  with 
so  much  pains,  his  sectarian  prejudices  became  fully 
aroused.    He  felt  it  his  duty,  therefore,  at  the  next 


TRIALS  IN  CHURCH  COURTS. 


225 


meeting  of  the  Presbytery,  to  lay  the  case  before  it  in 
tlie  usual  form  of  "libel,"  containing  various  formal 
and  specified  charges,  the  chief  of  which  were  that 
Mr.  Campbell  had  failed  to  inculcate  strict  adherence 
to  the  Church  standard  and  usages,  and  had  even  ex- 
pressed his  disapproval  of  some  things  in  said  standard 
and  of  tlie  uses  made  of  them. 

Under  the  circumstances,  the  Presbytery  readily 
took  up  the  accusation,  and  formally  propounded 
various  questions  to  Mr.  Campbell,  in  order  to  elicit 
fully  his  private  views.  Placed  thus  upon  the  defensive, 
and  ardently  desirous  of  maintaining  Christian  good 
feeling  and  union  with  the  people  amongst  whom  he 
labored,  Mr.  Campbell  was  somewhat  guarded  and 
conciliatory  in  his  replies.  But  it  was  not  to  be  ex- 
pected that  he  who  had  been  always  so  much  opposed 
to  religious  partyism,  and  who,  in  Ireland,  and  still 
more  in  the  free  air  of  America,  had  lifted  up  his  voice 
against  it,  and  in  favor  of  the  Bible  as  the  only  true 
standard  of  faith  and  practice,  should,  on  this  occasion, 
fail  to  reiterate  his  convictions,  and  to  insist  that,  in  the 
course  he  had  pursued,  he  had  violated  no  precept  of 
the  sacred  volume.  His  pleadings,  however,  in  behalf 
of  Cliristian  liberty  and  fraternity  were  in  vain,  and  his 
ap|")eals  to  the  Bible  were  disregarded,  so  that,  in  the 
end,  the  Presbtyery  found  him  deserving  of  censure  for 
not  adhering  to  the  "  Secession  Testimony." 

Against  this  decision  Mr.  Campbell  protested,  and 
the  case  was  then,  in  due  course,  submitted  to  the 
Synod  at  its  next  meeting.  Meanwhile,  Mr.  Camp- 
bell was  apprised  that  many  of  his  fellow-ministers  had 
become  inimical  to  him  through  the  influence  of  those 
who  conducted  the  prosecution  ;  and  knowing  well  that 
it  was  impossible  for  him,  with  his  views  of  the  Bible 
VOL.  1. — 1' 


226       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


and  of  duty  to  retrograde  a  single  step,  he  clearh-  lore- 
saw  that  if  the  Synod  sanctioned  the  decision  of  the 
Presbytery,  he  must  at  once  cease  to  be  a  minister  in 
the  Seceder  connection.  x\nxious  to  avoid  a  position 
unfavorable  to  his  usefulness,  and  calculated  to  product 
discord  and  division,  and  cherishino["  still  the  desire  to 
labor  harmoniouslv  with  tliose  with  whom  he  had  been 
so  long  associated,  he  addressed  an  earnest  appeal  to 
the  Synod  when  his  case  came  up  for  consideration,  in 
which  he  thus  defined  and  defended  his  position  : 

"  Honored  Brethren  :  Before  you  come  to  a  final  issue 
in  the  present  business,  let  me  entreat  you  to  pause  a  moment 
and  seriously  consider  the  following  things  :  To  refuse  any 
one  his  just  privilege,  is  it  not  to  oppress  and  injure?  In 
proportion  to  the  magnitude  and  importance  of  the  privilege 
withheld,  is  not  the  injustice  done  in  withholding  it  to  be 
estimated?  If  so.  how  great  the  injustice,  how  highly  aggra- 
vated the  injury  will  appear,  to  thrust  out  from  communion 
a  Christian  brother,  a  fellow-minister,  for  saying  and  doing 
none  other  things  than  those  which  our  Divine  Lord  and  his 
holy  apostles  have  taught  and  enjoined  to  be  spoken  and  done 
by  his  ministering  servants,  and  to  be  received  and  observed 
by  all  his  people  !  Or  have  I,  in  any  instance,  proposed  to 
say  or  do  otherwise  ?  If  I  have,  I  shall  be  heartily  thankful 
to  anv  brother  that  shall  point  it  out,  and  upon  his  so  doing 
shall  as  heartily  and  thankfulh'  relinquish  it.  Let  none  think 
that,  by  so  saying,  I  entertain  the  vain  presumption  of  being 
infallible.  So  far  am  I  from  this,  that  I  dare  not  venture  to 
trust  my  own  understanding  so  far  as  to  take  upon  me  to 
teach  anything  as  a  matter  of  faith  or  duty  but  what  is  alread_v 
expressly  taught  and  enjoined  by  Divine  authority ;  and  I 
hope  it  is  no  presumption  to  believe  that  saying  and  doing 
the  very  same  things  that  are  said  and  done  before  our  eyes 
on  the  sacred  page,  is  infallibly  right,  as  well  as  all-sufficient 
for  the  edification  of  the  Church,  whose  duty  and  perfection 
it  is  to  be  in  all  things  conformed  to  the  original  standard.  It 


SCRIPTURE  A  SUFFICIENT  GUIDE.  22*J 


is,  therefore,  because  I  have  no  confidence,  either  in  my  own 
infalhbility  or  in  that  of  others,  that  I  absolutely  refuse,  as 
inadmissible  and  schismatic,  the  introduction  of  human 
opinions  and  human  inventions  into  the  faith  and  worship  of 
the  Church.  Is  it,  therefore,  because  I  plead  the  cause  of  the 
scriptural  and  apostolic  worship  of  the  Church,  in  opposition 
to  the  various  enors  and  schisms  which  have  so  awfully  cor- 
rupted and  divided  it,  that  the  brethren  of  the  Union  should  feel 
it  difficult  to  admit  me  as  their  fellow-laborer  in  that  blessed 
work  ?  I  sincerely  rejoice  with  them  in  what  they  have  done 
in  that  way  ;  but  still,  all  is  not  yet  done  ;  and  surely  they  can 
have  no  just  objections  to  go  farther.  Nor  do  I  presume  to 
dictate  to  them  or  to  others  as  to  how  they  should  proceed  for 
the  glorious  purpose  of  promoting  the  unity  and  purity  of  the 
■Church  ;  but  only  beg  leave,  for  my  own  part,  to  walk  upon 
such  sure  and  peaceable  ground  that  I  may  have  nothing  to 
do  with  human  controversy,  about  the  right  or  wrong  side  of 
any  opinion  whatsoever,  by  simply  acquiescing  in  what  is 
written,  as  quite  sufficient  for  every  purpose  of  faith  and  duty  ; 
and  thereby  to  influence  as  many  as  possible  to  depart  from 
human  controversy,  to  betake  themselves  to  the  Scriptures,  and, 
in  so  doing,  to  the  study  and  practice  of  faith,  holiness  and  love. 

"And  all  this  without  any  intention  on  my  part  to  judge 
or  despise  my  Christian  brethren  who  may  not  see  with  my 
eyes  in  those  things  which,  to  me,  appear  indispensably 
necessary  to  promote  and  secure  the  unity,  peace  and  purity 
of  tl>e  Church.  Say,  brethren,  what  is  my  offence,  that  I 
should  be  thrust  out  from  the  heritage  of  the  Lord,  or  from 
serving  him  in  that  good  work  to  which  he  has  been  graci- 
ously pleased  to  call  me.^  For  what  error  or  immoralitjr 
ought  I  to  be  rejected,  except  it  be  that  I  refuse  to  acknow- 
ledge as  obligatory  upon  myself,  or  to  impose  upon  others, 
anything  as  of  Divine  obligation  for  which  I  cannot  produce 
a  '  Thus  saith  the  Lord  ?'  This,  I  am  sure,  I  can  do,  while 
I  keep  by  his  own  word  ;  but  not  quite  so  sure  when  I  sub- 
stitute my  own  meaning  or  opinion,  or  that  of  others,  instead 
thereof.  ****** 


Z28       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


"Surely,  brethren,  from  my  steadfast  adherence  to  the 
Divine  standard — my  absolute  and  entire  rejection  of  human 
authority  in  matters  of  religion — my  professed  and  sincere 
willingness  to  walk  in  all  good  understanding,  communion, 
and  fellowship  with  sincere  and  humble  Christian  brethren, 
who  may  not  see  with  me  in  these  things — and,  permit  me 
to  add,  my  sincere  desire  to  unite  with  you  in  carrx  ing  for- 
ward that  blessed  work  in  which  you  have  set  out,  and  from 
which  you  take  your  name — you  will  do  me  the  justice  to  be- 
lieve, that  if  I  did  not  sincerely  desire  a  union  with  }ou,  I 
would  not  have  once  and  again  made  application  for  that 
purpose.  A  union  not  merely  nominal,  but  hearty  and  con- 
fidential, founded  upon  certain  and  established  principles ; 
and  this,  if  I  mistake  not,  is  firmly  laid  on  both  sides.  Your 
standard  informs  me  of  your  views  of  truth  and  duty,  and 
my  declarations  give  you  precisely  the  same  advantage.  You 
are  willing  to  be  tried  in  all  matters  by  your  standard,  accord- 
ing to  your  printed  declaration  ;  /am  willing  to  be  tried  on 
all  matters  by  iny  standard,  according  to  my  written  declara- 
tion. You  can  labor  under  no  difficulty  about  my  teaching 
and  practising  whatever  is  expressly  taught  and  enjoined  in 
the  Divine  standard,  as  generally  defined  in  my  '  Declara- 
tion,' and  although  I  have  not  the  same  clearness  about 
evervthing  contained  in  your  standard,  yet  where  I  cannot 
see,  believing  you  to  be  sincere  and  conscientious  servants  of 
the  same  great  and  gracious  Master  who  freely  pardons  his 
willing  and  obedient  servants  their  ten  thousand  talents  of 
shortcomings,  I  am,  therefore,  through  his  grace,  ready  to 
forbear  with  you  ;  at  the  same  time,  hoping  that  you  possess 
the  same  gracious  spirit,  and  therefore  will  not  reject  me  for 
tlie  lack  of  those  fifty  forms  which  might  probably  bring  me 
up  to  your  measure,  and  to  which,  if  necessary,  I  also, 
through  grace,  may  yet  attain,  for  I  have  not  set  myself  down 
as  perfect. 

"May  the  Lord  direct  you  in  all  things.  Amen. 

'•Thomas  Campbell. 
To  the  Associate  Synod  of  North  America." 


PARTY  SPIRIT  UNYIELDING. 


229 


After  the  reading  of  this  document,  and  the  hearing 
of  the  case  before  the  Synod,  it  was  decided  that 
"there  were  such  infonnahties  in  the  proceedings  of 
tlie  Presbytery  in  the  trial  of  the  case  as  to  afford 
sufficient  reason  to  the  Synod  to  set  aside  their  judg- 
ment and  decision,  and  to  release  the  protester  from  the 
censure  inflicted  by  the  Presbytery  ;"  which  they  ac- 
cordingly did.  After  this,  the  charges  which  had  been 
before  the  Presbytery,  with  all  the  documents  pertain- 
ing to  the  trial,  were  referred  to  a  committee,  which 
finally  reported  as  follows  : 

''Upon  the  whole,  the  committee  are  of  opinion  that  Mr. 
Campbell's  answer  to  the  two  first  articles  of  charge  are  so 
evasive  and  unsatisfactory,  and  highly  equivocal  upon  great 
and  important  articles  of  revealed  religion,  as  to  give  ground 
to  conclude  that  he  has  expressed  sentiments  very  difierent 
upon  these  articles,  and  from  the  sentiments  held  and  pro- 
fessed by  this  Church,  and  are  sufficient  grounds  to  infer 
censure." 

From  his  extreme  reluctance  to  separate  from  the 
Seceders,  for  many  of  whom,  both  preachers  and  peo 
pie,  he  continued  to  cherish  sentiments  of  Christian 
regard,  Mr.  Campbell  was  induced  to  submit  to  this 
decision,  handing  in  at  the  same  time  a  declaration 
"that  his  submission  should  be  understood  to  mean  no 
more,  on  his  part,  than  an  act  of  deference  to  the 
judgment  of  the  court,  that,  by  so  doing,  he  might  not 
give  offence  to  his  brethren  by  manifesting  a  refractory' 
spirit."  After  this  concession,  Mr.  Campbell  fondly 
hoped  that  the  amicable  relations  formerly  existing 
between  him  and  the  Presbytery  of  Chartiers  would 
be  restored,  and  that  he  would  be  permitted  to  prose- 
cute his  labors  in  peace.  In  this,  however,  he  soon 
found  himself  mistaken,  and  discovered,  with  much 

20 


330       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 

regret,  that  the  hostility  of  his  opponents  had  been 
only  intensified  by  the  issue  of  the  trial,  and  was  more 
undisguised  than  ever.  Misrepresentation  and  calumny 
were  employed  to  detract  from  his  influence  ;  a  con- 
stant watch  was  placed  over  his  proceedings,  and  he 
discovered  that  even  spies  were  employed  to  attend  his 
me'nings  and  take  notes  of  his  discourses,  in  order,  if 
possible,  to  obtain  fresh  grounds  of  accusation  against 
him.  Such,  indeed,  was  the  bitter,  unrelenting  and 
vindictive  spirit  manifested  toward  him,  in  very  many 
ways,  that  he  was  led,  at  length,  to  believe  that  the 
spirit  of  sectarianism  had,  in  the  case  of  many  of  his 
former  fellow-laborers,  completely  overruled  that  of 
Christianity.  He  became  fullv  satisfied  that  nothincr 
but  their  want  of  power  prevented  them  from  carrying 
out  their  persecution  to  the  utmost  limit ;  and  he  was 
led,  more  and  more,  toward  the  conclusion  that  big- 
otry, corruption  and  tyranny  were  qualities  inherent 
in  all  clerical  organizations.  He  came,  therefore,  to 
the  conclusion,  finally,  that  it  was  his  duty  to  separate 
himself  from  all  connection  with  a  people  who  seemed 
utterly  unwilling  to  tolerate  any  overtures  for  healing 
the  religious  dissensions  of  the  times,  and  who  seemed 
to  regard  their  own  particular  "Testimony"  as  practi- 
cally a  more  important  rule  of  action  than  the  Bible. 
He  accordingly  presented  to  the  Synod  a  formal  re- 
nunciation of  its  authority,  announcing  that  he  aban- 
doned "all  ministerial  connection"  with  it,  and  would 
hold  himself  thenceforth  "utterly  unaffected  by  its 
decisions." 

His  withdrawal  from  the  Seceders  occasioned  no 
interruption  of  his  ministerial  labors.  From  the  great 
personal  influence  he  had  acquired  in  various  portions 
of  the  counties  of  Washington  and  Alleghany,  and  the 


AiV  IMPORTANT  CONFERENCE 


23» 


novelty  and  force  of  the  plea  he  made  for  Christian 
liberality  and  Christian  union  upon  the  basis  of  the 
Bible,  large  numbers  continued  to  attend  his  ministra- 
tions wherever  it  was  in  his  power  to  hold  meetings. 
Sometimes  the  deep  shade  of  a  maple  grove  sheltered 
the  assembly  from  the  summer  sun.  Generally,  how- 
ever, the  houses  of  his  old  Irish  neighbors,  who  had 
settled  in  Washington  county,  were  the  places  where 
he  had  his  appointments  for  preaching,  and  where  he 
discoursed  weekly  to  all  who  chose  to  assemble.  Find- 
ing,  after  a  time,  that  his  hearers  (many  of  whom  still 
held  membership  in  the  Seceder  or  Presbyterian 
churches)  were  constant  in  their  attendance,  and  appa- 
rently convinced  of  the  correctness  of  the  principles 
which  he  taught,  and  desirous  of  the  success  of  his 
efforts  to  form  a  union  upon  the  Bible  alone,  he  pro- 
posed to  the  principal  persons  among  them  that  a  special 
meeting  should  be  held  in  order  to  confer  freely  upon 
the  existing  state  of  things,  and  to  give,  if  possible, 
more  definiteness  to  the  movement  in  which  they  had 
thus  far  been  co-operating  without  any  formal  organiza- 
tion or  determinate  arrangement.  This  proposition  was 
at  once  gladly  acceded  to,  and  a  convenient  time  was 
appointed  to  meet,  for  the  purposes  specified,  at  the 
house  of  Abraham  Altars,  who  lived  between  Mount 
Pleasant  and  Washington,  and  who,  though  not  a 
member  of  any  church,  was  an  earnest  friend  of  the 
movement.  x\s  the  results  of  this  meeting  proved  to 
be  most  important,  its  character  merits  particular  con- 
sideration. 

Heretofore  the  meetingrs  held  had  been  merelv  for 
worship  and  preaching :  and  though  it  was  true  that 
the  theme  of  discourse  was  often  intimately  connected 
with  the  peculiar  circumstances  in  which  they  were 


232        MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


placed,  and  tliat  the  sufficiency  of  the  Bible  as  a  guide 
was  often  insisted  on,  there  had.  as  vet.  been  no  formal 
understanding  or  agreement  either  as  to  principles  or 
as  to  united  action.  No  separation  from  the  religious 
parties  had  been  contemplated — no  bond  of  union 
amongst  those  attending  the  meetings  had  been  pro- 
posed. They  were  held  together  bv  a  vague  sentiment 
of  Christian  union,  and  by  the  personal  influence  and 
character  of  Thomas  Campbell. 

Neither  on  his  part,  however,  nor  on  that  of  any 
member,  was  there  the  slifjhtest  intention  of  forminfj  a 
new  religious  party.  On  the  contrary,  the  whole  de- 
sign of  the  effort  .is.  if  possible,  to  put  an  end  to 
party  ism,  and  to  induce  the  ditlerent  religious  denomi- 
nations to  unite  together  upon  the  Bible  as  tlie  only 
authorized  rule  of  faith  and  practice,  and  to  desist  from 
their  controversies  about  matters  of  mere  opinion  and 
expediency.  Mr.  Campbell  entertained  and  offered  no 
special  objections  to  their  confessions  of  faith  or  formu- 
laries of  doctrine.  There  was  scarcely  anything  in  the 
Westminster  Confession  of  Faith  from  which  he  himself 
felt  inclined  to  dissent,  except  it  was  the  chapter  whicli 
gave  to  the  clergy  a  position  and  an  authority  which  he 
thought  unauthorized,  and  which,  as  he  had  fou.ivl  by 
experience,  could  be  readily  abused.  And  as  he  war  well 
aware  that  it  was  already  conceded,  in  the  Prot'.st-int 
formularies,  that  the  Bible  was  the  only  rule  of  faith  and 
practice,  he  felt  that  he  had  a  right  to  urge  upon  all  parties 
the  f  radical  adoption  of  this  concession,  and  the  press- 
incr  need  there  was  that  it  should  be  at  once  cordially 
accepted,  as  the  onlv  true  basis  of  Christian  union.  In 
this  effort  he  was  further  encouraged  by  the  fact  that, 
upon  abandoning  his  own  sect,  he  had  found  himself  at 
once  surrounded  bv  so  large  a  number  of  pious  and 


EVILS  OF  RELIGIOUS  PARTY  ISM. 


233 


intelligent  persons,  who,  like  himself,  were  dissatisfied 
with  the  existing  religious  parties,  and  especially  with 
the  intolerant  and  sectarian  spirit  which  pervaded  them, 
and  who  were  disposed  to  confide  in  the  Bible  as  the 
only  true  guide  in  religion. 

It  cannot  fail  to  be  a  matter  of  interest  to  the  thought- 
ful mind  to  contemplate  these  worthy  and  religious 
people  collected  from  various  parties,  seeking  anxiously 
for  better  things  tlian  could  yet  be  attained  under  any 
existing  form  of  Christianity  ;  retaining  still  nominally 
their  several  connections  with  the  parties  to  which  they 
belonged,  yet  conscious  of  something  wanting,  and 
groping  after  that  Christian  liberty  of  thought  and 
action  which  they  felt  was  denied  to  them  under  the 
existing  systems.  If,  indeed,  religious  partyism  could 
be  justified  on  the  ground  so  often  urged,  that  it  afix)rds 
abundant  room  for  choice  on  the  part  of  those  who  wish 
to  connect  themselves  with  some  religious  body,  one 
would  suppose  that,  from  the  number  and  variety  of  par- 
ties then  existing,  the  most  scrupulous  conscience  and  the 
most  fastidious  religious  taste  might  have  been  fully 
gratified.  Yet  here  were  individuals  so  unreasonable 
in  the  estimation  of  the  religious  world,  that  they  not 
only  refused  to  be  content  with  any  of  the  surrounding 
parties,  but  were  disposed  to  question  whether  it  were 
expedient  or  lawful  that  any  of  these  should  exist  at  all. 
Sick  of  the  animosities  and  controversies  between  rival 
sects,  and  disgusted  with  the  petty  differences  which 
occasioned  alienation  and  strife  amongst  those  who 
seemed  to  be  equally  pious,  and  who  professed  equally 
to  be  followers  of  Christ,  they  had  been  led  to  the  con- 
clusion that  religious  partyism,  so  far  from  being  a 
benefit,  was  one  of  the  greatest  of  evils,  and  one  among 
the  chief  hinderances  to  the  spread  of  the  gospel.  They 

20  * 


-34 


MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL 


sought,  therefore,  for  some  common  ground  upon  which 
all  could  unite  without  any  sacrifice  of  truth  :  and  hav- 
ing decided  that  the  Scriptures  alone,  without  note  or 
comment,  furnished  such  a  basis,  they  felt  it  their  duty 
to  urge  this  truth  upon  the  religious  communities,  pro- 
posing that  all  matters  not  distinctly  revealed  in  the 
Bible  should  be  held  as  matters  of  opinion  and  of 
mutual  forbearance. 

It  is  true,  indeed,  that  the  individuals  who  had  been 
for  some  time  attending  Mr.  Campbell's  meetings  were, 
by  no  means,  all  settled  in  their  religious  convictions, 
and  that  they  differed  from  each  other,  especially  in 
relation  to  a  proper  gospel  ministry.  Some  there  were 
amongst  them,  such  as  James  Foster,  who  had  been  an 
Independent  in  Ireland,  and  some  who  had  not  be- 
longed to  any  religious  party,  who  felt  quite  at  home  in 
a  position  which  was  novel  and  even  somew^hat  doubt- 
ful to  others.  For,  while  all  w'ere  disposed  to  confide 
in  the  Bible  as  the  only  true  guide  in  religion,  yet 
there  w-ere  those  who,  conscious  that  they  were  imper- 
fectly acquainted  w^ith  its  teachings,  naturally  experi- 
enced some  misgivings  as  they  felt  themselves  slowly 
drifting  away  from  the  well-known  shores  and  land- 
marks of  their  respective  religious  systems  into  the 
wide  ocean  of  Divine  tmth,  which  seemed  to  them  so 
boundless  and  as  yet  but  imperfectly  explored.  Should 
they  be  so  happy  as  to  discover,  in  the  end,  a  new^  world 
blooming  like  the  Indies  in  the  beauties  of  religious 
peace?  or  should  unknown  ocean  currents  or  resistless 
gales,  as  feared  by  the  followers  of  Columbus,  carry 
them  to  a  returnless  distance  from  their  ancient  homes? 
These  were  questions  which  might  be  differently  an- 
swered as  hope,  or  fear,  or  faith  prevailed.  They  had» 
indeed,  everv^  confidence  in  the  first  position  they  had 


MEETING  TO  DEFINE  BASIS. 


taken,  and  in  the  intelligence  and  piety  of  the  indi- 
vidual to  whose  guidance  Providence  seemed  to  have 
consigned  them  ;  but  they  were  by  no  means  uncon- 
scious of  the  hazards  they  incurred,  and  realized  the 
importance  of  having  a  clear  and  definite  understanding 
as  to  the  course  they  should  pursue.  When,  therefore, 
Mr.  Campbell  proposed  a  special  meeting,  in  order  to 
elicit  a  clear  and  distinct  statement  of  the  principles 
they  advocated,  it  was  gladly  concurred  in,  both  by 
those  who  were  doubtful  of  the  enterprise,  and.  as  yet, 
but  loosely  connected  with  it,  and  by  those  who  felt 
themselves  fully  committed,  and  determined  to  proceed 
with  a  religious  reformation  which  they  conscientiously 
believed  to  be  imperatively  required.  To  the  latter, 
indeed,  as  well  as  to  the  mind  of  Mr.  Campbell  him- 
self, the  basis  of  union  had  latterh'  become  much  better 
defined ;  the  distinction  between  faith  and  opinion  had 
been  more  clearly  drawn,  and  the  entire  sufficiency  of 
the  Scriptures  more  fully  recognized,  so  that  they  fully 
realized  the  need  of  some  definite  and  formal  as^ree- 
ment  amongst  themselves  in  the  further  prosecution  of 
their  undertaking. 

The  time  appointed  having  arrived,  there  was  a  very 
general  assembling  at  the  place  designated.  All  seemed 
to  feel  the  importance  of  the  occasion  and  to  realize 
the  responsibilities  of  their  position.  A  deep  feeling 
of  solemnity  pervaded  the  assembly  when  Thomas 
Campbell,  having  opened  the  meeting  in  the  usual 
manner,  and.  in  earnest  prayer,  specially  invoked  tlie 
Divine  guidance,  proceeded  to  rehearse  the  matter  from 
the  beginning,  and  to  dwell  with  unusual  force  upon 
the  manifold  evils  resulting  from  the  divisions  in  re- 
ligious society — divisions  which,  he  urged,  were  as  un- 
necessary as  they  were  injurious,  since  God  had  pro- 


236        MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


vided,  in  his  sacred  Word,  an  infallible  standard,  whicl 
was  all-sufficient  and  alone-sufficient,  as  a  basis  oi 
union  and  Christian  co-operation.  He  showed,  how- 
ever, that  men  had  not  been  satisfied  with  its  teachings, 
but  had  gone  outside  of  the  Bible,  to  frame  for  them- 
selves religious  theories,  opinions  and  speculations, 
w^hich  were  the  real  occasions  of  the  unhappy  contro- 
versies and  strifes  which  had  so  long  desolated  the 
religious  world.  He,  therefore,  insisted  with  great 
earnestness  upon  a  return  to  the  simple  teachings  of 
the  Scriptures,  and  upon  the  entire  abandonment  of 
everything  in  religion  for  which  there  could  not  be 
produced  a  Divine  warrant.  Finally,  after  having  again 
and  again  reviewed  the  ground  they  occupied  in  tb,e 
reformation  which  they  felt  it  their  duty  to  urge  upon 
religious  society,  he  went  on  to  announce,  in  the  most 
simple  and  emphatic  terms,  the  great  principle  or  rule 
upon  which  he  understood  they  were  then  acting,  and 
upon  which,  he  trusted,  they  would  continue  to  act, 
co-nsistently  and  perseveringly  to  the  end.  "That  rule, 
my  highly  respected  hearers,"  said  he  in  conclusion. 
'*is  this,  that  where  the  Scriptures  speak,  we 

SPEAK  ;  AND  WHERE  THE  SCRIPTURKS  ARE  SILENT,  W^E 
ARE  SIEENT." 

Upon  this  annunciation  a  solemn  silence  pervaded 
the  assembly.  Never  before  had  religious  duty  been 
presented  to  them  in  so  simple  a  form.  Never  before 
had  the  great  principle  on  which  this  religious  enter- 
prise rested  been  so  clearly  presented  to  their  minds. 
It  was  to  manv  of  them  as  a  new  revelation,  and  those 
simple  words,  which  embodied  a  rule  so  decisive  of  all 
religious  strifes  and  of  all  distressing  doubts,  were  foi 
ever  engraven  upon  their  hearts.  Henceforth,  the  plain 
and  'jimple  teaching  of  the  Word  of  God  itself  was  tc 


ORIGIN  OF  THE  REFORMATION, 


be  their  guide.  God  himself  should  speak  to  them,  and 
they  should  receive  and  repeat  his  words  alone.  No 
remote  inferences,  no  fanciful  interpretations,  no  re- 
ligious theories  of  any  kind,  were  to  be  allowed  to  alter 
or  pervert  its  obvious  meaning.  Having  God's  Word  in 
their  possession,  they  must  speak  it  faithfully.  There 
should  be  no  contention,  henceforth,  in  regard  to  the 
opinions  of  men,  however  wise  or  learned.  Whatever 
private  opinions  might  be  entertained  upon  matters  not 
clearly  revealed  must  be  retained  in  silence,  and  no 
effort  must  be  made  to  impose  them  upon  others.  Thus 
the  silence  of  the  Bible  was  to  be  respected  equally 
with  its  revelations,  which  were  by  Divine  authority 
declared  to  be  able  to  "make  the  man  crl'  God  perfect 
and  thoroughly  furnished  unto  every  good  work."  Any- 
thing more,  then,  must  be  an  incumbrance.  Anything 
less  than  "the  whole  counsel  of  God"  would  be  a  dan- 
gerous deficiency.  Simply,  reverentially,  confidinglv, 
they  would  speak  of  Bible  things  in  Bible  words,  add- 
ing nothing  thereto  and  omitting  nothing  given  by 
inspiration.  They  had  thus  a  clear  and  well-defined 
basis  of  action,  and  the  hearts  of  all  who  were  traly 
interested  re-echoed  the  resolve:  "  Where  the  Scrip- 
tures sfeak,  we  speak;  zuhere  the  Scriptures  are  silent^ 
are  silent. It  was  from  the  moment  when  these 
significant  words  were  uttered  and  accepted  that  the 
more  intelligent  ever  afterward  dated  the  formal  and 
actual  coinmenceinent  of  the  Refoi'mation  which  was 
subsequently  carried  on  with  so  much  success,  and 
which  has  already  produced  such  important  changes  in 
religious  society  over  a  large  portion  of  the  world. 

It  was  some  time  after  Mr.  Campbell  sat  down  to 
aflbrd  opportunity  to  those  present  to  give,  as  he  had 
requested,  a  free  and  candid  expression  of  their  views, 


238       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


before  any  one  presumed  to  break  the  silence.  A 
length,  a  shrewd  Scotch  Seceder,  Andrew  Munro,  whc 
was  a  bookseller  and  postmaster  at  Canonsburg,  arose, 
and  said  :  Mr  Campbell,  if  we  adopt  that  as  a  basis, 
then  there  is  an  end  of  infant  baptism."  This  remark, 
and  the  conviction  it  seemed  to  carry  with  it,  produced 
a  profound  sensation.  "  Of  course,"  said  Mr.  Campbell, 
in  reply,  "  if  infant  baptism  be  not  found  in  Scripture, 
we  can  have  nothing  to  do  with  it."  Upon  this,  Thomas 
Acheson,  of  Washington,  who  was  a  man  of  warm 
impulses,  rose,  and  advancing  a  short  distance,  greatly 
excited,  exclaimed,  laying  his  hand  upon  his  heart :  "  I 
hope  I  may  never  see  the  day  when  my  heart  will 
renounce  that  blessed  saying  of  the  Scripture,  '  Suffer 
little  children  to  come  unto  me,  and  forbid  them  not, 
for  of  such  is  the  kingdon  of  heaven.'"  Upon  saying 
this  he  was  so  much  affected  that  he  burst  into  tears, 
and  while  a  deep  sympathetic  feeling  pervaded  the 
entire  assembly,  he  was  about  to  retire  to  an  adjoined 
room,  when  James  Foster,  not  willing  that  this  misappli- 
cation of  Scripture  should  pass  unchallenged,  cried  out, 
"  Mr.  Acheson,  I  would  remark  that  in  the  portion  of 
Scripture  you  have  quoted  there  is  no  reference^  what- 
ever^ to  infant  baptism.''''  Without  offering  a  reply, 
Mr.  Acheson  passed  out  to  weep  alone ;  but  this  inci- 
dent, while  it  foreshadowed  some  of  the  trials  which  the 
future  had  in  store,  failed  to  abate,  in  the  least,  the 
confidence  which  the  majority  of  those  present  placec 
in  the  principles  to  which  they  were  committed.  Tne 
rule  w^hich  Mr.  Campbell  had  announced  seemed  tc 
cover  the  whole  ground,  and  to  be  so  obviously  just  and 
proper,  that  after  further  discussion  and  conference,  \\ 
was  adopted  with  apparent  unanimity,  no  valid  ohie*- 
tion  being  urged  agamst  ii-- 


n/sccrssiojvs  and  defections. 


239 


This  meeting  was  attended  with  very  important  con- 
sequences. It  seemed,  for  the  tirst  time,  to  define 
clearly  to  Mr.  CampbelFs  hearers  the  exact  poshion 
which  they  occupied  ;  and  having  constantly  before  their 
minds  as  a  guide  the  simple  rule  which  many  of  them 
thought  should  be  written  in  letters  of  gold,  "  Where 
the  Scriptures  speak,  we  speak;  where  these  are  silent, 
we  are  silent,'"  each  one,  with  the  Scriptures  in  his 
possession,  could  judge  for  himself  as  to  the  conse- 
quences likely  to  result  from  its  practical  adoption. 
Some  there  were,  accordingly,  of  those  loosely  con- 
nected with  the  movement,  who,  after  a  time,  began  to 
fear  that  the  conclusion  so  promptly  reached  and  an- 
nounced by  Andrew  Munro  at  the  meeting  would  prove 
at  last  to  be  correct,  and  fearing  to  pursue  any  further 
a  principle  which  seemed  to  involve  to  them  so  grave  a 
consequence,  they  began  to  drop  off  one  by  one,  and 
gradually  to  cease  altogether  their  attendance  at  the 
usual  meetings. 

These  defections,  and  the  incidents  which  attended 
the  important  meeting  described,  naturally  gave  rise  to 
much  discussion  among  the  members.  James  Foster, 
convinced,  while  in  Ireland,  as  formerly  stated,  that 
there  was  no  scriptural  foundation  for  infant  baptism, 
was  very  decided  in  ine  expression  of  his  views.  Mr. 
Campbell  himself,  however,  was  by  no  means  prepaied 
to  admit  that  the  principle  which  they  had  adopted 
would  necessarily  involve  any  direct  opposition  to  infant 
baptism.  He  was  himself  still  so  much  impressed  with 
the  plausibility  of  the  arguments  in  its  favor  that  he 
thought  the  practice  might  perhaps  be  justified,  and  he 
insisted  that,  in  the  present  condition  of  parties,  it 
should,  at  least,  be  made  a  matter  of  forbearance.  He 
was  very  reluctant  to  admit  that  there  was  any  need  of 


240       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


hastily  abandoning  a  usage  which  had  so  long  pre- 
vailed, and  which  was  so  thoroughly  incorporated  with 
religious  societ}'.  He  could  not  but  confess  the  difficul- 
ties connected  with  this  vexed  question,  and  the  absence 
of  positive  Scripture  authority,  yet  he  thought  that, 
under  the  existing  circumstances,  each  one  might  be 
permitted  to  determine  for  himself,  both  as  to  the  va- 
lidity of  infant  baptism  and  the  propriety  of  the  respec- 
tive forms  or  actions  of  sprinkling,  pouring  and  immer- 
sion, which  had  been  adopted  as  baptism  by  different 
portions  of  the  religious  community.  Ardently  devoted 
as  he  was  to  the  cause  of  Christian  union,  and  con- 
vinced that  some  concessions  were  needed  in  the  exist- 
ing distracted  state  of  the  religious  world,  he  continued 
to  insist  that  this  question,  as  well  as  certain  others  of 
a  similar  character,  might  safely  be  left  to  private 
judgment,  and  be  retained  for  the  sake  of  peace,  as 
belonging  to  the  chapter  of  "  non-essentials,"  and  by  no 
means  so  important  as  the  great  matters  of  faith  and 
righteousness.  About  this  time,  he  was  one  day  riding 
with  James  Foster,  and  as  they  traveled  along  he  took 
occasion  to  urge  these  views  with  considerable  warmth. 
At  length  James  Foster,  turning  toward  him,  asked 
with  great  emphasis:  "Father  Campbell,  how  could 
you,  in  the  absence  of  any  authority  in  the  Word  of  God, 
bapdze  a  child  in  the  name  of  the  Father,  and  of  the 
Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Spirit?"  Mr.  Campbell  was 
quite  confounded  at  this  question.  His  face  colored, 
he  became  for  a  moment  irritated,  and  said  in  reply,  in 
an  offended  tone:  "  Sir,  you  are  the  most  intractable 
person  I  ever  met."  Notwithstanding,  however,  such 
differences  in  sentiment  on  some  particular  points,  the 
members  felt  themselves  cordially  united  in  the  great 
object  of  promoting  Christian  union  and  peace  in  the 


CHRISTIAN  ASSOCIATION  FORMED. 


religious  world.  In  order  to  carry  out  this  purpose 
more  effectively,  it  was  resolved,  at  a  meeting  held  on 
the  head-waters  of  Buffalo,  17th  of  x\ugust,  1809,  that 
they  would  form  themselves  into  a  regular  association, 
under  the  name  of  ''The  Christian  Association  of 
Washington."  They  then  appointed  twenty-one  of 
their  number  to  meet  and  confer  to^jether.  and,  with  the 
assistance  of  Thomas  Campbell,  to  determine  upon  the 
proper  means  to  carry  into  effect  the  important  ends .  of 
the  Association. 

'  As  it  had  been  found  somewhat  inconvenient  to  hold 
the  meetings  in  private  houses,  it  was  thought  advisable 
by  the  members  to  provide  some  regular  place  of  meet- 
ing. The  neighbors  accordingly  assembled,  and  in  a 
short  time  erected  a  log  building  on  the  Sinclair  farm, 
about  three  miles  Irom  Mount  Pleasant,  upon  the  road 
leading  from  Washington  to  that  place,  at  the  point 
where  it  was  crossed  by  the  road  from  Middletown  to 
Canonsburg.  This  building  was  designed,  also,  for 
the  purposes  of  a  common  school,  which  was  mucJi 
desired  in  that  neighborhood.  Here  Thomas  Campbell 
coniinued  to  meet  his  hearers  regularly.  Near  tiie 
meeting-house  was  the  residence  of  Mr.  Welch,  a 
respectable  farmer,  and  friendly  to  the  Association.  As 
Mr.  C-ampbell  was  accustomed  after  meeting  to  go  to 
Mr.  Welch's,  a  little  chamber  up  stairs  was  assigned 
to  him  as  his  apartment.  In  this  quiet  place  of  retire- 
ment he  spent  most  of  the  week  in  study  and  in  writing, 
occasionally  visiting  Washington,  which  u'as  his  post- 
office,  and  which  he  still  regarded  as  his  general  place 
of  residence.  The  writing  with  which  he  was  at  this 
time  engaged  was  a  Declaration  and  Address,  designed 
10  set  forth  to  the  public  at  large,  in  a  clear  and  definite 
manner,  the  object  of  the  movement  in  which  he  and 
vou  I.— Q  21 


242       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


those  associated  with  him  were  engaged,  it  having  been 
agreed  by  the  committee  appointed  that  such  a  pubHca- 
tion  was  highly  expedient.  When  this  was  finished, 
he  called  a  special  meeting  of  the  chief  members  and 
read  it  to  them  for  their  approval  and  adoption.  Hav- 
ing been  unanimously  agreed  to,  it  was  at  once  ordered 
to  be  printed,  September  7,  1809. 

In  this  document  the  occasion  and  nature  of  the 
Association  were  thus  defined  in  the  preamble  and  reso- 
lutions accepted  as  its  constitution,  under  the  title  of 
Declaration  y 

"  From  the  series  of  events  which  have  taken  place  in  the 
Churches  for  many  years  past,  especially  in  this  western 
country,  as  well  as  from  v/hat  we  know  in  general  of  the 
present  state  of  things  in  the  Christian  world,  we  are  per- 
suaded tliat  it  is  high  tiine  for  us  not  only  to  think,  but  also 
to  act  for  ourselves  ;  to  see  with  our  own  eyes,  and  to  take 
all  our  measures  directly  and  immediately  from  the  Divine 
standard  ;  to  tliis  alone  we  feel  ourselves  divinely  bound  to 
be  conformed,  as  by  this  alone  we  must  be  judged.  We  are 
also  persuaded  that  as  no  man  can  be  judged  for  his  brother, 
so  no  man  can  judge  for  his  brother ;  every  man  must  be 
allowed  to  judge  for  himself,  as  every  man  must  bear  his  own 
judgment — must  give  account  of  himself  before  God.  We 
are  also  of  opinion  that  as  the  Divine  word  is  equally  bind- 
ing upon  all,  so  all  He  under  an  equal  obligation  to  be  bound 
by  it  and  it  alone,  and  not  by  any  human  interpretation  of  it ; 
and  that,  therefore,  no  man  has  a  right  to  judge  his  brother 
except  in  so  far  as  he  manifestly  violates  the  express  letter  of 
the  law — that  every  such  judgment  is  an  express  violation 
of  the  law  of  Christ,  a  daring  usurpation  of  his  throne,  and 
a  gross  intrusion  upon  the  rights  and  liberties  of  his  subjects. 
We  are,  therefore,  of  opinion,  that  we  should  beware  of  such 
things  ;  that  we  should  keep  at  the  utmost  distance  from  every- 
thing of  this  nature  ;  and  that,  knowing  the  judgment  of  God 
against  them  that  commit  such  things,  we  should  neither  do 


THE  CHRISTIAN  ASSOCIATION. 


243 


the  same  ourselves  nor  take  pleasure  in  them  that  do  them. 
Moreover,  being  well  aware,  from  sad  experience,  of  the  hein- 
ous nature  and  pernicious  tendency  of  religious  controversy 
among  Christians  ;  tired  and  sick  of  the  bitter  jarrings  and 
janglings  of  a  j^arty  spirit,  we  would  desire  to  be  at  rest ;  and, 
were  it  possible,  would  also  desire  to  adopt  and  recommend 
such  measures  as  would  give  rest  to  our  brethren  throughout 
all  the  Churches — as  would  restore  unity,  peace  and  purit}'  to 
the  whole  Church  of  God.  This  desirable  rest,  however,  we 
utterly  despair  either  to  find  for  ourselves  or  to  be  able  to 
recommend  to  our  brethren  by  continuing  amid  the  diversity 
and  rancor  of  party  contentions,  the  veering  uncertainty  and 
clashings  of  human  opinions  ;  nor,  indeed,  can  we  reasonably 
expect  to  find  it  anywhere  but  in  Christ  and  his  simple  word, 
which  is  the  same  yesterday,  to-day  and  for  ever.  Our 
desire,  therefore,  for  ourselves  and  our  brethren  would  be, 
that,  rejecting  human  opinions  and  the  inventions  of  men  as 
of  any  authority,  or  as  having  any  place  in  the  Church  of 
God,  we  might  for  ever  cease  from  further  contentions  about 
such  things,  returning  to  and  holding  fast  by  the  original 
standard,  taking  the  Divine  word  alone  for  our  rule,  the  Holy 
Spirit  for  our  teacher  and  guide  to  lead  us  into  all  truth,  and 
Christ  alone  as  exhibited  in  the  word  for  our  salvation  ;  and 
that  by  so  doing  we  may  be  at  peace  among  ourselves,  follow 
peace  with  all  men  and  holiness,  without  which  no  man  shall 
see  the  Lord.  Impressed  with  these  sentiments,  we  have 
resolved  as  follows : 

"  I.  That  we  form  ourselves  into  a  religious  association, 
under  the  denomination  of  the  Christian  Association  of 
Washington,  for  the  sole  purpose  of  promoting  simple,  evan- 
gelical Christianitv,  free  from  all  mixture  of  human  opinions 
and  inventions  of  men. 

"  II.  That  each  member,  according  to  ability,  cheerfully  and 
liberally  subscribe  a  specified  sum,  to  be  paid  half  yearly,  for 
the  purpose  of  raising  a  fund  to  support  a  pure  Gospel  minis- 
try, that  shall  reduce  to  practice  that  whole  form  of  doctrine, 
worship,  discipline  and  government  expressly  revealed  and 


244       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


enjoined  in  the  Word  of  God  :  and  also  for  supplying  the 
poor  with  the  Holy  Scriptures. 

"  III.  That  this  Society  consider  it  a  duty,  and  shall  use  all 
proper  means  in  its  power,  to  encourage  the  formation  of 
similar  associations  ;  and  sliall,  for  this  purpose,  hold  itself 
in  readiness,  upon  application,  to  correspond  with  and  render 
all  possible  assistance  to  such  as  may  desire  to  associate  for 
llie  same  desirable  and  important  purposes. 

"IV.  That  this  Society  by  no  means  considers  itself  a 
Church,  nor  does,  at  all,  assume  to  itself  the  powers  peculiar 
to  such  a  society ;  nor  do  the  members,  as  such,  consider 
themselves  as  standing  connected  in  that  relation  ;  nor  as  at 
all  associated  for  the  peculiar  purposes  of  Church  association, 
but  merely  as  voluntary  advocates  for  Church  reformation, 
and  as  possessing  the  powers  common  to  all  individuals  who 
may  please  to  associate,  in  a  peaceful  and  orderly  manner, 
for  any  lawful  purpose — namely,  the  disposal  of  their  time, 
counsel  and  property,  as  they  may  see  cause. 

"  V.  That  this  Society,  formed  for  the  sole  purpose  of 
promoting  simple  evangelical  Christianity,  shall,  to  the  ut- 
most of  its  power,  countenance  and  support  such  ministers, 
and  such  only,  as  exhibit  a  manifest  conformity  to  the  original 
standard,  in  conversation  and  doctrine,  in  zeal  and  diligence  ; 
only  such  as  reduce  to  practice  that  simple,  original  form  of 
Christianity  expressly  exhibited  upon  the  sacred  page,  with- 
out attempting  to  inculcate  anything  of  human  authority,  of 
private  opinion,  or  inventions  of  men,  as  having  any  place  in 
the  constitution,  faith  or  worship  of  the  Christian  Church, 
or  anything  as  matter  of  Christian  faith  or  duty,  for  which 
there  cannot  be  expressly  produced  a  'Thus  saith  the  Lord,' 
either  in  express  terms  or  by  approved  precedent." 

In  additional  resolutions,  a  standing  committee  was 
appointed,  consisting  of  twenty-one  membe/s,  to  super- 
intend the  interests  of  the  Society  :  semi-annual  meet- 
ings were  fixed  for  the  first  Thursday  of  May  and  of 
November,  and  the  Society  pledged  itself  to  support 


VIRULENCE  OF  PARTY  SPIRIT. 


such  ministers  as  it  should  invite  to  promote  the  pro- 
posed reformation,  expressing  at  the  same  time  a  will- 
ingness to  receive  donations  for  this  purpose  from  the 
friends  of  the  movement. 

From  the  above  articles,  it  will  be  seen,  that  the 
society  did  not  at  all  recognize  itself  as  a  Church,  but 
simply  as  a  societ}-  for  the  promotion  of  Christian 
union  and  of  "a  pure  evangelical  reformation,  by  the 
simple  preaching  of  the  gospel,  and  the  administration 
of  its  ordinances  in  exact  conformity  to  the  Divine 
standard."  Neither  Thomas  Campbell  himself,  how- 
ever, nor  those  associated  with  him,  had  a  full  concep- 
tion of  all  that  was  involved  in  these  principles.  They 
only  felt  that  the  religious  intolerance  of  the  times  had 
itself  become  intolerable,  and  that  a  reformation  w^as 
imperiously  demanded.  There  had  been,  indeed,  a 
gradual  amelioration  in  the  bitterness  of  party  rancor 
during  the  preceding  thirty  or  forty  years ;  but  this  was 
by  no  means  in  proportion  to  the  development  of  re- 
ligious truth  or  of  the  rights  of  man  and  of  the  human 
conscience. 

There  are  few,  in  fact,  of  the  present  generation, 
who  have  grown  up  under  the  influence  of  the  liberal- 
izing institutions  of  the  United  States,  and  the  more 
enlightened  views  of  Christianity  since  presented,  who 
can  form  a  proper  idea  of  the  virulence  of  the  party 
spirit  which  then  prevailed.  Each  party  strove  for 
supremacy,  and  maintained  its  peculiaritie-s  with  a  zeal 
as  ardent  and  persecuting  as  the  laws  of  the  land  and 
the  usages  of  society  would  permit.  The  distinguish- 
ing tenets  of  each  party  were  constantly  thundered 
from  every  pulpit,  and  any  departure  from  the  "tradi- 
tions of  the  elders,"  was  visited  at  once  with  the  severest 
^ecclesiastical  censure.    Covenanting,  church  politics. 


246       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


church  psahnody,  hyper-Calvinistic  questions,  were 
the  great  topics  of  the  day  ;  and  such  was  the  rigid, 
uncompromising  spirit  prevailing,  that  the  most  trivial 
things  would  produce  a  schism,  so  that  old  members 
were  known  to  break  off  from  their  congregations, 
simph^  because  the  clerk  presumed  to  give  out,  before 
singing,  two  lines  of  a  psalm  instead  of  one^  as  had 
been  the  usual  custom.  x\gainst  this  slavish  subjection 
to  custom,  and  to  opinions  and  regulations  that  were 
merely  of  human  origin,  Mr.  Campbell  had  long  felt  it 
his  duty  to  protest,  and  knowing  no  remedy  tor  the  sad 
condition  of  affi^irs  existing,  except  in  a  simple  return 
to  the  plain  teachings  of  the  Bible,  as  alone  authoritative 
and  binding  upon  the  conscience,  he  and  those  associ- 
ated with  him  felt  it  incumbent  upon  them  to  urge  this 
upon  religious  society.  This  they  endeavored  to  do  in 
a  spirit  of  moderation  and  of  Christian  love,  hoping 
that  the  overture  would  be  accepted  by  the  religious 
communities  around,  especially  by  those  of  the  Presby- 
terian order,  whose  differences  were,  in  themselves,  so 
trivial. 

Such  were  the  events,  undertakings  and  hopes  which 
Thomas  Campbell  detailed  to  his  family  as  he  was 
returning  with  them  to  Washington ;  and  he  greatly 
desired  that  Alexander  should  read  and  carefully  ex- 
amine the  "x\ddress"  which  he  had  prepared,  and 
,vhich  was  now  in  the  hands  of  the  printer.  In  this, 
he  had  more  fully  stated  and  developed  the  principles 
of  the  movement,  and  it  answered,  at  considerable 
length,  the  various  objections  which  were  likely  to  be 
offered. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 


Washington  and  the  Region  round  about — A  permanent  and  cherished  Home 
— Analysis  of  Declaration  and  Address — Disinterested  Decision. 


HE  town  of  Washington,  in  which  Thomas  Camp- 


bell  and  his  family  now  sojourned,  was,  at  that 
time,  a  small  place,  containing  only  about  five  hundred 
inhabitants.  Many  of  the  dwelling-houses,  like  those 
in  the  country  around,  were  built  of  logs,  notched  and 
fitted  near  the  ends,  the  interspaces  being  filled  in  with 
mortar  and  other  materials.  There  were  some  com- 
fortable frame  buildings,  however,  and  one  or  two  of 
more  substantial  appearance,  built  of  stone.  The  town 
stood  on  a  rising  ground  at  the  upper  part  of  the  valley 
of  Chartiers.  It  was  placed,  indeed,  near  the  sources 
of  several  streams  which  run  in  difli'erent  directions — as 
the  Chartiers  Creek,  which  flows  toward  the  north; 
Ten-mile,  which  pursues  an  eastward  course,  and  falls 
into  the  Monongahela  ten  miles  above  Brownsville, 
vs'hence  its  name  ;  Buffalo,  which  directs  its  swift  and 
clear  current  to  the  W.  N.  W.  and  empties  into  the 
Ohio,  at  Wellsburg,  about  twenty-eight  miles  distant. 
The  town  being  thus  near  the  summit-level  of  the 
streams,  the  hills  around  it  are  comparatively  low,  and 
the  country  gently  undulating.  As  we  follow  the  de- 
scending waters,  the  hills  and  upland  region,  which,  in 
reality,  preserve  pretty  much  the  same  general  level, 
seem  gradually  to  become  higher,  so  that  by  the  time 


U8        MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


we  approach  the  Ohio  river,  their  sides,  growing  more 
and  more  precipitous,  rise  to  a  height  of  four  or  tive 
hundred  feet.  These  steep  decHvities  enclose  the  fertile 
valleys  through  which  the  larger  streams  wind  in  grace- 
ful curves.  Into  these  wider  valle}'s  small  rivulets  pour 
their  limpid  waters,  issuing  at  short  intervals,  upon 
each  side,  from  deep  ravines  formed  by  steep  hill-sides, 
which  closely  approach  each  other,  and  down  which 
the  waters  of  the  springs,  with  which  the  upland  is 
abundantly  supplied,  fall  from  rock  to  rock  in  miniature 
cascades.  Upon  the  upland,  not  immediately  border- 
ing upon  the  streams,  the  country  is  rolling,  having  the 
same  general  elevation,  above  which,  however,  the 
summit  of  a  hill  occasionally  lifts  itself  as  though  to 
afford  to  lovers  of  beautii'ul  landscapes  most  delightful 
views  of  a  country  covered  for  many  miles  with  rich 
pasturages,  with  grazing  herds  or  flocks,  fruitful  grain- 
fields,  orcliards,  gardens,  and  farm-houses  ;  while,  upon 
the  steeper  sides  of  the  valleys,  still  remain  the  ancient 
forest  growths  of  oak  and  ash,  w^alnut,  hickory  and 
maple.  Frequently,  as  the  traveler  passes  along  the 
roads  upon  the  upland,  he  sees  suddenly,  from  some 
dividing  ridge,  charming  valleys  stretching  away  for 
miles  with  their  green  meadows,  rich  fields  of  corn 
and  sparkling  streamlets.  At  other  times,  as  he  ad- 
vances, he  admires  with  delight,  in  the  distance,  the 
ever-varying  line  of  the  horizon,  which,  on  all  sides,  is 
formed  by  the  summits  of  remote  ridges  and  elevations, 
sometimes  conical  in  form,  but  mostly  defined  by  vari- 
ous arcs  of  circles  as  regularly  drawn  as  if  a  pair  of 
com.passes  had  traced  the  lines  upon  the  sk.y.  Every- 
where around  him  he  sees  lands  abounding  in  lime  and 
all  the  necessary  elements  of  fertility,  and  producing, 
upon  even  the  highest  summits,  abundant  crops  of  all 


A  BEAUTIFUL  AND  FERTILE  REGION.  249 


the  cereal  grains.  To  enhance  the  natural  resources 
of  this  picturesque  country,  its  hills  conceal  immense 
deposits  of  bituminous  coal,  which  the  descending 
streams  here  and  there  expose,  and  which,  along  the 
sides  of  the  valleys  within  five  miles  of  Washington, 
and  thence  to  the  Ohio  river,  are  conveniently  reached 
by  level  adits. 

Such,  for  nearly  two  hundred  miles  west  of  the 
Alleghanies,  is  the  general  character  of  this  region, 
especially  of  that  portion  of  it  lying  along  the  Monon- 
gahela  and  Ohio — a  region  whose  healthfulness  is  un- 
surpassed by  that  of  any  country  in  the  world,  and  one 
which  was  always  admired  and  loved  by  Alexander 
Campbell  above  all  the  countries  he  had  ever  seen  ; 
and  to  which,  as  his  permanent  home,  he  always  re- 
turned with  renewed  pleasure  from  all  the  various  tours 
and  travels  of  his  future  life.  At  the  time  of  his  arrival 
at  Washington,  however,  this  region  was  by  no  means 
so  extensively  cleared  and  improved  as  at  present. 
Thick  forests  then  concealed  the  green  and  graceful 
slopes  of  the  slow-rising  hills,  which,  immediately 
below  Washington,  now  so  charmingly  enclose  the 
Valley  of  Chartiers,  as,  with  its  rich  alluvial  bottoms, 
it  stretches  away  tow^ard  the  north,  opening  into  the 
valley  of  the  Ohio  river,  three  miles  below  Pittsburg. 
Even  in  many  of  the  cultivated  fields,  the  erect,  decay- 
ing trunks  of  the  girdled  forest  trees  then  deformed  the 
landscape,  while  the-  elegant  brick  farm-houses,  with 
their  numerous  white  outbuildings,  and  other  improves - 
ments,  w^hich  now^  impart  so  much  cheerfulness  and 
beauty,  were  wanting.  Alexander  was,  nevertheless, 
greatly  delighted  with  the  general  features  of  the 
country,  and  rejoiced  to  find  himself  so  agreeably 
placed,  and  so  providentially  brought  to  harmonize  and 


250       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


co-operate  with  his  revered  father  in  the  great  work  he 
had  undertaken. 

While  examining  the  proof-sheets  of  the  "Declara- 
tion and  Address,"  and  discussing  with  his  father  the 
matters  involved,  he  was  greatly  impressed  with  the 
importance  of  the  principles  laid  down,  and  was  at 
orxe  led  to  make  tlie  inquiry  whether,  upon  these,  they 
would  not  liave  to  give  up  infant  baptism,  and  some 
other  practices  for  which  it  was  alleged  express  pre- 
cept and  example  were  wanting.  This  inquiry  would 
seem  to  have  been  suggested  by  a  conversation  he  had 
had  about  this  time  with  Rev.  Mr.  Riddle  of  the  Pres- 
byterian Union  Church.  He  had  met  with  him  acci- 
dentally, and  the  principles  of  the  "Declaration  and 
Address"  were  introduced  and  discussed.  When  he 
referred  to  the  proposition  that  "nothing  should  be 
required  as  a  matter  of  faith  or  duty  for  which  a  'Thus 
saith  the  Lord'  could  not  be  produced  either  in  express 
terms  or  by  approved  precedent,"  "Sir,"  said  Mr.  Rid- 
dle, "these  words,  however  plausible  in  appearance, 
are  not  sound.  For  if  you  follow  these  out,  you  must 
become  a  Baptist."  "Why,  sir,"  said  Alexander,  "is 
there  in  the  Scriptures  no  express  precept  nor  precedent 
for  infant  baptism?"  "  Not  one,  sir,"  replied  the  Doc- 
tor. Alexander  was  startled  and  mortified  that  he 
could  not  produce  one  ;  and  he  immediately  requested 
Mr.  Andrew  Munro,  the  principal  bookseller  of  Canons- 
burg,  to  furnish  him  with  all  the  treatises  he  had  in 
favor  of  infant  baptism.  He  inquired  for  no  books  on 
the  other  side,  for  at  this  time  he  had  little  or  no  ac- 
quaintance with  the  Baptists,  and  regarded  them  a? 
comparatively  an  ignorant  and  uneducated  people. 
"He  had  often  read,"  he  says,  "Bunyan's  Pilgrim'.^ 
Progress,  but  at  this  time  did  not  know  t'nat  he  was  d 


QUESTION  OF  INFANT  BAPTISM. 


251 


Baptist."  It  seems  to  have  been  soon  after  this  inci- 
dent that  he  stated,  as  above,  the  same  difficulty  to  his 
father;  but  he.  to  whom  it  had  been  previously  pre- 
sented, merely  replied  in  substance  as  before,  -'We 
make  our  appeal  to  the  law  and  to  the  testimony. 
Whatever  is  not  found  therein  we  must  of  course 
abandon."  Alexander,  however,  not  liking  to  remain 
in  a  state  of  incertitude  upon  the  subject,  occupied 
himself,  for  some  time  afterward,  in  examining  the 
claims  of  infant  baptism.  He  read  the  Pasdobaptist 
authorities  in  hopes  of  being  able  to  justify  his  predi- 
lections, which  were  still  in  favor  of  the  practice.  In 
despite,  however,  of  his  prejudices,  the  conviction  that 
it  was  entirely  a  human  invention  gradually  strength- 
ened. He  felt  disgusted  with  the  assumptions  and 
fallacious  reasonings  of  the  Paedobaptist  writers,  and 
threw  them  aside,  with  a  faint  hope  of  finding  some- 
thing more  convincing  in  his  Greek  New  Testament. 
This,  however,  only  made  the  matter  worse,  and  upon 
again  entering  into  a  conversation  with  his  father  on 
the  subject,  he  found  him  entirely  willing  to  admit  that 
there  were  neither  "express  terms"  nor  "precedent"  to 
authorize  the  practice.  "But"  said  he,  "as  for  those 
who  are  already  members  of  the  Church  and  partici- 
pants of  the  Lord's  Supper,  I  can  see  no  propriety, 
even  if  the  scriptural  evidence  for  infant  baptism  be 
found  deficient,  in  their  unchurching  or  paganizing 
themselves,  or  in  putting  oflf  Christ,  merely  for  the 
sake  of  making  a  new  profession  ;  thus  going  out  of 
the  Church  merely  for  the  sake  of  coming  in  again." 
He  seemed  disposed  only  to  concede  that  they  ought 
not  to  teach  nor  practice  infant  baptism  without  Divine 
authority,  and  that  they  should  preach  and  practice  the 
apostolic  baptism  in  regard  to  all  who  were  to  make, 


252        MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


for  the  first  time,  a  profession  of  their  faith.  Alex- 
ander, in  deference  to  his  father's  views,  dismissed  the 
subject  for  the  time,  seemingly  satisfied  with  the  falla- 
cious reasoning  imposed  by  cnxumstances,  which  pre- 
vented his  father  from  seeing  then  the  real  position 
which  baptism  occupies  in  the  Christian  economy,  and 
consequent!}'  from  making,  in  regard  to  it,  a  practical 
application  of  his  own  principles. 

These  principles,  indeed,  as  laid  down  and  argued 
in  the  Declaration  and  Address,"  then  under  considera- 
tion, were  most  worthy  of  attention,  and  formed  a  step 
quite  in  advance  of  any  religious  reformation  previously 
attempted.  Commencing  with  the  admitted  truth  that 
the  gospel  was  designed  to  reconcile  and  unite  men  to 
God  and  to  each  other,  the  address  proceeded  to  con- 
template the  sad  divisions  that  existed,  and  their  baleful 
effects  in  the  aversions,  angry  contentions,  enmities, 
excommunications  and  persecutions  which  they  en- 
gendered. 

What  dreary  effects,"  it  remarked,  of  those  accursed 
divisions  are  to  be  seen,  even  in  this  highly  favored  country, 
where  the  sword  of  the  civil  magistrate  has  not  as  yet  learned 
to  serve  at  tlie  altar  !  Have  we  not  seen  congregations  broken 
to  pieces,  nei<^]iborhoods  of  professing  Christians  first  thrown 
into  confusion  by  party  contentions,  and,  in  the  end,  entirely 
deprived  of  gospel  ordinances  ;  while,  in  the  mean  time,  large 
settl(;ments  and  tracts  of  country  remain  to  this  day  destitute 
of  a  gospel  ministry,  many  of  them  in  little  better  than  a 
state  of  heathenism,  the  churches  being  either  so  weakened 
by  divisions  that  they  cannot  send  them  ministers,  or  the 
people  so  divided  among  themselves  that  they  will  not  receive 
them.  Several,  at  the  same  time,  who  live  at  the  door  of  a 
preaclied  gospel,  dare  not  in  conscience  go  to  hear  it,  and,  of 
course,  enjoy  little  more  advantage  in  that  respect  than  if 
living  in  the  midst  of  heathens." 


PLEA  FOR  PURITY,  PEACE  AND  UNITY.  253 


After  considering  these  divisions  in  various  lights,  as 
hindering  the  dispensation  of  the  Lord's  Supper  ;  spir- 
itual intercourse  amoni>-  Christians ;  ministerial  labors 
and  the  effective  exercise  of  churcli  discipline,  as  well 
as  tenchng  to  promote  infidelity,  an  appeal  is  made  to 
gospel  ministers  to  become  leaders  in  the  endeavor  to 
remedy  these  evils  ;  and  especially  is  this  urged  upon 
those  in  the  United  States,  as  "  a  country  happily 
exempted  from  the  baneful  influence  of  a  civil  estab- 
lishment of  any  peculiar  form  of  Christianity,  and  from 
under  the  direct  influence  of  an  anti-Christian  hier- 
archy." "  Can  the  Lord  expect  or  require,"  it  is  de- 
manded, anything  from  a  people  in  such  unhampered 
circumstances — from  a  people  so  liberally  furnished 
with  all  means  and  mercies — than  a  thorough  reforma- 
tion in  all  things,  civil  and  religious,  according  to  his 
word?"  The  scanty  success  which,  as  the  writer 
admits,  had  heretofore  attended  efforts  at  reformation 
should  not,  he  remarks,  be  a  discouragement.  On  the 
contrary,  having  learned  much  from  the  mistakes  which 
prevented  the  success  of  others,  and  enjoying  the  benefit 
ol"  the  truths  they  taught,  the  religious  world,  he  urges, 
was  then  better  prepared  than  at  any  former  period  for 
the  accomplishment  of  the  desired  object.  "Neither," 
he  adds,  "  are  we  to  be  discouraged  by  the  greatness 
of  the  work,  since  the  cause  is  the  cause  of  Christ,  and 
the  aid  and  blessing  of  God  are  to  be  expected  in  the 
undertaking,  in  which  he  also  hopes  for  the  concurrence 
t>f  all  his  brethren  in  all  tjie  churches."  Addressing 
the  latter,  he  says  : 

Dcarlv  beloved  brethren,  why  should  ive  deem  it  a  thing 
incredible  that  the  Church  of  Christ,  in  this  highly  favoied 
coiintrv.  should  resume  that  original  unity,  peace  and  puiity 
which  belong  to   its  constitution  and  constitute  its  glory? 

22 


254       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


Or  is  there  anything  that  can  be  justly  deemed  necessary  for 
this  desirable  purpose  but  to  conform  to  the  model  and  adopt 
the  practice  of  the  primitive  Church,  expressly  exhibited  in 
the  New  Testament?  Whatever  alterations  this  might  pro- 
duce in  any  or  in  all  of  the  churches,  should,  we  think, 
neither  be  deemed  inadmissible  nor  ineligible.  Surely  such 
alteration  would  be  every  way  for  the  better  and  not  for  the 
worse,  unless  we  should  suppose  the  divinely-inspired  rule  to 
be  faulty  or  defective.  Were  we,  then,  in  our  Church  consti- 
tution and  managements,  to  exhibit  a  complete  conformity  to 
the  apostolic  Church,  would  we  not  be  in  that  respect  as  per- 
fect as  Christ  intended  we  should  be }  And  should  not  this 
suffice  us.^ 

"  It  is,  to  us,  a  pleasing  consideration  that  all  the  Churches 
of  Christ  which  mutually  acknowledge  each  other  as  such, 
are  not  only  agreed  in  the  great  doctrines  of  faith  and  holi- 
ness, but  are  also  materially  agreed  as  to  the  positive  ordi- 
nances of  gospel  institution,  so  that  our  differences,  at  most, 
are  about  the  thino^s  in  which  the  kino^dom  of  God  does  not 
consist;  that  is,  about  matters  of  private  opinion  or  human 
invention.  What  a  pity  that  the  kingdom  of  God  should  be 
divided  about  such  things  !  Who,  then,  would  not  be  the 
first  among  us  to  give  up  human  inventions  in  the  worship  of 
God,  and  to  cease  from  imposing  his  private  opinions  upon 
his  brethren,  that  our  breaches  might  thus  be  liealed?  Who 
would  not  willingly  conform  to  the  original  pattern  laid  down 
in  the  New  Testament  for  this  happy  purpose  ?  Our  dear 
brethren  of  all  denominations  will  please  to  consider  that  we 
have  our  educational  prejudices  and  particular  customs  to 
struggle  against  as  well  as  they.  But  this  we  do  sincerely 
declare,  that  there  is  nothing  we  have  hitherto  received  as 
matter  of  faith  or  practice  which  is  not  expressly  taught  and 
enjoined  in  the  Word  of  God,  either  in  express  terms  or 
approved  precedent,  that  we  would  not  heartily  relinquish, 
that  so  we  might  return  to  the  original  constitutional  unity  of 
the  Christian  Church,  and  in  this  happy  unity  enjoy  full  com- 
munion with  all  our  brethren  in  peace  and  charity.    The  like 


TERMS  OF  CHRISTIAN  UNION. 


255- 


dutifiil  condescension  we  candidly  expect  of  all  that  are  seri- 
ously impressed  with  a  sense  of  the  duty  they  owe  to  God,  to 
each  other  and  to  their  perishing  brethren  of  mankind.  To 
this  we  call,  we  invite  our  dear  brethren  of  all  denominations 
by  all  the  sacred  motives  which  we  have  avouched  as  the 
impulsive  reasons  of  our  thus  addressing  them. 

''You  are  all,  dear  brethren,"  he  continues,  "  equally  in- 
cluded as  the  objects  of  our  esteem  and  love.  With  you  all 
we  desire  to  unite  in  the  bonds  of  an  entire  Christian  unity — 
Christ  alone  being  the  head.,  the  centre  ;  his  word  the  rule^ 
and  explicit  belief  of  and  manifest  conformity  to  it  in  all 
things,  the  terms.  More  than  this,  you  will  not  require  of 
us,  and  less  we  cannot  require  of  you  ;  nor,  indeed,  can  you 
reasonably  suppose  any  would  desire  it,  for  what  good  pur- 
pose would  it  serve  ?  We  dare  neither  assume  nor  propose 
the  trite,  indefinite  distinction  between  essentials  and  non- 
essentials in  matters  of  revealed  truth  and  duty  ;  firmly  per- 
suaded that  whatever  may  be  their  comparative  importance, 
simply  considered,  the  high  obligation  of  the  Divine  authority 
revealing  or  enjoining  them  renders  the  belief  or  perform- 
ance of  them  absolutely  essential  to  us,  in  so  far  as  we  know 
them.  And  to  be  ignorant  of  anything  God  has  revealed 
can  neither  be  our  duty  nor  our  privilege.  We  humbly  pre- 
sume, then,  dear  brethren,  you  will  have  no  relevant  objection 
to  meet  us  upon  this  ground.  And  we  again  beseech  you,  let 
it  be  known  that  it  is  the  invitation  of  but  few  ;  by  your 
accession  we  shall  be  many  ;  and,  whether  few  or  many,  in 
the  first  instance,  it  is  all  one  with  respect  to  the  event  which 
must  ultimately  await  the  full  information  and  hearty  con- 
currence of  all.  Besides,  whatever  is  to  be  done  must  begin 
some  time,  somewhere ;  and  no  matter  where,  nor  by  whom, 
if  the  Lord  puts  his  hand  to  the  work,  it  must  surely  prosper. 
And  has  he  not  been  graciously  pleased,  upon  many  signal 
occasions,  to  bring  to  pass  the  greatest  events  from  ver\^  small 
beginnings,  and  even  by  means  the  most  unlikely  ?  Duty, 
then,  is  ours,  but  events  belong  to  God." 

After  this  appeal  he  insists  that  the  time  was  appro 


256       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


priate  for  the  undertaking  ;  that  Christian  union  could 
be  accomplished  only  in  one  of  two  ways — either  in  and 
through  the  truth  and  upon  principle,  or  by  compromise 
and  accommodation.  In  any  case,  he  urges  that  the 
effort  shall  be  made,  and  earnestly  entreats  ministers  to 
put  their  hands  to  the  work,  and,  like  Moses,  en- 
courage the  people  to  go  forward  '  upon  the  firm  ground 
of  obvious  truth  to  unite  in  the  bonds  of  entire  Chris- 
tian unity.'" 

"  To  you,"  said  he,  "  it  peculiarly  belongs,  as  the  professed 
and  acknowledged  leaders  of  the  people,  to  go  before  them  in 
this  good  work,  to  remove  human  opinions  and  the  inven- 
tions of  men  out  of  the  way,  by  carefully  separating  this 
chaff  from  the  pure  wheat  of  primary  and  authentic  revela- 
tion, casting  out  that  assumed  authority,  that  enacting  and 
decreeing  power  by  which  these  things  have  been  imposed 
and  established." 

Addressing  himself  to  both  ministers  and  people,  he 
affectionately  entreats  their  concurrence,  and  advises  the 
formation  of  societies  or  associations  for  consultation  in 
regard  to  the  matter;  and  again  urges  all  to  "resume 
that  precious,  dear-bought  liberty  wherewith  Christ  has 
made  his  people  free — liberty  from  subjection  to  any 
authority  but  his  own  in  matters  of  religion."  He 
announces  that  the  Christian  Association  had  been 
formed  to  promote  this  end,  and  to  invite  others  to  do 
the  same,  and,  as  the  first  fruits  of  its  efforts  in  this 
direction,  he  presents  for  consideration  thirteen  proposi- 
tions, which  he  prefaces  with  the  following  very  remark- 
able utterances  : 

*'  Let  none  imagine  that  the  subjoined  propositions  are  at 
all  intended  as  an  overture  toward  a  new  creed  or  standard 
for  the  Church,  or  as  in  anywise  designed  to  be  made  a  terin 


RESTORATION  OF  THE  CHURCH. 


257 


of  communion  ;  nothing  can  be  further  from  our  intention. 
They  are  merely  designed  to  open  up  the  way,  that  we  may 
come  fairly  and  firmlv  to  original  ground  upon  clear  and 
certain  premises,  and  take  up  tilings  just  as  the  apostles  left 
them,  that  thus,  disentangled  from  the  accruing  embarrass- 
ments of  intervening  ages,  we  mav  stand  with  eN'idence 
upon  the  same  ground  on  which  the  Church  stood  at  the 
))eo:innin2"." 

Mere  it  was  distinctly  stated  that  the  object  was  to 
'-^  conic  firmly  and  fairly  to  original  ground.,  and  taJcc 
lip  tilings  just  as  tlic  afostlcs  left  t/tcni.''  In  this  way, 
'•becoming  disc7itanglcd  from  tlic  accruing  embarrass- 
ments of  intervening  ages,  "they  could"  stand  with 
evidence  upon  the  same  ground  on  which  the  Church 
stood  at  the  beginning''  Never  before  had  any  re- 
former taken  distinctly  such  ground  as  this.  Never 
before  had  any  one  presumed  to  pass  over  so  lightly  the 
authorities  and  usages  and  decisions  of  so  many  inter- 
vening centuries.  Here,  indeed,  was  the  startling 
proposition  to  begin  anew — to  begin  at  the  beginning; 
to  ascend  at  once  to  the  pure  fountain  of  truth,  and  to 
neglect  and  disregard,  as  though  they  had  never  been, 
the  decrees  of  Popes,  Councils,  Synods  and  Assemblies, 
and  all  the  traditions  and  corruptions  of  an  apostate 
Church.  Here  was  an  eflbrt  not  so  much  for  the  re- 
formation of  the  Church,  as  was  that  of  Luther  and  of 
Calvin,  and  to  a  certain  extent  even  that  of  the  Haldanes, 
but  for  its  complete  restj)ration  at  once  to  its  pristine 
purity  and  perfection.  By  coming  at  once  to  the  primi- 
tive model  and  rejecting  all  human  imitations  ;  bv  sub- 
mitting implicitly  to  the  Divine  au  hority  as  plainly 
evj:»ressed  in  the  Scriptures,  and  b\'  disregarding  all  the 
assumj")tions  and  dictations  of  fallible  men.  it  was  pro- 
posed to  form  a  union  upon  a  basis  to  w  hich  no  valid 
VOL.  1. — R  22  * 


258       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


objection  could  possibly  be  offered.  By  this  summary 
method,  the  Church  was  to  be  at  once  released  from  the 
controversies  of  eighteen  centuries,  and  from  the  con- 
flicting claims  of  all  pretenders  to  apostolic  thrones, 
and  the  primitive  gospel  of  salvation  was  to  be  disen- 
tangled and  disembarrassed  from  all  those  corruptions 
and  perversions  which  had  heretofore  delaved  or  ar- 
rested its  progress. 

The  propositions  submitted,  as  embodN'ing  the  general 
truths  or  principles  which  were  to  direct  and  govern 
this  radical  and  sweeping  change  in  religious  affairs, 
were  as  follows  : 

"  Prop.  I.  That  the  Church  of  Christ  upon  earth  is  essen- 
tially, intentionally  and  constitutionally  one :  consisting  of 
all  those  in  every  place  that  profess  tlieir  faith  in  Christ  anc. 
obedience  to  him  in  all  things  according  to  the  Scriptures,, 
and  that  manifest  the  same  by  their  tempers  and  conduct ; 
and  of  none  else,  as  none  else  can  be  truly  and  properly- 
called  Christians. 

"2.  That,  although  the  Church  of  Christ  upon  earth  must 
necessarily  exist  in  particular  and  distinct  societies,  locally 
separate  one  from  another,  vet  there  ought  to  be  no  schisms,- 
no  uncharitable  divisions  among  them.  They  ought  to 
receive  each  other,  as  Christ  Jesus  hath  also  received  them,  ta 
the  glory  of  God.  And,  for  this  purpose,  they  ought  all  to 
walk  by  the  same  rule  ;  to  mind  and  speak  the  same  things, 
and  to  be  perfectly  joined  together  in  the  same  mind  and  in 
the  same  judgment. 

"  3.  That,  in  order  to  do  diis.  nothing  ought  to  be  incv  Icated 
upon  Christians  as  articles  of  faith,  nor  req^u^e^  of  t^iem  as 
terms  of  communion,  but  what  is  expresslv  taught  and  en- 
joined upon  them  in  the  Word  of  God.  Nor  ought  an}-- 
thino^  to  be  admitted  as  of  Divine  oblisration  in  their  Church 
constitution  and  managements,  but  what  is  expresslv  enjoined 
by  the  authority  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  and  his  aposdes 


GENERAL  PROPOSITIOXS. 


upon  the  New  Testament  Church,  either  in  express  terms  or 
by  approved  precedent. 

"4.  That  although  the  Scriptures  of  the  Old  and  New 
Testaments  are  inseparably  connected,  making  together  but 
one  perfect  and  entire  revelation  of  the  Divine  will  for  the 
edification  and  salvation  of  the  Church,  and,  therefore,  in 
that  respect  cannot  be  separated  ;  yet,  as  to  what  directly  and 
properly  belongs  to  their  immediate  object,  the  New  Testa- 
ment is  as  perfect  a  constitution  for  the  worship,  discipline 
and  government  of  the  New  Testament  Church,  and  as  per- 
fect a  rule  for  the  particular  duties  of  its  members,  as  the  Old 
Testament  was  for  the  worship,  discipline  and  government 
of  the  Old  Testament  Church  and  the  particular  duties  of  its 
members. 

"  5.  That  with  respect  to  commands  and  ordinances  of  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ,  where  the  Scriptures  are  silent  as  to  the 
express  time  or  manner  of  performance,  if  any  such  there  be, 
no  human  authority  has  power  to  interfere  in  order  to  supply 
the  supposed  deficiency  by  making  laws  for  the  Church,  nor 
can  anything  more  be  required  of  Christians  in  such  cases 
but  only  that  they  so  observe  these  commands  and  ordinances 
as  will  evidently  answer  the  declared  and  obvious  ends  of 
their  institution.  !Much  less  has  any  human  authority  power 
to  impose  new  commands  or  ordinances  upon  the  Church, 
which  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  has  not  enjoined.  Nothing 
ought  to  be  received  into  the  faith  or  worship  of  the  Church, 
or  be  made  a  term  of  communion  among  Christians,  that  is 
not  as  old  as  the  New  Testament. 

''6.  That  although  inferences  and  deductions  from  Scr'p- 
ture  premises,  when  fairly  inferred,  may  be  truly  called  the 
doctrine  of  God's  holy  word,  yet  are  they  not  formally  bind- 
ii  g  upon  the  consciences  of  Christians  further  than  they  per- 
ceive the  connection,  and  evidently  see  that  they  are  so,  for 
their  faith  must  not  stand  in  the  wisdom  of  men,  but  in  the 
power  and  veracity  of  God.  Therefore  no  such  deductions 
can  be  made  terms  of  communion,  but  do  properly  belong  to 
the  after  and  progressive  edification  of  the  Church.  Hence 


26o       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXAXDER  CA  JPBELL. 


it  is  evident  that  no  siicli  deductions  or  inferential  truths  ought 
to  have  any  place  in  the  Clnircli's  confession. 

"  7.  That  although  doctrinal  exhibitions  of  the  great  svstem 
of  Divine  truths,  and  defensive  testimonies,  in  opposition  to 
prevailing  errors,  be  highly  expedient,  and  the  more  full  and 
explicit  they  be  for  those  purposes  the  better;  yet,  as  these 
must  be,  in  a  great  measure,  the  eflect  of  human  reasoning, 
and  of  course  must  contain  many  inferential  truths,  they 
ought  not  to  be  made  terms  of  Christian  communion,  unless 
we  suppose,  what  is  contrary  to  fact,  that  none  have  a  right 
to  the  comminiion  of  the  Ciiurch.  but  such  as  possess  a  verv 
clear  and  decisive  judgment,  or  are  coine  to  a  very  high  de- 
gree of  doctrinal  information  ;  whereas  the  Church  from  the 
beginning  did,  and  ever  will,  consist  of  little  children  and 
young  men,  as  well  as  fathers. 

'•8.  That  as  it  is  not  necessary  that  persons  should  have  a 
particular  knowledge  or  distinct  apprehension  of  all  Divinelv- 
revealed  truths,  in  order  to  entitle  them  to  a  place  in  the 
Church  ;  neither  should  they,  for  this  purpose,  be  required  to 
make  a  profession  more  extensive  than  their  knowledge  ;  but 
that,  on  the  contrary,  their  having  a  due  measure  of  scrip- 
tural self-knowledge  respecting  their  lost  and  perishing  con- 
dition bv  nature  and  practice,  and  of  the  wav  of  salvation 
through  Jesus  Christ,  accompanied  with  a  profession  of  their 
faith  in  and  obedience  to  him  in  all  things,  according  to  his 
word,  is  all  that  is  absolutelv  necessary  to  qualify  them  for 
admission  into  his  Church. 

"9.  That  all  that  are  enabled  through  grace  to  make  such 
a  profession,  and  to  manifest  the  reality  of  it  in  their  tempers 
and  conduct,  should  consider  each  other  as  the  precious  saints 
of  God,  should  love  each  other  as  brethren,  children  of  the 
same  family  and  Father,  temples  of  the  same  Spirit,  members 
of  the  same  body,  subjects  of  the  same  grace,  objects  of  the 
same  Divine  love,  bought  with  the  same  price,  and  joint-heirs 
of  the  same  inheritance.  Whom  God  hath  thus  joined  to- 
gether, no  man  should  dare  to  put  asunder. 

10.   That  division   among  Chiistians  is  a  horrid  evil. 


PROPOSITIONS  FOP  UNION. 


fraught  with  many  evils.  It  is  antichristian,  as  it  destroys  the 
visible  unity  of  the  body  of  Christ,  as  if  he  were  divided 
against  himself,  excluding  and  excommunicating  a  part  of 
hiinself  It  is  antiscriptural,  as  being  strictly  prohibited  by 
his  sovereign  authority,  a  direct  violation  of  his  express 
command.  It  is  antinatural,  as  it  excites  Christians  to  con- 
temn, to  hate  and  oppose  one  another,  who  are  bound  bv  the 
highest  and  most  endearing  obligations  to  love  each  other  as 
brethren,  even  as  Christ  has  loved  them.  In  a  word,  it  is 
productive  of  confusion  and  of  every  evil  work. 

''II.  That  (in  some  instances)  a  partial  neglect  of  the  ex- 
pressly revealed  will  of  God,  and  (in  others)  an  assumed 
authority  for  making  the  approbation  of  human  opinions  and 
human  inventions  a  term  of  communion,  by  introducing  them 
into  the  constitution,  faith,  or  worship  of  the  Church,  are,  and 
have  been,  the  immediate,  obvious  and  universallv-acknow- 
ledged  causes  of  all  the  corruptions  and  divisions  that  ever 
have  taken  place  in  the  Church  of  God. 

''  12.  That  all  that  is  necessary  to  the  highest  state  of  per- 
fection and  purity  of  the  Church  upon  earth  is,  first,  that  none 
be  received  as  members  but  such  as,  having  that  due  measure 
of  scriptural  self-knowledge  described  above,  do  profess  their 
fiith  in  Christ  and  obedience  to  him  in  all  thinsfs  according 
to  the  Scriptures;  nor,  secondly,  that  any  be  retained  in  her 
communion  longer  than  they  continue  to  manifest  the  reality 
of  their  profession  by  their  temper  and  conduct.  Thirdly, 
that  her  ministers,  duly  and  scripturally  qualified,  inculcate 
none  other  things  than  those  very  articles  of  faith  and  holi- 
ness expressly  revealed  and  enjoined  in  the  word  of  God. 
Lastly,  that  in  all  their  administrations  they  keep  close  by  the 
observance  of  all  Divine  ordinances,  after  the  example  of  the 
primitive  Church,  exhibited  in  the  New  Testament,  without 
any  additions  whatsoever  of  human  opinions  or  inventions 
of  men. 

"  13.  Lastly.  That  if  any  circumstantials  indispensably 
necessary  to  the  observance  of  Divine  ordinances  be  not 
found  apon  the  page  of  express  revelation,  such,  and  such 


262        MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


only,  as  are  absolutely  necessary  for  this  purpose,  should  be 
adopted  under  the  title  of  human  expedients,  without  any 
pretense  to  a  more  sacred  origin,  so  that  any  subsequent 
alteration  or  difference  in  the  observance  of  these  things 
might  produce  no  contention  or  division  in  the  Church." 

After  having  thus  laid  down  these  propositions,  their  ob- 
ject is  declared  to  be  "  to  prepare  the  way  for  a  permanent 
scriptural  unity  among  Christians,  by  calling  up  to  their  con- 
sideration fundamental  truths,  directing  their  attention  to  first 
principles,  clearing  the  way  before  them,  by  removing  the 
stumbling-blocks — the  rubbish  of  ages,  which  has  been  thrown 
upon  it,  and  fencing  it  on  each  side,  that,  in  advancing  to- 
ward the  desired  object,  they  may  not  miss  the  way  through 
mistake  or  inadvertency,  by  turning  aside  to  the  right  hand  or 
to  the  left." 

It  is  then  left  to  the  religious  community  to  decide 
how  far  these  propositions  go  toward  answering  the 
avowed  intention.  If  found  defective,  they  are  declared 
to  be  open  to  correction  and  amendment. 

''If  we  have  mistaken  the  way,"  it  is  said,  "we  shall  be 
glad  to  be  set  right ;  but,  if  in  the  mean  time,  we  have  been 
happily  led  to  suggest  obvious  and  undeniable  truths  which, 
if  adopted  and  acted  upon,  would  infallibly  lead  to  the 
desired  unity,  and  secure  it  when  obtained,  we  hope  it  will 
be  no  objection  that  they  have  not  proceeded  from  a  General 
Council.    *    *    *    *  by  no  means  claim  the  appro- 

bation of  our  brethren  as  to  anything  we  have  suggested  for 
promoting  the  sacred  cause  of  Christian  unity,  further  than  it 
carries  its  own  evidence  along  with  it ;  but  we  humbly  claim 
a  fair  investigation  of  the  subject,  and  solicit  the  assistance 
of  our  brethren  for  carrying  into  efiect  what  we  have  thus 
weakly  attempted.  It  is  our  consolation,  in  the  mean  time, 
that  the  desired  event,  as  certain  as  it  will  be  happy  and 
gloiious,  admits  of  no  dispute,  however  we  may  hesitate  or 
di.fer  about  the  proper  means  of  promoting  it.  All  we  shall 
venture  to  say  as  to  this  is,  that  we  trust  we  have  taken  the 


TRUE  BASIS  OF  UXITT. 


proper  ground.  At  least,  if  we  have  not,  we  despair  of  find- 
ing it  elsewhere.  For,  if  holding  fast  in  profession  and 
practice  whatever  is  expressly  revealed  and  enjoined  in  the 
Divine  standard,  does  not,  under  the  promised  influence  of 
the  Divine  Spirit,  prove  an  adequate  basis  for  promoting  and 
maintaining  unity,  peace  and  purity,  we  utterly  despair  of 
attaining  those  invaluable  privileges  by  adopting  the  standard 
of  anv  party."  Admitting  that  to  maintain  unity  and  purity 
was  the  plausible  pretence  of  the  compilers  of  human  sys- 
tems, these,  it  is  truly  aflirmed,  have  answered  no  such  pur- 
pose, but  instead  of  unity  and  purity  we  are  presented  with 
a  catalogue  of  sects  and  sectarian  systems — each  binding  its 
respective  party  by  the  most  sacred  and  solemn  engagements 
to  continue  as  it  is  to  the  end  of  the  world." 

It  would  be  absurd,  therefore,  it  is  alleged,  to  advo- 
cate the  cause  of  unity  and  at  the  same  time  to  espouse 
the  interests  of  any  party.  The  Address  concludes 
with  an  earnest  petition  that  the  Lord  might  soon  open 
the  eyes  of  his  people  to  see  things  in  the  true  light, 
and  excite  them  to  come  up  out  of  their  sectarian  con- 
fusion, and  attain  to  that  unity  for  which  the  Saviour 
prayed,  and  which  could  be  found  in  Christ  alone. 

This  remarkable  address  was  signed  by  Thomas 
Campbell  and  Thomas  Acheson,  and  to  it  was  added  a 
considerable  appendix,  in  which  the  various  points 
made  in  the  Address  were  further  argued  and  enforced, 
and  many  things  were  added  in  order  to  prevent  mis- 
takes and  to  anticipate  misrepresentations.  Thus,  lest 
anv  should  suppose  that  the  Christian  Association 
intended  to  interfere  with  the  peace  and  order  of  the 
settled  Churches,  or  to  make  inroads  upon  them,  all 
such  intentions  were  disavowed. 

We  have  no  nostrum,"  it  is  stated,  "  no  peculiar  dis- 
covery ot  our  own,  to  propose  to  fellow-Christians,  for  the 


264       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


fancied  importance  of  which  they  should  become  followers 
of  us.  We  propose  to  patronize  nothing  but  the  inculcation 
of  the  express  Word  of  God.  either  as  to  matter  of  faith  or 
practice  :  but  everv  one  that  has  a  Bible,  and  can  read  it.  can 
read  this  for  himself.  Therefore,  we  have  nothing  new. 
Neither  do  we  pretend  to  acknowledge  persons  to  be  minis- 
ters of  Christ,  and.  at  the  same  time,  consider  it  our  dutv  to 
forbid  or  discourage  people  to  go  to  hear  them,  merely  because 
they  may  hold  some  things  disagreeable  to  us,  much  less  to 
encourage  their  people  to  leave  them  on  that  account." 

In  regard  to  what  was  said  in  the  Declaration"  or 
constitution  of  the  Society,  in  respect  to  the  support  of 
such  ministers  as  would  conform  to  the  original  stand- 
ard, and  reduce  to  practice  the  simple,  original  form  of 
Christianity,  it  is  explained  that  the  principal  and  proper 
design  with  respect  to  such  ministerial  assistants  was 
to  direct  their  attention  to  those  places  where  there  was 
manifest  need  of  their  labor,  thus  disavowing  any 
design  of  interfering  with  any  existing  ministry,  estab- 
lished in  particular  places. 

To  prevent  any  alarm  at  the  adoption  of  a  sweeping 
principle  which  rendered  all  creeds  and  confessions 
absolutely  nugatory,  it  was  stated  : 

"As  to  creeds  and  confessions,  although  we  may  appear  to 
our  brethren  to  oppose  them,  yet  this  is  to  be  understood  only 
in  so  far  as  they  oppose  the  unit}'  of  the  Church  by  contain- 
ing sentiments  not  expressly  revealed  in  the  Word  of  God. 
or.  by  the  wav  of  using  them,  become  the  instruments  of  a 
human  or  implicit  faith,  or  oppress  the  weak  of  God's 
heritage.  When  they  are  liable  to  none  of  these  objections 
\ve  have  nothins:  asrainst  them.  It  is  the  abuse  and  not  the 
lawful  use  of  such  compilations  that  w  e  oppose.  See  Propo- 
sition 7.  Our  intention,  therefore,  with  respect  to  all  the 
Churches  of  Christ  is  perfectly  amicable.  We  heartily  wish 
their  reformation,  but  bv  no  means  their  hurt  or  confusion." 


FREEDOM  OF  OPINION. 


265 


In  regard  to  the  charge  of  an  intention  to  make  a 
new  party,  it  is  said  : 

"If  the  Divine  word  be  not  the  standard  of  a  party,  then 
are  we  not  a  party,  for  we  have  adopted  no  other.  If  to 
maintain  its  alone-sufficiency  be  not  a  party  principle,  then 
we  are  not  a  party.  If  to  justify  this  principle  by  our  prac- 
tice in  making  a  rule  of  it,  and  of  it  alo?ie^  and  not  of  our 
own  opinions,  nor  of  those  of  others,  be  not  a  party  principle, 
then  we  are  not  a  party.  If  to  propose  and  practice  neither 
more  nor  less  than  it  expressly  reveals  and  enjoins  be  not  a 
partial  business,  then  we  are  not  a  party.  These  are  the  very 
sentiments  we  have  approved  and  recommended,  as  a  Society 
formed  for  the  express  purpose  of  promoting  Christian  unity 
in  opposition  to  a  party  spirit." 

Not  controverting  at  all  the  fact  that  human  reason  must 
be  exercised  in  comprehending  the  Scriptures,  the  effort 
is  made  to  draw  a  distinction  between  faith  and  opinion, 
between  an  express  scriptural  declaration  and  inferences 
which  may  be  deduced  from  it.  By  the  latter,  were 
meant  such  conclusions  as  were  not  necessarily  mvolved 
in  the  Scripture  premises,  and  which  were  to  be  re- 
garded as  private  opinions  and  not  to  be  made  a  rule  of 
faith  or  duty  to  any  one.  In  order  to  obtain  the  true 
meaning  of  Scripture,  "  the  whole  revelation  was  to  be 
taken  together,  or  in  its  due  connection  upon  every 
article,  and  not  any^  detached  sentence." 

If,  in  consequence  of  allowing  thus  full  freedom  of 
opinion,  any  should  bring  forward  the  charge  of  latitu- 
dinarianism,  they  are  requested  to  consider  whether  this 
charge  does  not  lie  against  those  who  add  their  opinions 
to  the  Word  of  God,  rather  than  against  those  who 
insist  upon  returning  to  the  profession  and  practice  of 
the  primitive  Church.  A  return  to  the  Bible,  it  is  in- 
sisted, is  the  only  way  to  get  rid  of  existing  evils. 

23 


266       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


'•Should  it  still  be  urged,"  it  is  added,  "'that  this  ^vould 
open  a  wide  door  of  latitudinarianism,  seeing  all  that  profess 
Christian ity  profess  to  receive  the  Holy  Scriptures,  and  yet 
diffei  so  widely  in  their  religious  sentiments,  we  sav,  let  them 
profess  what  they  will,  their  differences  in  religious  profession 
and  practice  originate  in  their  departure  from  what  is  ex- 
pres^.ly  revealed  and  enjoined,  and  not  in  their  strict  and  faith- 
ful conformity  to  it,  which  is  the  thing  we  humbly  advise  for 
putting  an  end  to  these  differences.  But  you  may  say.  Do 
they  not  already  all  agree  to  the  letter,  though  differing  so  far 
in  sentiment?  However  this  may  be,  have  they  all  agreed  to 
make  the  letter  their  rule,  or,  rather,  to  make  it  the  subject- 
matter  of  their  profession  and  practice?  Surely  not.  or  else 
they  would  all  profess  and  practise  the  same  thing.  Is  it  not 
as  evident  as  the  shining  light,  that  the  Scriptures  exhibit  but 
one  and  the  selfsame  subject-matter  of  profession  and  prac- 
tice at  all  times  and  in  all  places,  and  that,  therefore,  to  say 
as  it  declares  and  to  do  as  it  prescribes  in  all  its  holy  precepts, 
its  approved  and  imitable  examples,  w^ould  unite  the  Christian 
Church  in  a  holy  sameness  of  profession  and  practice  through- 
out the  wliole  world?  By  the  Christian  Church  throughout 
the  w^orld,  we  mean  the  aggregate  of  such  professors  as  we 
have  described  in  Props,  i  and  8,  even  all  that  mutually  ac- 
knowledge each  other  as  Christians  upon  the  manifest  evidence 
of  their  faith,  holiness  and  charity.  It  is  such  only  we  intena 
when  we  urge  the  necessity  of  Christian  unity.  Had  only 
such  been  all  along  recognized  as  the  genuine  subjects  of  our 
holy  religion,  there  would  not,  in  all  probability,  have  been 
so  much  apparent  need  for  human  formulas  to  preserve 
an  external  formality  of  professional  unity  and  soundness  in 
the  faith  ;  but  artificial  and  superficial  characters  need  artificial 
means  to  train  and  unite  them.  A  manifest  attachment  to 
our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  in  faith,  holiness  and  charity,  was  the 
original  criterion  of  Christian  character;  the  distinguishing 
badge  of  our  holy  profes>sion  ;  the  foundation  and  cement  of 
Christian  unity.  But  now,  alas  !  and  long  since,  an  external 
name,  a  mere  educational  formality  of  sameness  in  the  pro- 


A  RADICAL  REFORM  REQUIRED. 


267 


fession  of  a  certain  standard  or  formula  of  human  fabric, 
with  a  very  moderate  degree  of  what  is  called  morality,  forms 
the  bond  and  foundation,  the  root  and  reason  of  eccles.astical 
unity.  Take  away  from  such  the  technicalities  of  their  pro- 
fession, the  shibboleth  of  party,  and  what  have  they  more? 
What  have  they  left  to  distinguish  and  hold  them  together? 
As  to  the  Bible,  they  are  little  beholden  to  it ;  they  have  learned 
little  from  it,  they  know  little  about  it,  and  therefore  depend 
as  little  upon  it.  Nay,  they  will  even  tell  you  it  would  be  of 
no  use  to  them  without  their  formula  ;  they  could  not  know  a 
Papist  from  a  Protestant  by  if ;  that  merely  by  it  they  could 
neither  keep  the  Church  nor  themselves  right  for  a  single 
week.  You  might  preach  to  them  what  you  please,  they 
could  not  distinguish  truth  from  error.  Poor  people  !  it  is  no 
wonder  they  are  so  fond  of  their  formula.  Therefore  they 
that  exercise  authority  upon  them,  and  tell  them  what  thev 
are  to  believe  and  what  they  are  to  do,  are  called  benefactors. 
These  are  the  reverend  and  right  reverend  authors,  upon 
whom  they  can  and  do  place  a  more  implicit  confidence  than 
upon  the  holy  apostles  and  prophets.  These  plain,  honest, 
unassuming  men,  who  would  never  venture  to  say  or  do  any- 
thing in  the  name  of  the  Lord  without  an  express  revelation 
from  heaven,  and,  therefore,  were  never  distinguished  by  the 
venerable  title  of  "  Rabbi"  or  "  Reverend,"  but  just  simply 
Paul,  John,  Thomas,  etc. — these  were  but  servants.  They 
did  not  assume  to  legislate,  and  therefore,  neither  assumed 
nor  received  any  honorary  titles  among  men,  but  merely  such 
as  were  descriptive  of  their  office.  And  how,  we  beseech 
you,  shall  this  gross  and  prevalent  corruption  be  purged  out 
of  the  visible  professing  Church  but  by  a  radical  reform,  but 
by  a  returning  to  the  original  simplicity,  the  primitive  purity 
of  the  Christian  institution,  and,  of  course,  taking  up  things 
just  as  we  find  them  upon  the  sacred  page?  And  who  is 
there  that  knows  anything  of  the  present  state  of  the  Church 
who  does  not  perceive  that  it  is  greatly  overrun  with  the 
afoiesaid  evils?  Or  who,  that  reads  his  Bible,  and  receives 
the  impressions  it  must  necessarily  produce  upon  the  recep- 


26b;        MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


tive  .nind  by  the  statements  it  exhibits,  does  not  perceive  that 
such  a  state  of  things  is  as  distinct  from  genuine  Christianity 
as  oil  is  from  water?" 

Should  any  object  that  this  proposed  literal  conformity 
to  the  Scripture  alone  would  not  secure  complete  unan- 
imity of  sentiment,  this  is  freely  admitted  ;  but  it  is- 
answered  that  entire  unanimity  in  opinion  is  neither 
possible  nor  desirable  in  this  imperfect  state,  nor  was  it 
indeed  ever  contemplated  by  the  Author  of  Christianity, 
as  the  exhortations  to  mutual  forbearance  in  the  Scrip- 
tures themselves  attest.  The  same  objection  would  lie 
equally  against  any  creed  or  human  expedient  that  has 
been  or  can  be  devised,  as  is  abundantly  proved  by  the 
fact  that  no  such  unanimity  has  ever  existed  amongst 
professors  of  the  same  creed.  But  to  hold  fast  that 
"form  of  sound  words"  given  in  the  Divine  standard, 
w^hile  it  could  never  result  in  those  destructive  conse- 
quences which  have  attended  human  expedients,  would 
be  amply  sufficient  to  "  produce  all  the  unity  of  senti- 
ment necessary  to  a  life  of  faith  and  holiness,  as  well 
as  to  preserve  the  faith  and  worship  of  the  Church  as 
pure  from  mixture  and  error  as  the  Lord  intended,  or 
as  the  present  imperfect  state  of  his  people  can  pos- 
sibly admit.'"  Not  at  all  asserting  that  human  stand- 
ards are  intentionally  set  up  in  competition  with  the 
Bible  or  in  opposition  to  it,  but  considering  them  as 
human  expedients  designed  to  secure  that  unity  and 
purity  which  the  Bible  alone  was  supposed  insufficient 
to  effect,  it  is  urged  that  creeds  have  not  prevented 
divisions,  and  that,  so  far  from  having  any  tendency 
to  heal,  they  only  serve  to  perpetuate  them.  And 
as  to  securing  purity  of  doctrine,  history  attests  that 
Arians,  vSocinians,  Arminians,  Calvinists,  Antinomians 
have  all  existed  under  the   Westminster  Confession, 


UNINSPIRED  WRITINGS. 


the  Athanasian  Creed  or  the  Articles  of  the  Church  of 
England. 

''Will  any  one  say,"  it  is  asked,  ''that  a  person  might  not 
with  equal  ease,  honesty  and  consistency,  be  an  Arian  or  a 
Socinian  in  his  heart  while  subscribing  the  Westminster 
Confession  or  the  Athanasian  Creed,  as  while  making  his 
un<jnalified  profession  to  believ^e  everything  that  the  Scrip- 
tuies  declare  concerning  Christ? — to  put  all  that  confidence 
in  him,  and  to  ascribe  all  that  glory,  honor,  thanksgiving  and 
praise  to  him  professed  and  ascribed  to  him  in  the  Divine 
word?  If  you  say  not,  it  follows,  of  undeniable  consequence, 
that  the  wisdom  of  men.  in  those  compilations,  has  effected 
what  the  Divine  wisdom  either  could  not,  would  not,  or  did 
not  do  in  that  all-perfect  and  glorious  revelation  of  his  will 
contained  in  the  Holy  Scriptures.  Happy  emendation ! 
Blessed  expedient !  Happy  indeed,  for  the  Church  that 
Athanasius  arose  in  the  fourth  century  to  perfect  what  the 
holy  apostles  and  prophets  had  left  in  such  a  crude  and  unfin- 
ished state  !  But  if,  after  all,  the  Divine  wisdom  did  not. 
think  proper  to  do  anything  more,  or  anything  else,  than  is 
already  done  in  the  sacred  oracles,  to  settle  and  determine 
those  important  points,  who  can  say  that  he  determined  such 
a  thing  should  be  done  afterward?  Or  has  he  any  where 
given  us  any  intimation  of  such  an  intention  ?" 

Lest  an}^  should  suppose  that  it  was  designed  to 
undervalue  or  reject  the  writings  of  great  and  good 
men  upon  the  subject  of  religion,  occasion  is  taken  to 
confine  the  question  to  human  standards  as  "  designed 
to  be  subscribed  or  solemnly  acknowledged  for  the 
preservation  of  unity  and  purity,"  and  to  sa}^  that  "it 
by  no  means  applies  to  the  many  excellent  perform- 
ances for  the  elucidation  of  Scripture  and  the  defence 
of  divinely-revealed  truths.  These,  we  hope,  accord- 
ing to  their  respective  merit,  we  as  highly  esteem  and 
as  thankfully  receive  as  our  brethren."    In  this  con- 

23  * 


i'J^       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL, 


nection,  the  following  striking  and  characteristic  pas- 
sage occurs : 

"  Is  it  not  worthy  of  remark  that  of  whatever  use  other 
books  ma}'  be  to  direct  and  lead  us  to  the  Bible,  or  to  pre- 
pare and  assist  us  to  understand  it,  yet  the  Bible  never  directs 
us  to  any  book  but  itself?  When  we  come  forward,  then,  as 
Christians,  to  be  received  by  the  Church,  which,  properly 
speaking,  has  but  one  book,  ''for  to  it  were  committed  the 
oracles  of  God,"  let  us  hear  of  none  else.  Is  it  not  upon  the 
credible  profession  of  our  fiith  in  and  obedience  to  its  Divine 
contents,  that  the  Church  is  bound  to  receive  applicants  for 
admission?  And  does  not  the  profession  of  our  faith  and 
obedience  necessarily  presuppose  a  knowledge  of  the  dictates 
we  profess  to  believe  and  obey?  *  *  *  *  In  the  case 
then  before  us,  that  is,  examination  for  church  membership, 
let  the  question  no  longer  be,  What  does  any  human  system 
say  of  the  primitive  or  present  state  of  man?  Of  the  person, 
offices  and  relations  of  Christ,  etc.,  etc.  ?  Or  of  this,  that,  and 
the  other  duty?  But,  What  says  the  Bible?  Were  this  mode 
of  procedure  adopted,  how  much  better  acquainted  with  their 
Bibles  would  Christians  be  !  What  an  important  alteration 
would  it  also  make  in  the  education  of  youth  !  Would  it  not 
lay  all  candidates  for  admission  into  the  Church  under  the 
happy  necessity  of  becoming  particularly  acquainted  with  the 
Holy  Scriptures?  Whereas,  according  to  the  present  prac- 
tice, thousands  know  little  about  them.  One  thing  still  re- 
mains that  may  appear  matter  of  difficulty  or  objection  to 
some,  namely,  that  such  a  close  adherence  to  the  express 
letter  of  the  Divine  Word,  as  we  seem  to  propose  for  the 
restoration  and  maintenance  of  Christian  unity,  would  not 
only  interfere  with  the  free  communication  of  our  sentiments 
one  to  another  upon  religious  subjects,  but  must,  of  course, 
also  necessarily  interfere  with  the  public  preaching  -and  ex- 
pounding of  the  Scriptures  for  the  edification  of  the  Church. 
Such  as  feel  disposed  to  make  this  objection  should  justly 
consider  that  one  of  a  similar  nature,  and  quite  as  plausible. 


HUMAN  STANDARDS   WANT  AUTHORITY.  271 


might  be  made  to  the  adoption  of  human  standards,  especially 
when  made,  as  some  of  them  confessedly  are,  the  standara 
for  all  matters  of  doctrine,  worship,  discipline  and  govern- 
ment. In  such  a  case  it  might,  with  as  much  justice,  at  least, 
be  objected  to  the  adopters  :  You  have  now  no  more  use  for 
the  Bible ;  you  have  got  another  book,  which  you  have 
adopted  as  a  standard  for  all  religious  purposes  ;  you  have  no 
further  use  for  explaining  the  Scriptures,  either  as  to  matters 
of  faith  or  duty,  for  this  you  have  confessedly  done  already  in 
your  standard,  wherein  you  have  determined  all  matters  of 
this  nature.  You  also  profess  to  hold  fast  the  form  of  sound 
words,  which  you  have  thus  adopted,  and  therefore  you  must 
never  open  your  mouth  upon  any  subject  in  any  other  terms 
than  those  of  your  standard.  In  the  mean  time,  would  any 
one  of  the  parties,  which  has  thus  adopted  its  respective 
standard,  consider  any  of  these  charges  just?  If  not,  let 
them  do  as  they  would  be  done  by.  We  must  confess,  how- 
ever, that  for  our  part,  we  cannot  see  how,  with  any  shadow 
of  consistency,  some  of  them  can  clear  themselves,  especially 
of  the  first ;  that  is  to  say,  if  words  have  any  determinate 
meaning  ;  for  certainly  it  would  appear  almost,  if  not  alto- 
gether incontrovertible,  that  a  book  adopted  by  any  party  as 
its  standard  for  all  matters  of  doctrine,  worship,  discipline 
and  government,  must  be  considered  as  the  Bible  of  that 
party.  And  after  all  that  can  be  said  in  favor  of  such  a  per- 
formance, be  it  called  Bible,  standard,  or  what  it  may,  it 
is  neither  anything  more  nor  better  than  the  judgment  or 
opinion  of  the  party  composing  or  adopting  it,  and,  therefore, 
wants  the  sanction  of  a  Divine  authority,  except  in  the  opin- 
ion of  the  party  which  has  thus  adopted  it.  But  can  the 
opinion  of  any  party,  be  it  ever  so  respectable,  give  the  stamp 
of  a  Divine  authority  to  its  judgments.'*  If  not,  then  every 
human  standard  is  deficient  in  this  leading,  all-important  and 
indispensable  property  of  a  rule  or  standard  for  the  doctrine, 
worship,  discipline  and  government  of  the  Church  of  God." 

Against  the  anticipated  charge  of  substituting  a  vague 
and  indefinite  approbation  of  the  Scriptures  "for  a  strictly 


^fE^IOIRS  OF  ALEXAXDER  CAMPBELL. 


vfefined  creed."  it  is  urged  that  a  union  in  truth  is  all  that 
is  desired,  and  that  truth  unquestionably  is  something  certain 
and  definite,  and  already  made  sufficiently  clear  in  the  word 
of  God.  the  wav  of  salvation  being  a  plain  war.  verv  far 
rejnote  from  logical  subtleties  and  metaphysical  speculations. 
An  intelligent  profession  of  faith  in  Christ  and  obedience  to 
him  in  all  things  according  to  the  Scriptures,  manifested  in  a 
temper  and  conduct  conforme.d  thereto,  are  to  be  the  criteria  of 
Christian  character,  and  all  such  persons  are  to  receive  each 
other  as  brethren,  and  carefully  to  preserve  the  unity  of  the 
spirit  in  the  bond  of  peace." 

Finally,  in  closing  these  explanations  and  argumentations, 
the  regret  is  expressed  for  the  necessity  of  approaching  so 
near  the  borders  of  controversy,  in  briefly  attempting  to 
answer  objections  which  w^e  plainly  foresaw  would,  through 
mistake  or  prejudice,  be  made  against  our  proceedings,  con- 
troversy making  no  part  of  our  intended  plan.  But  such 
objections  and  surmises  having  already  reached  our  ears  from 
different  quarters,  we  thought  it  necessary  to  attend  to  them, 
that,  by  so  doing,  w^e  might  not  only  prevent  mistakes,  but  also 
save  our  friends  from  entering  into  verbal  disputes  to  remove 
them,  and  thus  prevent  as  much  as  possible  that  most  unhappy 
of  all  practices  sanctioned  bv  the  plausible  pretence  of  zeal 
for  the  truth — religious  conti'oversv  among  professors.  We 
would,  therefore,  humbly  advise  our  friends  to  concur  with 
us  in  our  professed  and  sincere  intention  to  avoid  this  evil 
practice." 

The  pamphlet  then  concludes  with  a  few  extracts 
from  authors  of  standing  in  relation  to  the  sad  effects 
of  divisions. 

Such  is  a  brief  analysis  of  this  remarkable  document, 
which  occupies  fifty-four  closely-printed  pages,  and 
which  merits  particular  attention,  not  only  on  its  own 
account,  but  because  it  laid  the  foundation  for  the  most 
important  and  extended  religious  reibrmation  of  modern 
limes.    It  is  as  remarkable  tor  the  affectionate  and 


PRINCIPLES  ACCEPTED. 


Christian  spirit  which  it  manifests  in  an  age  of  bitter 
religious  controversy,  as  for  the  clearness  with  which 
the  true  basis  of  Christian  union  is  defined,  and  the 
conclusiveness  of  the  arguments  by  which  it  is  sustained. 
It  takes  a  complete  survey  of  the  whole  subject,  and 
anticipates,  in  its  exhaustive  details,  every  phase  which 
the  question  afterward  assumed  during  the  years  of 
discussion  that  ensued.  So  fully  and  so  kindly  was 
every  possible  objection  considered  and  refuted,  that  w^? 
attempt  was  ever  made  by  the  offosei's  of  the  f7'ofosed 
movejuent  to  controvert  directly  a  single  -position 
which  it  contained.  The  ministers  of  the  different 
parties  around,  to  whom  copies  were  sent,  received  them 
apparently  with  silent  acquiescence  as  to  the  principles 
laid  down,  not  a  single  one  of  them  venturing  a  public 
reply,  though  earnestly  and  repeatedly  invited  to"  con- 
sider carefully  the  propositions  submitted,  and  to  make 
any  corrections  or  amendments  which  might  occur  to 
them,  and  assured  that  all  objections  presented  in  writ- 
ing would  be  •*  thankfully  received  and  seriously  con- 
sidered with  all  due  attention."  That  a  publication 
which  boldly  asserted  principles  necessarily  involving  a 
complete  change  in  the  whole  framework  of  religious 
society,  should  have  been  allowed  thus  to  pass  unchal- 
lenged by  the  clergy,  is  certainly  a  remarkable  circum- 
stance, and  can  be  explained  only  upon  the  ground 
either  that  the  publication  itself  afforded  no  vulnerable 
point  of  attack,  or  that  the  affectionate  manner  and 
humble  Christian  spirit  in  which  the  subject  was  dis- 
cussed disarmed  resentment. 

To  all  the  propositions  and  reasonings  of  this  Address 
Alexander  Campbell  gave  at  once  his  hearty  approba- 
tion, as  they  expressed  most  clearly  the  convictions  to 
which  he  had  himself  been  brought  by  his  experience 

V  .1,  I.— S 


274        MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


and  observation  in  Scotland,  and  his  reflections  upon 
the  state  of  rehgious  society  at  large.  Captivated  by 
its  clear  and  decisive  presentations  of  duty,  and  the 
noble  Christian  enterprise  to  which  it  invited,  he  at 
once,  though  unprovided  with  worldly  property,  and 
aware  that  the  proposed  reformation  would,  in  all  prob- 
ability, provoke  the  hostility  of  the  religious  parties, 
resolved  to  consecrate  his  life  to  the  advocacy  of  the  prin- 
ciples which  it  presented.  Accordingly,  when,  soon 
afterward,  his  father  took  occasion  to  inquire  as  to  his 
arrangements  for  the  future,  he  at  once  informed  him 
that  he  had  determined  to  devote  himself  to  the  dissemi- 
nation and  support  of  the  principles  and  views  presented 
in  the  "  Declaration  and  Address."  So  impressed  was 
he  with  a  conscientious  sense  of  duty  in  regard  to  the 
choice  he  had  thus  made,  that  when,  about  this  time, 
very  soon  after  his  arriv^al  at  Washington,  Lawyer 
Mountain,  of  Pittsburg,  who  had  formed  his  acquaint- 
ance and  was  much  impressed  with  his  attainments  and 
abilities,  urged  him  to  take  charge  of  an  academy  of 
which  he  was  a  principal  trustee,  offering  him  $1000  a 
year,  which  was  at  that  time  a  large  salary,  and  laying 
before  him  various  other  inducements  both  present  and 
prospective,*  he  declined  the  flattering  offer,  giving  as 
his  reason  that  as  he  felt  himself  conscientiously  bound 
to  do  everything  in  his  power,  through  the  Divine 


*  Pittsburg  was,  at  this  time,  rapidly  rising  into  importance  ;  the  opening 
was  an  extremely  favorable  one,  and  there  could  be  no  doubt  of  eminent 
success.  The  following  enumeration  from  the  census  of  Pittsburg  in  1810, 
taken  by  William  B.  Irish,  Deputy  Marshal,  may  interest  the  reader  if  com- 
pared with  the  subsequent  growth  of  this  important  city  : 

Whole  number  of  stone  dwelling-houses   11 

Whole  number  of  brick  dwelling-houses  283 

Whole  number  of  frame  and  log  dwelling-houses  473 

Total  767 


GRATUITOUS  LABOR. 


assistance,  to  promote  the  proposed  reformation,  and 
could  not  accomplish  both  objects,  he  must  decline 
taking  charge  of  the  seminary.  His  father,  greatly 
delighted  with  the  pious  zeal  and  resolution- of  his  son, 
immediately  desired  him  to  divest  himself  of  all 
earthly  concerns,  to  retire  to  his  chamber,  to  take  up 
the  Divine  Book,  and  to  make  it  the  subject  of  his  study 
for  at  least  six  months."  When  his  son  further  informed 
him  that  in  devotino-  himself  to  the  ministry  he  had 
firmly  resolved  never  to  receive  any  compensation  for 
his  labors,  his  father  remarked,  "Upon  these  principles, 
my  dear  son,  I  fear  you  will  have  to  wear  many  a 
ragged  coat."  With  all  his  parental  partiality,  he  had 
as  yet  a  very  imperfect  conception  of  that  indomitable 
energy,  and  that  remarkable  ability  in  the  management 
of  affairs  which  enabled  the  son,  while  laboring  inces- 
santly in  his  ministerial  calling,  not  only  to  maintain 
himself  in  independent  circumstances,  but  to  provide 
for  his  revered  father  during  the  years  of  his  decline, 
the  abundant  comforts  of  a  happy  home. 


Free  White  Males. 

Under  ten  years  of  age   751 

Of  ten  years  and  under  sixteen   333 

Of  sixteen  and  under  twenty-six',  including  heads  of  families     .    .  614 

Of  twenty-six  and  under  forty- five,  including  heads  of  families    .  513 

Of  forty-five  and  upward,  including  heads  of  families   213 

Total   2424 

Free  White  Females. 

Under  ten  years  of  age   699 

Of  ten  and  under  sixteeen   353 

Of  sixteen  and  under  twenty-six,  including  heads  of  families     .    .  501 

Of  twenty-six  and  under  forty-five,  including  heads  of  families  .    .  421 

Of  forty-five  and  upward,  including  heads  of  families   756 

All  other  free  persons,  except  Indians  not  taxed   784 

Total  number  of  souls   4740 


At  this  time  (1867)  the  population  of  Pittsburg  and  its  environs  cannot  be 
less  than  130,000. 


CHAPTER  XV 


Ministerial    Preparation  —  Social   Reform  —  Management  of  Washington 

College. 

THE  want  of  a  fixed  object  in  life,  so  often  the  mis- 
fortune of  young  men,  had  not  fallen  to  the  lot  of 
Alexander  Campbell.  Early  destined  to  the  ministerial 
profession,  he  had  afterward,  as  formerly  related,  earn- 
estly adopted  it  as  his  proper  vocation,  and  his  thoughts 
and  studies  had  accordingly  been  regulated  and  directed 
with  constant  reference  to  the  duties  he  expected  to 
discharge.  His  dissatisfaction  with  the  divided  and 
distracted  condition  of  religious  society,  and  with  the 
aversion  manifested  by  the  clergy  to  much-needed  re- 
forms had,  indeed,  heretofore,  created  great  dubiety  in 
his  mind  as  to  his  possible  future  relations  to  any  exist- 
ing party.  Now,  however,  that  a  complete  and  radi- 
cal reformation  was  proposed,  and  by  one,  too,  whose 
judgment  and  piety  it  had  become  almost  his  nature  to 
revere,  all  the  difficulties  of  his  position  disappeared. 
A  new  and  unexpected  field  of  action  was  opened 
before  him,  precisely  suited  to  his  bold  and  independ- 
ent spirit,  and  in  perfect  harmony  with  his  convictions 
of  religious  duty.  The  paramount  claims  of  the  Bible 
were  to  be  asserted  and  defended  ;  the  intolerant  bigotry 
of  sectarism  was  to  be  exposed  :  the  people  of  God 
were  to  be  delivered  from  the  yoke  of  clerical  domi- 
nation, and  primitive  Christianit}',  in  all  its  original 
276 


MINISTERIAL  PREPARATION.  277 

purity  and  perfection,  was  to  be  restored  to  the  world. 
His  efforts  to  prepare  himself  for  the  work  before  him 
received  hence  a  fresh  and  powerful  impulse,  and  he 
devoted  himself,  with  renewed  assiduity,  to  the  appro- 
priate course  of  reading  and  investigation,  suggested  by 
his  father  or  approved  by  his  own  judgment. 

The  enterprise  in  which  he  thus  so  earnestl}'  engaged 
was,  it  must  be  confessed,  a  most  noble  one,  and  one 
differing,  by  the  space  of  the  whole  heavens,  from  that 
which  a  young  man  preparing  for  the  ministry  in  a 
religious  -party  usually  proposes  to  himself.  His  ob- 
ject, it  is  evident,  is  too  often  little  more  than  to  make 
himself  popular  with  his  party ;  and  to  this  end  he  is 
careful  to  foster  party  feeling ;  to  flatter  party  pride  ;  to 
magnify  differences,  and  strive,  by  dint  of  partisan  jeal- 
ousies and  hopes,  to  elevate  himself  to  a  position  of 
honor  and  emolument.  But  it  is  a  mean  ambition 
which  seeks  thus  rather  to  reign  in  a  sect  than  to  serve 
in  the  kingdom  of  heaven  ;  and  the  greatness  and  lofty 
impulses  of  Alexander  Campbell  were  never  more 
strikingly  manifested  than  when,  rejecting  all  the  solici- 
tations he  received  to  become  the  advocate  of  a  party, 
and  all  the  ready  opportunities  of  distinction  which 
such  a  course  aflfbrded,  he  determined,  amidst  the  con- 
tumely and  opposition  of  the  world,  both  religious  and 
secular,  to  devote  himself  to  the  public  advocacy  of  the 
Word  of  God  and  of  the  primitive  and  simple  apostolic 
Gospel. 

About  this  time,  two  others  also,  James  Foster  and 
Abraham  Altars,  members  of  the  Christian  Association, 
anxious  to  promote  the  important  work  in  which  thev 
had  engaged,  commenced  a  course  of  study  with  a 
view  to  the  ministry  of  the  word,  under  the  direction 
of  Thomas  Campbell ;  and  James  Foster,  already  inti- 

24 


278        MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


mately  acquainted  with  the  Bible,  and  remarkable  for 
the  fullness  and  accuracy  with  which  he  could  quote  and 
apply  its  language,  soon  began  to  take  a  public  part  in 
the  meetings  held,  his  pious  instructions,  exhortations 
and  pravers  being  always  most  acceptable  and  edify- 
ing. As  much  of  Thomas  Campbell's  time,  however, 
was  occupied  in  visiting  the  scattered  families  connected 
with  the  Association,  and  in  endeavoring  to  promote  the 
cause  of  union  amongst  the  people,  he  was  necessarily 
much  absent  from  home.  He  could,  therefore,  direct 
merely  the  general  course  of  stud}',  leaving  the  details 
of  the  practical  instruction  to  Alexander.  In  addition 
to  this  charge,  it  devolved  likewise  upon  the  latter  to 
teach  his  brothers  and  sisters  regularly :  for  no  one 
could  possibh'  be  more  methodical  or  more  economical 
of  time  than  Thomas  Campbell,  and  it  was  his  rule  to 
see  that  every  member  of  his  famih'  was  constantly 
and  regularly  employed  in  something  useful.  This 
disposition  Alexander  had,  in  the  tullest  degree,  in- 
herited, and,  as  has  been  seen  at  Glasgow  with  what 
earnest  assiduity  he  devoted  every  moment  to  improve- 
ment, so  he  now  entered  at  once,  on  his  arrival  at 
Washington,  upon  a  no  less  severe  course  of  labor  and 
a  no  less  careful  use  of  every  fleeting  moment.  This 
may  be  seen  from  the  apportionment  he  made  of  the 
hours  of  each  day,  written  down  as  follows  for  his 
guidance  : 

A7'7'ange7nent  for  studies  for  -winter  of  iSio. 
••  One  hour  to  read  Greek — from  8  to  9  in  the  morning. 
One  hour  to  read  Latin — from  11  to  12  in  the  morning. 
One  half  hour  to  Hebrew — between  13  and  i  P.  M. 
*•  Commit  ten  verses  of  the  Scriptures  to  memory  each  day, 
and  read  the  same  in  the  original  languages,  with  Henry  .ind 
Scott's  notes  and  practical  observations.    For  this  exercise 


COURSE  OF  STUDY. 


we  shall  allow  two  hours.  These  exercises,  benig  intended 
for  every  day,  will  not  be  dispensed  with.  Other  reading  and 
studies  as  occasion  may  serve.  These  studies  in  all  require 
four  and  a  half  hours.  Church  history,  and  divers  other 
studies,  are  intended  to  constitute  the  principal  part  of  my 
other  literary  pursuits. 

"  Regulations  for  Abraham  Altars. 

"  I  St.  Read  to  me  in  the  morning,  from  7  to  8,  in  Scott's 
Family  Bible.  Say  one  lesson  every  day  in  Greek  Grammar. 
One  lesson  also  in  Latin,  and  one  in  Rhetoric.  Two  days 
of  the  week  to  recite  in  English  Grammar  and  parse.  To 
prepare  a  theme  each  week,  which  is  to  be  corrected  and  to 
be  written  clear  and  fair  in  a  book. 

"Abraham  and  the  children,  from  ten  to  eleven,  will  read  a 
Scripture  lesson. 

"  These  attentions  will  occupy  three  hours  of  my  time  every 
day.  » 

"  Dorry,  Nancy  and  Jane  say  English  Grammar  and  parse 
wkh  Abraham  Altars — the  Mondays  appointed  for  this  pur- 
pose. Thomas  is  to  prepare  a  lesson  every  day  in  Latin 
Grammar.  One  hour  for  writing,  and  half  an  hour  to  hear 
any  particular  lessons  from  D.,  N.  and  J. 

"  The  whole  time  spent  thus  will  be  nine  hours." 

His  own  preparation  for  future  public  labor  consisted  at 
this  time,  mainly,  in  the  daily  study  of  the  Scriptures — a 
duty  to  which  he  had  again  solemnly  consecrated  him- 
self, as  appears  from  his  recorded  resolutions  on  the  last 
day  of  the  previous  year.  In  these  he  resolves,  by  the 
Divine  assistance,  to  read  for  half  an  hour  every  day 
in  the  Scriptures,  for  the  purpose  of  understanding 
them,  looking  for  all  the  marginal  references,  and 
beginning  at  the  first  chapter  of  Genesis.  Also  to 
read  a  chapter  in  the  Old  and  one  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment, with  Scott's  Notes  and  practical  observations.  In 
addition  to  this,  was  the  memorizing  of  portions  of 


28o       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


Scn])ture  daily.  At  the  close  of  these  resolves,  he 
adds  : 

''May  God  in  his  great  mercy  aftbrd  me  time,  ability  and 
iricHnatioii  to  attend  to  these  intentions,  and  to  his  name  may 
all  the  glory  and  honor  redound  through  Jesus  Christ.  Amen. 
Alexander  Campbell,  Sunday,  31st  December,  1809." 

While  thus  engaged,  and  while  the  fall  and  winter 
months  were  passing  aw^ay,  he  w^as  not  unobservant  of 
the  novel  circumstances  and  the  new  conditions  of 
society  bv  w'hich  he  was  surrounded  in  the  New  World. 
Being  himself  a  youth  and  of  a  lively  disposition,  he 
soon  became  acquainted  with  the  young  people  in 
Washington  and  its  vicinity,  and  was  invited  frequently 
to  their  social  parties.  Accustomed  to  the  educated 
and  refined  society  of  the  North  of  Ireland,  where 
parental  care  enforced  upon  the  young  a  strict  attendon 
to  the  rules  of  decorum,  and  where  the  deferential  and 
delicate  consideration  shown  to  females  was  met,  on 
their  part,  by  a  confiding  frankness  and  affability  which 
gave  a  peculiar  charm  to  social  intercourse,  he  was  far 
from  being  pleased  with  the  rudeness  and  unwonted 
freedoms  tolerated  in  many  social  gatherings,  and  was 
struck  with  the  want  of  education  and  culture  mani- 
fested by  the  youthful  portion  of  the  community. 

The  pioneers  of  the  West  had  been,  at  first,  too  busy 
m  clearing  away  the  forests  and  in  subduing  the  rugged- 
ness  of  a  wild,  uncultivated  region  to  devote  much  time 
to  intellectual  improvement  or  to  the  amenities  of  social 
life.  An  incessant  warfare  with  the  gigantic  trees 
which  usurped  the  fertile  soil ;  fierce  and  frequent 
encounters  with  savage  beasts  and  still  more  savage 
men  of  the  native  Indian  tribes,  and  a  necessary  restric- 
tion to  the  simplest  modes  of  life,  gave,  indeed,  a  bold 


SOCIETY  IN  THE  BACKWOODS. 


and  self-reliant  spirit,  but  tended  to  impart  roughness 
as  well  as  awkwardness  to  manners.  The  uncheckec' 
wildness  of  nature  and  the  rudeness  ot"  art  infected 
society.  Incessant  physical  toil  was  demanded  of 
every  member  of  the  farmer's  household  in  order  to 
secure  the  lately-purchased  tarm  or  to  extend  its  limits. 
The  men  and  boys  labored  in  the  roughly-cultivated 
fields,  just  won  from  the  ancient  forest :  the  matron  and 
her  daughters  were  occupied  at  home  in  domestic  cares, 
which  then  included  the  manufacture  of  clothing  for 
the  entire  family.  All  were  engaged  in  the  preparation 
of  flax  and  wool,  and  the  hum  of  the  busy  wheel  and 
the  sound  of  the  loom  could  be  heard  in  almor^  every 
dwelling.  At  certain  seasons,  the  females  assisted  even 
in  the  labors  of  the  field.  There  was  little  time  for 
reading  and  few  books  to  be  read.  In  the  country, 
schools  were  opened  only  for  a  brief  period  during  the 
winter  season  ;  and  even  the  poor  instruction  they 
afforded  was  enjoyed  to  but  a  limited  extent  by  farmers' 
daughters,  for,  at  that  time,  their  education  was  almost 
wholly  neglected.  There  were  then  no  female  semi- 
naries, and  views  so  defective  were  entertained  with 
regard  to  the  education  of  females  that  a  girl  who  could 
simply  read  and  write  a  little  was  regarded  as  having 
attained  all  the  learning  necessary  in  order  to  the  ac- 
complishment of  woman's  mission.  Social  intercourse 
itself  was  greatly  restricted,  except  in  towns  and 
amongst  the  few  to  w^hom  wealth  gave  some  degree 
of  leisure.  In  the  country  at  large,  it  was  usually  ex- 
cessive labor  that  could  alone  secure  brief  recreation  ; 
and  it  was  hence  when  the  young  men  of  the  neighbor- 
hood were  collected  by  appointment  at  a  farmer's  house, 
for  what  was  called  a  husking  frolic,"  or  for  some 
other  pressing  farm  labor;  or  the  young  women  had 

24  * 


282       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


been,  in  like  manner,  assembled  during  a  bus\'  da}'  of 
"quilting,"  "apple-paring,"  or  other  work  appertain- 
ing to  their  department,  that,  in  the  evening,  in  each 
case,  a  troop  of  guests  of  the  opposite  sex  were  wont 
to  arrive,  when  a  few  hours  would  be  stolen  from  the 
nicjht  to  be  devoted  to  rude  and  boisterous  merriment. 

That  laborious  industry  and  economy  which,  with 
the  pioneers,  had  been  a  necessity,  became  at  length  a 
habit  with  them  and  with  their  children  and  descend- 
ants ;  and  even  the  attainment  of  a  comfortable  inde- 
pendence at  a  later  period  failed  to  relieve  families 
from  the  incessant  drudgery  of  their  occupations,  which 
were  now  pursued  mainly  from  the  desire  of  amassing 
wealth.  The  social  customs  with  which  manv  who 
were  foreigners  had  been  familiar  in  their  youth,  were 
in  a  good  degree  lost  by  long  disuse  :  families  became 
isolated  upon  their  farms  :  matrimonial  alliances  were 
sought  rather  from  motives  of  gain  than  of  affection  ; 
and,  as  a  consequence,  an  unusual  number  of  both 
sexes  remained  unmarried.  Exceptions  there  were, 
indeed,  both  in  town  and  country — but  especially  in  the 
towns — of  those  who  had  enjoyed  superior  advantages 
and  w^ho  were  highly  cultivated ;  but  even  in  the  towns, 
where  there  w^as  a  much  greater  degree  of  sociality, 
\^  ealth  and  fashion  had  already  begun  to  produce  their 
usual  effects  of  dividing  society  into  castes  and  creating 
various  hinderances  to  true  social  enjoyment.  Young 
men  of  position  were  disposed  to  be  dissipated  and 
foppish,  and  young  ladies  of  wealth  or  beaut}^  aspired 
to  be  leaders  of  the  public  taste,  and  to  establish  the 
reign  of  coquetry  and  caprice. 

Under  these  circumstances,  while,  with  the  great 
mass  of  the  community,  there  w^as  a  commendable 
degree  of  plainness  and  simplicity  and  a  high  degree 


SOCIAL  REFORM  PROPOSED. 


2S3 


of  friendly  feeling,  the  manners  and  customs  prevail- 
ing, especially  amongst  the  young,  were  so  different 
from  those  to  which  Alexander  had  been  accustomed 
that  he  felt  strongly  disposed  to  urge  the  need  of  a 
social  as  well  as  of  a  religious  reformation.  Having 
formed  an  agreeable  acquaintance  with  Mr.  William 
Sample,  who  had  established  a  weekly  paper  in  Wash- 
ington called  the  Rej)orter^  in  August,  1808,  and  being 
requested  by  him  to  furnish  some  original  essays,  he 
agreed  to  do  so,  and  concluded  to  take  up  and  expose, 
in  a  series  of  articles,  the  social  evils  he  had  observed. 
Adopting  the  manner  of  the  Spectator^  in  which  the 
essayist  personates  different  characters  and  sexes,  most 
of  the  articles  in  the  series  assumed  to  be  written  by  a 
young  female  who  signs  herself  Clarinda,"  and  who 
desires  to  offer  some  friendly  admonitions,  both  to  her 
own  and  to  the  opposite  sex,  in  relation  to  various  foibles 
which  she  desires  to  see  corrected.  As  it  may  interest  the 
reader  to  have  some  specimens  of  his  style  of  composi- 
tion at  this  period,  some  extracts  are  here  given  from 
these  essays ;  and  as  a  particular  interest  attaches  to 
the  f?rst  one,  as  being  the  very  earliest  production  of  his 
pen  designed  for  publication,  it  is  here  given  entire  : 

"Original  Essays,  No.  i. 

"  It  is  generally  expected  and  understood  that  every  one 
who  writes  for  the  public  eye  writes  for  the  public  good  ;  and 
as  the  necessities,  desires,  imperfections  and  frailties  of  our 
nature  are  manifold  and  diversified,  so  are  the  means  numerous 
and  diverse  by  which  we  may  contribute  to  the  welfare  and 
happiness  of  our  fellow-creatures.  The  salutary  aid  of 
friendly  admonition  and  the  gentle  voice  of  familiar  reproof 
are  no  less  useful  in  certain  circumstances,  no  less  duties  that 
we  owe  one  another,  than  to  alleviate  the  sorrows  of  the  dis- 
tressed, to  soothe  the  comfortless,  to  cheer  the  melancholy,  to 


284       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


succor  the  helpless  and  forlorn  ;  to  relieve  the  wants  of  the 
needy,  01  to  heal  the  diseases  of  the  intirm.  But  that  the 
public  may  know  what  my  motives  are;  what  is  the  g(»od 
which  I  intend,  and  who  are  the  public  for  whom  it  is 
intended,  I  deem  it  necessary  to  make  a  few  preliminaiy 
remarks. 

"  Owing  to  my  youth  and  comparative  inexperience,  1  pre- 
sume not  to  dictate  to  my  superiors  in  wisdom  or  years ; 
neither  do  the  foibles  which  I  desire  removed  nclonrr  to  tlie 
fathers  and  mothers  of  the  present  age  :  it  is  the  sons  and 
daughters,  my  equals  and  contemporaries,  to  wliom  I  ])ar- 
ticularly  address  myself;  and,  therefore,  I  would  repje?>l  of 
you,  my  venerable  parents,  not  to  accuse  me  of  prcNU  nipt  ion 
in  attempting  to  point  out  some  of  the  frailties  and  f(>il)lL'b  of 
my  young  friends  of  either  sex,  with  a  design  of  amelioration, 
not  for  my  good  or  yours  alone,  but  for  the  sake  of  the  indi- 
viduals to  whom  I  address  myself. 

In  consequence  of  tiiat  modesty  which  is  the  glory  and  ilig- 
nity  of  my  sex,  I  presume  not  to  dictate  to  the  youth  f)f  the  other 
sex,  only  in  so  far  as  1  may  have  occasion  to  speak  of  their  con- 
duct in  relation  to  my  sex.  Therefore,  gentlemen.  l>e  not  angry 
though  a  female  should,  for  once,  attempt  to  ameliorate  certain 
traits  m  your  character  in  relation  to  us.  1  believe  the  gentle- 
men in  general  are  so  indulgent  to  us  that  tlie\  take  rii  good 
part  whatever  we  say  re>pecling  them,  and  are  inoie  inclined 
to  draw  the  veil  of  forgetfulnes-^  o\  et  our  imperfcclit>iir»  and  to 
extenuate  our  errors  than  to  make  them  more  ct^nspicuous  or 
revive  their  memory.  I  can  only  assure  you,  young  gcniicmen, 
that  anything  I  may  in  future  say  respecting  }ou,  shall  be  said 
with  the  best  of  motives  and  for  the  most  piiilaiithroplc 
intentions,  with  a  design  of  promoting  our  mutual  ad\  aiuage 
and  felicity. 

And  as  to  you,  my  young  female  friends,  wlio  have  not 
yet  entered  into  the  connubial  state,  for  whose  sake  pai  ticu- 
larly  I  undertake  this  laborious,  and,  what  aome  no  iloubt  may 
think,  censurable  task,  1  know  many  of  you  are  more  able  to 
act  this  part  than  lam;  but  as  your  long  silence  respecting 


SOCIAL  IMPROVEMENT. 


28s 


these  things  has  caused  me  to  despair  of  your  e\'er  contribut- 
ing in  this  kind  of  way  to  redress  those  grievances  of  which 
you  have  been  long  complaining,  I  am  moved,  with  the  utmost 
deference,  diffidence  and  timidity,  to  attempt  what  some  of 
you  have  long  wished  to  have  done.  Believe  me.  I  say,  it  is 
particularly  for  your  own  sake  that  I  dare  to  intrude  on  the 
public,  and  attempt  to  reform  the  general  conduct  of  our  and 
the  other  sex,  in  what  particularly  relates  to  tlie  forming  of 
connections  for  lite.  I  beg  that  you  will  not  think  I  am 
turned  traitor  to  my  sex,  if  I  may  happen  to  expose  some  of 
their  foibles,  which,  perhaps,  are  not  so  generally  known  to 
the  gentlemen  as  to  ourselves.  If  I  have  to  say  anything  of 
this  kind,  it  will  be  done  in  as  delicate  a  manner  as  circum- 
stances will  possibly  admit,  and  for  no  other  purpose  than  to 
prevail  on  the  gentlemen  to  be  more  candid  in  giving  up  any 
practices  which  may  be  injurious  to  their  or  our  felicity,  for 
what  makes  us  happy  will  never  make  them  unhappy  ;  what 
adds  to  our  felicity  will  not  diminish  theirs ;  what  is  for  our 
good  is  for  theirs  also. 

But  it  may  be  inquired.  What  do  you  see  amiss.?  what  do 
you  see  improper  in  our  general  conduct.?  what  do  you  wi&h 
to  ameliorate?  I  would  only  answer,  in  the  mean  time,  that, 
upon  a  strict  survey  of  the  deportment  of  the  youths  of  both 
sexes  in  relation  to  one  another,  in  the  forming  of  particidar 
and  intimate  connections  with  one  anothtT,  I  perceive  many 
things  which,  in  my  judgment,  stand  in  need  of  an  ameliora- 
tion ;  and  not  in  my  judgment  only,  but  in  the  judgment  of 
many  far  more  judicious  and  intelligent  than  I.  To  state 
what  these  things  are,  and  what  this  reformation  should  be, 
would  be  to  anticipate  what  is  designed  for  a  few  subsequent 
essays,  wherein  these  foibles  and  their  improvement  will  be 
discussed  to  more  advantage.  It  is  universally  agreed  that 
no  person  is  free  from  foibles:  he  or  she,  then,  must  be  the 
best  character  who  has  the  fewest  failings ;  and  as  all  imper- 
fections injure  our  happiness,  that  must  be  the  happiest  in- 
dividual who  has  the  fewest  imperfections.  It  may  also  be 
askea,  Has  not  everything  been  said  on  these  subjects  that  can 


286        MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


be  said.  I  answer,  that,  as  to  original  matter,  there  has  been 
enough  said  to  make  us  as  happy  and  as  perfect  as  our  state 
will  admit,  if  put  in  practice  ;  but.  although  much  has  been 
said  on  these  subjects  in  general,  and  almost  all  that  can  be 
said,  yet  the  difference  of  characters,  times,  situations  and 
places  may  require  modifications  of  manv  things  that  may 
have  been  said  in  substance  or  in  part :  and  another  reason 
is,  that  what  has  been  said  on  these  subjects  is  not  in  the 
hands  of  many  who  may  require  instruction  of  this  kind. 

"As  to  my  own  character  and  qualifications.  I  have,  for  a 
few  years  past,  been  a  close  observer  of  the  customs,  man- 
ners, morals  and  fashions  of  the  age  and  country  in  which  I 
live,  in  as  far  as  my  acquaintance  could  extend,  either  by 
books  or  by  intercourse  with  societv.  And  although  I  owe 
a  good  deal  of  my  information  to  books,  as  many  of  my 
female  friends  do.  yet  I  liave  been  still  endeavoring  to 

'  Catch  the  living  manners  as  they  rise,' 
to  consider  the  polite,  moral  and  religious  deportment  of  my 
contemporaries,  constantly  noting  *:hose  traits  of  character 
and  action  which  have  been  generallv  admired  and  esteemed 
by  the  judicious  and  well-informed  part  of  both  sexes :  and 
also  to  mark  with  abhorrence  and  detestation  those  things 
which  the  good,  the  wise,  and  polite  part  of  society  hated. 
I  dare  not  say  anything  particular  respecting  myself,  lest  in 
a  village  so  small  I  mio^ht  discover  myself,  and  if  my  own 
foibles  were  known  (which  I  wish  to  correct),  it  might  in- 
jure my  usefulness  to  others.  I  only  request  my  friends  to 
weigh  what  I  say.  and  if  their  understanding  approve,  I  am 
persuaded  their  good  sense  will  lead  them  to  practice  what 
mav  appear  most  conducive  to  tfieir  real  and  lasting  felicity. 

If  anything  I  should  say  respecting  foibles  or  vices  might 
seem  applicable  to  any  individuals  (at  least  be  thought  so  by 
themselves),  let  me  assure  them  that  it  is  not  my  intention  to 
liurt  the  feelings  of  any  individual,  or  even  to  say  anything 
about  vices  and  imperfections  that  belong  not  to  the  character 
of  a  number  of  individuals.  As  to  the  manner  of  communi- 
cation, I  have  chosen  the  Reporter,  not  from  political  motives. 


SOCIAL  ASSEMBLAGES. 


287 


as  politics  do  not  belong  to  ladies,  but  as  it  is  a  paper  of  the 
most  general  circulation  and  popularity.  As  -no  person  can 
say  I  have  mercenary  views  in  thus  communicating  my  ideas 
upon  the  subjects  mentioned,  I  hope  they  will  consider  my 
intentions  as  good,  and  be  fully  persuaded  that  I  design  no- 
thing but  what  will  be  conducive  to  the  general  felicity.  I 
hi?ve  only  to  request  the  better-informed  part  of  both  sexes 
that  they  will  spread  the  veil  of  oblivion  over  any  imperfec- 
tions they  may  see  in  my  compositions  :  not  being  accustomed 
to  write  for  the  public  eye,  and  not  receiving  that  liberal 
education  which  gentlemen  receive,  and  which  is  rarely  the 
lot  of  any  of  my  sex,  it  may  not  be  thought  strange  that 
I  should  sometimes  disgust  my  more  learned  and  refined 
readers.  Clarixda." 

The  above  essay  appears  on  the  14th  of  May,  1810. 
In  the  next  one,  remarks  are  made  upon  the  origin  and 
history  of  convivial  meetings,  and  a  notice  is  taken  of 
the  different  species  of  parties,  whether  of  the  un- 
married alone,  or  of  the  married,  or  of  both  together; 
some  observations  being  made  also  upon  the  specific 
design  of  each.  Confining  the  attention  finally  to  par- 
ties of  young  unmarried  persons,  the  attempt  is  made 
to  determine  the  peculiar  purpose  of  such  parties.  After 
considering  several  of  the  reasons  commonly  given  for 
these  assemblages,  as,  for  instance,  "because  it  is  fash- 
ionable and  polite,"  or  "that  it  is  to  promote  friendship 
and  sociality,"  etc.,  no  one  of  which  is  found  to  be  the 
real  object,  this  is  then  asserted  to  be  to  promote  love 
between  the  sexes.  This  is  argued,  first,  from  the  pre- 
vailing topics  of  conversation  on  such  occasions,  and 
secondly,  from  the  character  of  the  amusements  adopted  : 

"  These,"  it  is  said,  are  also  calculated  to  inspire  love,  and 
are  generally  the  dernier  resort  when  sentiment,  wit  and 
conversation  fail  to  produce  the  desired  effect. 


288       MEMGfliS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 

^  F^ovv  often  is  recourse  had  to  children's  tovs  and  juvenile 
amusements,  adapted  to  manhood  and  womanhood  bv  certain 
modifications  of  hivvs  respectin<y  forfeits,  fines  and  penalties, 
for  every  transo^ression  of  the  laws  of  the  plav  !  I  sav,  how 
often  is  recourse  had  to  those  puerile  trifles,  o^enteel  hawhles 
— genteel  refinements — to  aflbrd  pleasure  and  amusemeivt  !  !  ! 
Sorrv  resources  !  beneath  the  di'j^nitv  of  rational  immortals! 
pitiful  return  for  the  loss  of  a  few  f^rccio7is  hoiirs  which  not 
India's  wealth  could  purchase!  Is  this  friendship  and  civil- 
ity? Is  this  honor?  Is  there  virtue  in  this?  It  may  indeed 
be  genteel,  fashionable  and  polite:  I  do  not  question  this!!! 
But  let  me  consitler  the  forfeits  and  penalties  of  these  amusive 
plays.  The  forfeits  are  in  tjeneral  of  so  amiable  and  natural 
a  kind  that  he  or  she  is  the  happiest  individual  who  lies 
under  the  heaviest  sentence  and  is  doomed  to  the  o^reatest 
punishment ;  and  the  reason  is.  because  the  punisliments  are 
so  comiucive  to  produce  that  prratification  tha*  is  so  con<2fenial 
to  our  nature  ;  so  palatable  to  fjross  and  unrefined  passiotis  ;  so 
delightful  to  a  wanton  iiriaprination.  I  need  not  inform  my 
readers  that  the  common  punishments  inflicted  on  the  un- 
happy victims  who  may  have  the  <;oo(l  fortune  to  trans<^ress, 
are  the  sweet  eml)race — the  jxt*iitle,  amorous  whisper — the 
open  confession  of  an  inward  flame — the  expression  of  a 
gentle  wish — and  some  such  like,  that  have  a  tendency  to 
opiate  t1ie  understanding,  but  in«K-ed  to  the  generality  of  in- 
dividuals piotluce  what  are  called  gentle — soothing — charm- 
ing— kilhng  effects — '  eflects  wliose  very  agonies  delight.' 
Need  we  any  other  proof  that  the  very  en»l  and  intenti'.u  of 
these  parties  is  to  create  love — to  excite  ainorous  intentions  ; 
to  captivate  the  youthful  heart  by  delusive  cliarms  in  the 
glittering  snare — to  bind  the  juvenile  atfections  witii  the  silver 
wreaths  of  soft  persuasion — vvitli  the  silken  strings  of  afla- 
bilitv — and  to  catch  the  imagination  with  the  golden  chain  of 
artful  address?  Such  is  the  intention  of  these  parties,  else 
looks  and  words  and  actions  deceive — else  smiles  and  sighs 
have  no  meaning — el^e  the  very  thing  itself  is  a  nieie  farce — 
a  senseless  thing,  a  mere  contingency. 


FRIVOLITY  IN  SOCIAL  PARTIES.  289 

"  As  I  pointed  out  the  evils  of  the  other  alleged  designs  in 

my  last  essav,  I  intend  here  to  point  out  the  evils  of  this 

design,  which  I  think  is  sufficiently  proved  to  be  the  true  one. 

The  topics  of  conversation,  and  the  whole  conversation  itself, 

are  vain  at  the  best,  sometimes  wanton,  and  often  bordering  on 

Jhe  imchaste  ;  it  is  empty  and  uninteresting  ;  every  one  seemt 

to  be  in  labor  for  something  to  say ;   and  sometimes  the 

imagination  and  invention  of  the  whole  party  is  so  barren 

that  there  will  not  be  a  word  spoken  for  five  or  ten  minutes 

together,  everv  one  watcliing  another's  lips  to  see  when  ther 

will  move;  at  length,  although  nothing  fanciful  or  interesting 

occurs,  yet  some  person,  provoked  at  the  silence,  will  speak, 

if  they  should  say  nonsense,  and  that  you  may  know,  in  the 

future,  when  one  of  tlio.se  chasms  occurs  in  conversation, 

when  invention  is  on  tlie  rack  for  something  new,  you  will 

observe  that  the  person  who  speaks  begins  by  telling  yoa 

(as  if  you  did  not  know)  something  about  the  weather. 
«  «  «  «  « 

You  will  also  observe  that  when  one  has  broken  silence 
in  this  kind  of  a  way,  there  arises  a  general  chatter  among  the 
rest,  as  when  one  goose  of  a  flock  chatters  all  the  rest  begin, 
and  by  and  by  you'll  have  them  all  chattering  at  once.  When 
I  am  a  spectator  at  one  of  these  gabbling  matches,  the  Turk- 
ish maxim  comes  into  my  mind,  namely,  that  'women  have 
no  soids,'  and  altliough  this  sentiment  shocks  me  and  causes 
me  to  search  my  own  breast,  yet  frequently,  I  must  confess, 
if  I  were  to  judge  from  tlie  frivolity  of  tlie  conversation  and 
the  levitv  of  the  sentiment  at  these  parties,  I  must  conclude 
that  female  minds  are  not  capacious  ;  but  if  I  were  to  form  a 
jutlgment  of  the  gentlemen  from  their  conduct  and  conversa- 
'■ion  in  these  companies.  I  would  find  it  extremely  difficult  to 
form  an  idea  of  a  rational  soul,  allowing  that  women  have 
none  ;  for  1  find  that  they  can  condescend  to  all  the  frivolities 
and  weaknesses  of  which  we  are  capable.  But,  indeed,  upon 
the  whole,  it  seems  as  if  they  who  attend  these  parties  could 
find  no  pleasure  at  iiome  when  they  come  here  to  seek  it.  Is 
there  rational  enjoyment  in  the  entertainment.''  Is  there 
VOL.  1.— T  25 


290       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


pleasure  in  the  conversation  ?  Is  there  substantial  good  in 
the  amusements?  If  there  be  to  any  soul,  I  must  exclaim. 
Oh,  vitiated  taste  !  unchaste  imagination  !  unhappy  age  !  !  ! 
Will  four  hours  spent  in  this  insipid  way  afford  you  ten 
minutes'  pleasure  in  reflection,  in  contemplation,  in  retrospect.'' 
Will  it  afford  you  comfort  in  the  hour  of  affliction  when  yon 
are  grappling  with  the  King  of  terrors?  W^ill  it  be  comfort- 
able for  vou  to  say,  when  you  are  bidding  an  eternal  adieu  to 
the  world.  I  have  spent  many  a  precious  evening  in  a  genteel 
party,  many  an  hour  in  giddy  dissipation,  in  thoughtless 
mirth,  in  needless  festivity?  At  some  distant,  far  distant 
point  in  eternit\',  will  you  remember  with  joy  or  with  sorrow 
that  you  spent  an  evening  once  a  week,  or  once  a  month,  for, 
it  may  be.  ten.  t\venty.  or  thirt}-  years,  in  one  of  these  parties 
w-hich  you  now  so  much  like?  Ah  !  my  female  friends,  did 
you  but  consider  the  value  and  dignity  of  your  nature,  you 
would  not  thus  degrade  it :  did  you  but  remember  the  seeds 
of  immortality  that  are  within  you,  that  must  either  blossom 
or  languish  for  ever,  you  would  not  thus  spend  one  precious 
evening,  that  when  you  come  to  die,  ten  thousand  thousand 
worlds  could  not  purchase  or  recall.  Did  you  but  consider 
that  your  nature  is  of  so  dignified  a  kind  that  it  may  converse 
with  holy  spirits,  angels,  archangels,  and  with  God  for  ever, 
you  would  not  lavish  your  evenings  in  such  vain  conversation 
and  thouo^htless  amusements.  Believe  me.  mv  vounor  female 
friends,  that  such  is  the  nature  of  these  pleasing  amusements, 
that  they  are  like  poison  that  is  sweet  to  the  taste,  but,  when 
swallowed,  brings  nature  to  dissolution  ;  and  such,  alas !  is. 
the  delusive  nature  of  folly,  that  the  pleasure  of  committing 
is  instantaneously  past,  but  the  guilt  contracted  is  immortal 
and  eternal. 

''I  have  now  mentioned  a  good  many  disadvantages  accru- 
ing from  these  parties,  but  no  advantages.  Let  me  plainly 
tell  vou  I  can  mention  no  advantages  arising  from  them  ;  only 
one,  which  is,  that  they  have  a  tendency  to  civilize  mankind  ; 
but  I  leave  you  to  determine  if  this  advantage  is  important 
enough  to  preponderate  all  that  I  have  put  in  the  other 


NOBLER  AIMS  PROPOSED. 


291 


balance.  You  will  say  now.  I  disapprove  of  social  parties; 
no,  my  dear  friends,  far  from  that.  I  should  wish  to  be  a 
member  of  a  social  party  an  evening  or  two  every  week,  but 
with  this  simple  amelioration,  that  thev  should  meet  in  a 
plain,  decent  manner,  with  minds  replete  with  either  import- 
ant subjects  for  communication  to  instruct  others,  or  with  a 
desire  to  be  instructed  by  others  in  things  worthy  of  our 
nature — things  conducive  to  our  eternal  interests  :  not  respect- 
ing beauty  or  dress,  which  shall  soon  turn  to  corruption  :  but 
let  our  conversation  be  about  our  far  better^  and  what  should 
be  our  far  dearer  part,  our  immortal  souls — 

"  '  Which  shall  flourish  in  immortal  youth  ; 
Unhurt  amidst  the  war  of  elements, 
The  wreck  of  matter  and  the  crusn  of  worlds.' 
****** 

Clarinda. 

''May  24,  1 810." 

The  next  essay  gives  a  satirical  and  amusing  account 
of  various  sorts  of  beaux — as  lovers  of  riches,  of  beauty, 
or  of  virtue,  with  appropriate  comments,  and  is  dated 
June  I.  The  succeeding  one,  dated  June  8,  presents 
Clarinda's  opinion  of  old  bachelors,  whom  she  defines 
as  "  drones,"  and  says  :  "  An  old  bachelor  is  a  forlorn 
mortal  insulated  in  societv',  who  is  an  object  of  universal 
ridicule,  hated  by  his  own  sex,  cursed  by  the  other, 
and,  worse  than  all,  blamed  by  himself;  he  is  like  a  dry 
tree  standing  in  the  forest,  that  prevents  the  vegetation 
of  others,  merely  an  encum^berer  of  the  ground  which 
every  one  wishes  to  see  hewn  down,  etc."  She  speaks 
also  of  their  alleged  or  supposed  reasons  for  preferring 
celibacy.  In  the  sixth  essay,  the  writer  is  addressed 
by  Observator,  offering  some  criticisms,  and  approving 
the  remarks  upon  social  parties.  To  this  a  reply  is 
given  June  16,  and  the  subiect  is  continued  in  reference 
to  the  evil  practice  of  some,  in  paying  addresses  to 


392       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


several  young  ladies  at  the  same  time.  Tne  next, 
number  seven,  is  occupied  with  a  letter  from  J.  C., 
exposing  the  practice  of  certain  fops  who  were  in  the 
habit  of  wearing  dirks  in  their  bosoms,  and  this  visibly 
even  in  the  company  of  ladies ;  and  also  censuring 
their  habits  of  profane  swearing,  from  which  the  follow- 
ing is  an  extract : 

When  I  am  addressing  you  on  this  subject,  I  would  also 
make  a  few  observations  on  another  more  fashionable  vice 
among  our  young  fops  (I  cannot  call  them  gentlemen),  who 
are  guilty  of  this  horrid  vice — I  mean,  swearing  in  company 
with  ladies  and  persons  of  a  moral  deportment,  to  whom  this 
vice  is  most  offensive  and  abominable.  I  say,  I  cannot  call 
swearers  gentlemen,  however  else  qualified ;  for,  savs  a 
judicious  writer,  with  whom  I  precisely  agree  in  this  senti- 
ment, '  Those  who  addict  themselves  to  swearing  and  inter- 
lard their  discourse  with  oaths;  can  never  be  considered  as 
gentlemen  ;  they  are  generally  persons  of  low  education  and 
are  unwelcome  in  what  is  called  good  company.  It  is  a  vice 
that  has  no  temptation  to  plead,  but  is,  in  every  respect,  as 
vulgar  as  it  is  wicked.'  Of  all  the  vices  which  have  ever 
disgraced  human  nature  ;  of  all  the  extremes  of  madness  and 
folly  to  which  mankind  has  ever  run  ;  of  all  the  irreverent, 
irreligious  deeds  which  have  ever  blackened  human  character, 
there  is  none  more  horrid,  flagrant  or  profane  ;  none  so  pre- 
sumptuous, arrogant  and  irreverent,  as  carelessly,  heedlessly 
and  impiously  to  invoke  the  sacred  name  of  Him  whom 
angels  worship,  saints  adore,  and  before  whom  devils  and 
wicked  men  shall  tremble  with  horror,  anguish  and  dismay — 
to  invoke  the  sacred  majesty  of  heaven  on  every  light,  frivol- 
ous and  wicked  occasion — to  call  God  to  witness  every  lewd, 
base,  mean  or  trivial  action  they  perform  or. perpetrate  ;  and, 
still  worse,  to  supplicate  that  pure  and  righteous  Being  to 
damn,  curse  or  punish  a  fellow-creature,  a  fellow-immortal, 
or,  it  may  be.  some  brute  or  inanimate  thing.  And  what 
renders  this  vice  most  oppressive  to  them  who  are  nrovoked 


APOSTROPHE  TO  FASHION. 


at  it  is,  that  our  proflis^ate.  immoral  beaux  make  it  a  point  to 
swear  t'le  harder  if  there  be  any  pious  persons  or  hidies  in 
companv.  thinkino-  to  mortify  the  former  and  expectins^  to  com- 
mend their  gaUantrv  to  the  hitter.  Be  assureth  ve  detestable 
wretches,  that  this  vice  is  as  degrading  to  yourselves  as  it  is 
hateful  to  others  ;  and  there  is  not  a  lady  who  possesses  a 
spark  of  virtue  but  will  shun  and  detest  your  companv.  Be- 
sides, to  call  God  to  witness  the  truth  of  what  you  say.  implies 
that  you  suppose  the  person  whom  you  address  believes  you 
a  liar,  and  will  not,  without  a  volley  of  oaths,  put  confidence 
in  what  you  say.  If  you  wish  to  be  believed,  your  under- 
standing is  horribly  misguided  if  you  expect  to  induce  a 
belief  by  crowning  vour  assertion  with  an  oath  :  this  certainly 
creates  a  suspicion  in  the  mind  of  the  person  whom  you 
address  that  the  thing  is  untrue.  In  short,  1  know  no  reason 
for  or  temptation  to  this  vice,  above  all  the  vices  prevalent  in 
the  world.  Ask  a  man  why  he  swears,  he  tells  you  it  is  a  bad 
custom  he  has  learned — he  cannot  quit  it.  Experience  suffi- 
ciently proves  that  it  is  in  the  power  of  any  person  who 
makes  the  attempt  to  give  it  over,  only  let  him  be  determined 
and  watchful." 

Essay  number  eight,  contains  a  letter  from  *'Eusebia 
Anxious,"  addressed  to  "  Clarinda  Philogamia^'''  ap- 
proving the  censure  inflicted  on  the  bachelors,  and 
giving  a  reason  for  their  increase  which  she  received 
from  her  grandfather,  viz.  :  that  it  was  owing  to  the 
government  allowing  speculators  to  buy  up  large  tracts 
of  land,  thus  depriving  young  farmers  of  the  oppor- 
tunity of  obtaining  farms  at  reasonable  rates,  and  pre- 
venting them  from  venturing  into  matrimony.  To  this 
a  reply  is  given,  offering  condolence  and  complimenting 
Eusebia  for  her  courage  in  daring  to  appear  in  print  for 
the  benefit  of  society,  and  passing  into  a  meditation  on 
the  evil  effects  produced  by  the  fear  of  being  singular ; 
after  which  occurs  the  following  apostrophe  to  Fashion  : 

25  * 


294       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


"  O  Fashion,  thou  deity  whom  fops,  empty  fops  and  gaudy 
belles  adore  !  Thou  first-born  of  Volatility,  and  full-descended 
child  of  Vanit}' ;  thou  parent  of  ills,  of  woes  unheard,  un- 
told, unsung ;  thou  scourge  of  pride  and  lash  of  fools ;  O 
grim-visaged  tyrant  I  thou  swayest  thy  oppressive  sceptre  over 
s  aves  incalculable  ;  thou  taxest  thy  oppressed  subjects  with 
burdens  insupportable ;  thine  iron  fangs  oppress  the  poor 
and  crush  the  needy.  Thou  grand  foe  to  liberty,  inappeasable 
enemy  to  independence  ;  thy  despotic  countenance  thunders 
terrors  through  the  souls  of  thy  victims,  and  fills  the  minds 
of  thy  dupes  with  pride,  envy,  malice,  and  a  thousand  evil 
passions  that  distract  and  perplex  their  aching  hearts.  In 
thy  domain  and  uncircumscribed  territories  are  heard  naught 
but  sighs  and  groans,  but  frowns  and  curses  echoing  through 
thy  hills  and  resounding  through  thy  dales.  O  Fashion ! 
thou  hast  slain  thy  thousands  and  murdered  thy  tens  of  thou- 
sands. Thou  hast  led  mankind  away  from  itself,  and,  ignis- 
fatuiiS'like^  deceived  them.  Thou  hast  taught  the  female, 
the  tender,  inexperienced  female,  who  unhappily  was  born 
thy  slave  and  nursed  in  thy  empire,  to  borrow  all  her 
dignit}^  all  her  importance  from  the  veering  figure  of  thy 
countenance  ;  to  look  for  all  her  honor,  all  her  consequence, 
all  her  happiness  from  thy  extrinsic  airs.  In  thy  school,  she 
learned  to  value  herself  from  the  patches  and  daubs  of  art, 
that  in  vain  strive  to  add  beauty  to  the  master-piece  of 
Nature  :  as  well  mightst  thou  burnish  the  sun,  paint  the  lily, 
or  perfume  the  rose,  as  attempt  to  add  beauty  to  the  strokes 
of  Nature.  O  Fashion  !  thou  hast  taught  thy  daughters  to 
value  a  companion  from  the  plumage  of  her  garb,  from  the 
perfume  of  her  locks,  her  well-set  hair,  her  sparkling  comb, 
her  glittering  ring,  her  rosy  cheek  that  owns  the  borrowed 
blushes  of  an  artful  dye  ;  from  the  thousand  gew-gaws  and 
trifles  that  are  the  niggardly  refinements  of  thy  modern  hue. 
Thy  maxim  is,  Value  the  casket,  and  despise  the  jewels  it 
contains ;  admire  the  shadow  and  neglect  the  substance ; 
appreciate  the  glare  and  tinsel,  and  depreciate  the  pearls  of 
great  value  ;  adorn  the  outside,  leave  the  mind  a  barren  wild, 


WASHINGTOX  COLLEGE. 


295 


an  uncultivated  desert,  where  weeds  poisonous  luxuriantly 
grow.  These.  O  inexorable  Fashion  I  are  but  the  species  of 
ills  that  complete  thy  train  and  compose  thv  retinue." 

This  series  of  essays  closed  with  the  tenth  number, 
of  July  23d.  The  subjects  treated,  to  many  may  ap- 
pear trivial :  but  at  the  time,  and  under  the  circum- 
stances, these  articles  exdted  no  small  degree  of  inter- 
est. To  treat  such  subjects  with  so  much  freedom  in 
the  newspaper  of  a  small  town,  where  the  author  could 
scarcely  expect  to  remain  unknown,  required,  at  least, 
considerable  intrepidity :  and  it  is  believed  that  the 
essays  of  "Clarinda"  contributed  to  produce,  in  the 
manners  of  those  who  were  thus  exposed  to  public  cen- 
sure, some  decrree  of  what  the  writer  terms  ••ameliora- 
tion."  Sundry  poetical  pieces  also,  and  other  articles 
on  various  topics,  were  contributed  by  him  to  the  Re- 
porter, under  anonymous  signatures,  during  this  period. 

While  throwing  off  these  light  productions,  however, 
he  was  not  inattentive  to  the  more  serious  interests  of 
the  community  in  which  he  had,  for  the  present,  found 
a  home.  Much  concerned  for  the  cause  of  education, 
his  attention  was  particularly  engaged  with  the  literary 
institution  which,  four  years  previously  (in  1806), 
had  been  organized  in  the  town  under  the  title  of 
"Washington  College."  Although  a  similar  institu- 
tion, "Jefferson  College,"  under  the  direction  of  the 
same  Presbyterian  party,  had  been  established  some 
four  years  earlier  at  Canonsburg,  only  seven  miles 
distant,  in  the  same  county,  the  one  at  Washington 
had  received  considerable  patronage,  so  that,  at  the 
third  session,  it  had  as  many  as  fifty  students — quite  a 
large  number  at  that  period,  even  when  taking  into 
view  the  small  tuition-fee  required,  and  the  low  price 
of  boarding,  which  was  only  a  dollar  and  a  half  per 


29^       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


week  in  the  town,  and  much  lower  in  the  country. 
Much,  however,  was  due  to  the  personal  influence  and 
energy  of  Rev.  Matthew  Brown,  the  principal  of  the 
college,  and  pastor  of  a  Presbyterian  congregation  in 
the  town,  with  whom  Alexander  had  formed  some 
acquaintance,  but  with  whose  management  of  the  col- 
lege he  was  not  very  well  pleased.  Being  thrown  into 
constant  communication  with  the  students,  and  havingr 
ample  opportunity  for  observation,  he  noticed  many 
defects  in  the  system  of  education  adopted,  and  in  the 
order  and  discipline  of  the  institution.  It  was  to  be 
expected,  indeed,  that,  coming  from  an  old  and  exten- 
sive university  like  that  of  Glasgow,  he  would  find 
many  things  apparently  strange  and  rude  in  an  infant 
college  of  the  Western  World.  He  seems  to  have 
been  a  silent  spectator  of  the  commencement  exercises 
of  the  winter  session,  which  took  place  on  Friday,  27th 
of  April.  At  the  close  of  the  summer  session,  how- 
ever. Thursday,  27th  of  September,  1810,  the  character 
of  the  exercises  was  such  that  he  could  no  longer  for- 
bear offering  some  animadversions  through  the  news- 
paper. It  appears  that  a  very  great  degree  of  license 
was  allowed  the  students  in  regard  to  the  performances. 
Pieces  were  spoken  caricaturing  certain  peculiarities  of 
the  Scotch  and  Irish.  A  mock  trial  at  the  bar  was 
presented.  There  was  also  an  exhibition  of  fencing 
and  of  boxing  for  the  amusement  of  the  audience  ;  and 
certain  profane  expressions  were  allowed  in  some  of 
the  dialogues.  Some  verses  composed  by  an  Irishman 
upon  his  wife  were  recited  ;  some  tunes  upon  a  fiddle 
were  given  bv  one  of  the  students  ;  and  some  scenes 
from  Smollet's  comedy  of  the  "  Reprisals"  were  enacted 
by  the  students. 

In  the  next  number  of  the  Reporter,  published  ist 


COLLEGE  EXERCISES.  297 

October,  1810,  there  appeared  the  following  notice  of 
these  exercises,  which  was  probably  written  by  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Faculty. 

Washington  College. 
"  The  summer  session  of  this  Seminary  was  closed  on 
Thursday  27th  inst.,  with  the  usual  public  exercises.  The 
students  repaired,  at  the  appointed  hour,  to  the  college.  A 
very  numerous  assembly  of  the  most  respectable  citizens, 
from  town  and  country  convened  in  the  college  yard,  where 
seats  were  prepared  for  their  accommodation.  A  rich  variety 
of  entertainments,  suited  to  the  various  tastes  of  the  audience, 
was  then  presented.  The  gay  and  the  grave,  the  young  and 
the  old,  wise  men  and  fools,  had  each  a  portion  meted  out 
unto  them,  in  well-composed  pieces,  original  and  selected  ; 
the  vices  and  follies  of  the  times  were  gently  exposed  in 
many  ways.  The  drunkard,  the  duelist,  the  gambler,  the 
swearer,  the  fop,  and  the  fool  respectively  groaned  under  the 
lash  of  satire.  To  amuse  themselves  as  well  as  entertain  the 
audience,  the  young  gentlemen  availed  themselves  of  the 
liberties  of  speech  sanctioned  by  universal  and  immemorial 
custom.  The  difterent  callings  and  professions  were  truly 
noticed  in  their  turns ;  but  the  lawyers  received  a  Benjamin's 
portion  ;  also  in  touching  the  peculiar  language  or  manners 
of  nations  some  freedom  was  indulged.  But  it  was  evident 
from  the  whole  of  the  exercises,  the  object  was  to  please,  not 
to  offend." 

It  seems,  however,  that  the  exhibition,  though  de- 
signed to  please  everybody,  created  a  considerable 
amount  of  dissatisfaction.  In  the  same  paper,  appears 
a  note  from  the  faculty  of  the  college,  denying  that 
there  was  any  intention  of  casting  any  reflections  upon 
the  Irish  people  in  one  of  the  addresses  delivered  ;  and 
giving  to  the  public,  by  way  of  a  -per  contra^  another 
of  the  addresses  highly  commending  the  Irish  cha- 
racter.   Immediately  after  this,  comes  what  purports  to 


298       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


be  a  "Correct  Compendious  Account  of  the  late  Exhi- 
bition of  Washington  College,"  in  a  letter  to  a  friend, 
dated  at  Washington,  September  28,  1810.  The  writer, 
in  an  ironical  vein,  refers  to  a  sentiment  which  he  had 
formerly  expressed  to  his  friend,  that  the  real  nature 
and  benevolent  intention  of  the  Christian  religion,  when 
correctly  understood,  was  to  render  mankind  happy 
here,  and  thus,  of  coarse,  to  give  them  a  taste  and 
relish  for  happiness  hereafter. 

"  Upon  this  topic,"  he  continues,  "  my  friend  will  remem- 
ber, we  used  to  diHer,  though  with  our  usual  good  nature  and 
reciprocal  esteem.  I  always  told  you  that  your  views  on  this 
important  subject  were  by  far  too  precise  and  severe.  You 
used  to  boast  of  the  evidence  in  your  favor  on  this  side  of  the 
mountains,  where  you  used  to  tell  me  that  the  genuine  effects 
were  experienced  to  a  degree  somewhat  adequate  to  the 
nature  of  the  subject,  especially  in  the  late  revivals  which 
had  taken  place.  To  these  effects  you  used  to  appeal  to 
strengthen  yoiu*  arguments,  wishing  that  I  were  here  to  see 
the  effects  produced  in  consequence  upon  the  inhabitants  of 
this  side  of  the  Alleghany,  and  therefore  congratulated  me  on 
my  intended  purpose  of  becoming  a  resider  in  the  Western 
country." 

Appealing  then  to  the  exhibition  of  the  day  before  as 
a  convincincr  evidence  of  the  correctness  of  his  more 
liberal  view,  he  thus  proceeds  : 

"The  unexpected  occurrence  of  yesterday  has  contributed 
more  to  my  satisfaction,  upon  the  whole  result,  than  the 
simple  residence  of  years  would  otherwise  have  done.  It 
afforded  me  an  opportunity  of  contemplating  the  effects  of 
the  combined  influence  of  all  means  and  privileges,  civil  and 
religious,  literary  and  moral  ;  not  upon  a  solitary  mdividual 
or  a  few,  but  upon  a  large  aggregate  of  individuals  of  all 
ranks  and  orders  in  the  community.    The  day  was  fine,  the 


ACCOUNT  BT  BONUS  HOMO. 


299 


assembly  numerous  and  respectable  :  composed  of  reverend 
clergymen,  lawyers,  merchants,  farmers,  and  a  great  variety 
of  elegant  ladies,  young  and  old.  married  and  single.  The 
thing  intended  and  to  be  exhibited  for  the  entertainment  of 
this  elegant  assembly,  was  an  exhibition  of  the  attainments 
of  the  students  of  Washins^ton  Colleg^e  in  their  various  de- 
partments  ;  and  all  this  under  the  superintendence  and  direc- 
tion of  some  of  the  most  sacred  characters  of  which  en- 
lightened society  can  boast.  The  names  of  some  of  them 
were,  as  I  was  informed,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Brown,  president  of 
the  college,  Rev.  Mr.  Russel,  and  Mr.  Reed,  professor  of 
mathematics ;  teachers  in  the  academy.  Rev.  Messrs.  Guinn 
and  Dodd,  besides  manv  other  venerable  characters  on  the 
board." 

He  then  proceeds  to  give  an  account  of  the  various 
parts  of  the  entertainment,  among  them  enumerating 
as  follows  : 

"  4.  Fencing.  This,  I  think,  is  well  taught  here.  I  saw 
two  young  men,  in  the  characters  of  officers,  handle  the  broad- 
sword most  dextrously.  You  and  I  differed  formerly  upon 
this  part  of  education  ;  you  said  it  was  inconsistent  with  the 
pure  and  benevolent  disposition  of  the  Christian  religion  ;  I 
thought  it  was  requisite  to  complete  a  gentleman,  and  you  see 
my  opinion  is  confirmed  by  the  practice  of  this  truly  reformed 
and  Christian  neighborhood. 

"  5.  Boxing  with  the  fist,  or,  as  they  call  it  in  their  technical 
college  terms,  pugilism,  or,  in  the  terms  of  the  learned 
gentlemen,  argzi7nentum  bacculinum.  You  said  this  was  a 
diabolical  practice,  but  I  never  could  see  it  so  ;  it  is  necessary 
for  the  preservation  of  one's  life,  as  well  as  the  use  of  the 
sword,  to  maintain  one's  honor.  I  saw  one  or  two  rounds 
well  fought. 

"  6.  Polite  swearing,  such  as  by  J  ,  and  O  God  !  and 

other  decent  oaths,  which  you  used  to  say  were  mcompatible 
with  a  Christian,  for  they  were  breaches  of  the  third  com- 
mandment ;  I  am  sure  they  were  not ;  the  clergv^men  must 


300       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


have  approved  of  them,  for  they  were  giving  smiles  :)f  ap- 
probation at  the  scenes  in  which  they  were  uttered.  Some 
kind  of  oaths  would  no  doubt  be  offensive  where  malice  and 
anger  are  the  cause,  but  innocent,  harmless  oaths  are.  by  no 
means,  inconsistent  with  true  morality. 

7.  Music,  vocal  and  instrumental.  I  heard  some  hand- 
some Scotch  airs  well  sung,  with  a  good  bass  voice  ;  also  at 
every  interlude  a  brisk  tune  upon  the  fiddle,  with  an  occa- 
sional brattle  of  the  drum  and  fife.  Indeed,  I  think  the  pro- 
ficiency of  the  youth  in  the  science  of  music  is  very  extensive, 
and  bespeaks  the  credit  of  th.eir  instructors.  Now  you  may 
remember  when  you  and  I  were  talking  about  playing  the 
fiddle,  you  told  me  that  on  the  western  side  of  the  mountains, 
since  the  late  revivals  in  religion  among  the  Presbyterians, 
a  fiddle  was  scarcely  to  be  heard  in  any  assembly — that  it  was 
not  admitted  even  at  a  wedding.  One  instance  you  gave  me 
of  the  minister  actually  interfering,  and  was  about  leaving 
the  house  when  the  voung  people  struck  up  a  tune  upon  the 
fiddle;  so  you  see  that  in  many  things  you  have  been  misin- 
formed, and  have  imbibed  quite  wrong  ideas  respecting  the 
Christian  religion. 

8.  Stage-playing.  I  saw  a  scene  or  two  acted  which  gave 
general  satisfaction  to  everybody  ;  and  I  am  more  favorable 
to  stage-playing  than  ever  before.  I  see  the  absurdity  of  your 
quotation  from  the  Westminster  Divines,  when  you  were 
arguing  with  me  upon  the  impropriety  of  stage-playing ;  you 
said  that  it  was  expressly  prohibited  in  the  Confession  of 
Faith,  page  2S8,  quest.  139.  •  Dancing,  stage-plays  are  for- 
bidden by  this  command.'  This  is  only  to  be  understood  of 
the  stage-plays  in  large  cities." 

Having  noticed  one  or  two  other  points,  the  article 
thus  concludes  : 

Having  spent  the  day  thus  happily  among  a  liberal  and 
enlightened  people,  who  all  seemed  as  pleased  and  happy  as 
myself  at  the  truly  delightful  and  entertaining  specimens  of 
the  \QTw  flattering  progress  of  their  youth   in  the  various 


IRONICAL  COMPLIMENTS. 


301 


branches — composition,  elocution,  pleading  at  the  bar,  fen- 
cing, boxing,  polite  swearing,  music,  both  vocal  and  instru- 
mental, stage-playing,  polite  blackguarding,  and  many  other 
less  important  though  elegant  accomplishments — I  left  the 
sacred  spot  amidst  the  approving  group,  with  the  following 
reflections :  Happy  people  !  at  once  the  wonder  and  envy 
of  the  world !  May  I  long  enjoy  the  happiness  of  your 
pleasing  society  !  May  I  imbibe  your  liberal  jDrinciples,  im- 
prove by  your  virtuous  example  in  all  the  various  departments 
of  a  truly  polite  and  refined  education  ;  free  from  the  vicious 
extremes  of  a  morose  philosophy,  of  a  too  rigid  morality,  and 
of  an  austere  and  squeamish  scrupulosity,  so  unbecoming  the 
benevolent  genius  of  the  Christian  religion — all  which  have 
a  native  tendency  to  freeze  the  genial  current  of  the  soul  and 
spoil  the  social  vivacity  and  mirth  of  mankind  !  Auspicious 
omen  for  the  progressive  amelioration  of  society,  far  and 
near,  by  the  diffusive  influence  of  the  salutiferous  example  of 
many  well-taught  youths  returning  to  intermingle  with  the 
various  circles  of  private  life  ;  and,  by-and-by,  as  chance  01 
choice  may  direct,  to  fill  all  the  important  offices  in  Church 
and  State.  But  time  would  fail  me  to  enumerate  all  the  pleas- 
ing and  happifying  prospects  which  such  an  extensive  and 
liberal  education  is  calculated  to  produce  upon  society  ;  wish- 
ing you  to  come  and  live  with  us  in  this  truly  happy  and 
agreeable  part  of  the  country.  I  am,  etc., 

"  Bonus  Homo." 

As  some  persons  not  connected  with  the  college  had 
previously  proposed  to  establish  a  race-course  in  the 
vicinity,  the  following  postscript  is  added  to  the  abov*i 
letter : 

P.  S.  I  was  at  a  loss  to  inform  you  whether  or  not  your 
information  was  true  about  the  horse-races :  I  was  in  town  in 
the  evening  and  inquired  after  them.  I  heard  that  previous 
to  that  day  it  was  thought  they  would  not  succeed  ;  they 
were  strenuously  opposed  ;  but  the  happy  effects  of  the  exhi- 
bition upon  the  minds  of  the  citizens  that  day  turned  the 

26 


302       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


publi:  opinion,  and  I  heard  one  gentleman  say  (who  was  till 
then  vehemently  opposed  to  horse-racing)  that  he  would  now 
give  five  dollars  to  support  the  races.  Such,  you  see,  is  the 
genuine  effect  of  true  religion." 

This  exposure  created,  as  might  be  expected,  great 
indignation  on  the  part  of  the  faculty  and  some  of  the 
friends  of  the  college.  Various  anonymous  articles 
immediately  appeared  in  defence  of  the  exhibition,  and 
against  the  aspersions  of  Bonus  Homo.  The  first  of 
these  is  from  Sarah  Hastings,  disavowing  the  author- 
ship of  Bonus  Homo,  which  she  says  had  been  imputed 
to  her  on  account  of  her  being  a  stranger  lately  arrived 
in  Washington,  and  denouncing  the  article  as  an  "in- 
direct attempt  to  crush  the  rising  honor  of  the  infant 
college,  destroy  the  influence  of  the  respectable  faculty 
— subvert  the  interests  of  vital  piety — pour  contempt  on 
the  late  revivals  of  religion,  and  cast  the  odium  due  to 
this  contumacious  conduct  upon  an  inoffensive,  unpro- 
tected and  unassuming  stranger  !  !  I" 

In  the  same  paper  a  long  article  from  "A  Friend  to 
Truth"  endeavors  to  defend  the  exhibition  on  the  ground 
*Hhat  it  is  usual  in  Western  seminaries  of  learning  thus 
to  indulge  the  students  and  amuse  their  audience  ;  that 
the  pieces  delivered  on  these  occasions  are  generally^ 
the  selections  of  the  young  men  themselves,  and  that 
at  such  times  the  students,  'freed  from  college  rules 
and  commonplace-book  reason,'  feel  an  elasticity  of 
spirit  that  laughs  at  the  gravity  of  discipline,  and 
frequently  introduce  in  the  arrangements  of  those  days 
things  which  serious  propriety  would  perhaps  have 
omitted."  The  writer  then  makes  several  efforts  to 
repel  the  ironical  compliments  of  Bonus  Homo,  admit- 
ting that  he  was  himself  offended  at  the  speech  in  ridi- 
cule of  the  Irish,  and  concludes  by  threatening  to  "in- 


REJOINDERS  OF  BONUS  HOMO.  3^3 


trude"  more  of  his  remarks  upon  the  public  if  Bonus 
Homo  should  still  persist  in  his  attempts  to  injure  the 
institution  at  Washington  by  his  misstatements  and  false 
colorings. 

In  the  next  paper,  15th  October,  Bonus  Homo  replies 
CO  Mrs.  Hastings,  releasing  her  from  the  charge  of 
authorship,  insisting  upon  the  correctness  of  his  report, 
and  exposing  the  futility  of  her  attempt  to  defend  the 
exhibition.  In  the  Reporter  of  the  22d,  Bonus  Homo 
replies  to  "A  Friend  to  Truth,"  showing  that  the  latter 
really  admits  the  facts  stated,  and  differs  from  Bonus 
Homo  only  in  thinking  them  justifiable.  He  denies 
that  he  is  an  enemy  to  literary  institutions  or  to  a 
liberal  education,  and  declares  himself  an  advocate  for 
a  reform  in  the  present  mode  of  academic  education. 
With  regard  to  the  excuse  offered  by  "A  Friend  to 
Truth,"  that  "the  pieces,  dialogues,  etc.,  on  these  occa- 
sions are  generally  the  selections  of  the  young  men 
themselves,  and  meet  with  merely  a  hasty,  cursory 
examination  by  the  faculty,"  he  thus  speaks : 

What  a  stab  this,  at  the  institution  !  !  !  To  declare  that 
the  boys  are  left  to  do  as  they  please  ;  to  follow  the  dictates  of 
juvenile  fancy — of  puerile  folly,  unrestrained,  unchecked  by 
the  salutiferous  admonition  of  prudent,  experienced  age — that 
they  are  permitted  to  expose  themselves  and  the  faculty, 
through  the  indolence  of  the  faculty  !  !  !  Name  it  not !  I  am 
persuaded  the  faculty  do  not  act  so  indiscreetly.  They  must 
examine,  approve  and  regulate  both  the  matter  and  the 
manner  of  the  exhibition,  else  it  would  be  a  scene  of  confu- 
sion, an  exhibition  of  all  the  possible  irregularities  and 
eccentricities  of  human  nature." 

In  the  conclusion  he  offers  to  enter  into  discussion 
with  '*A  Friend  to  Truth"  on  certain  conditions,  and 
engages  to  show  "the  impropriety,  inconsistency  and 


304       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


pernicious  tendency  of  the  major  -part  of  the  matter 
and  manner  of  such  exhibitions,  and  the  great  default 
in  the  present  mode  of  education.  He  also  proposes  to 
point  out  what,  in  his  judgment,  and  in  the  judgment 
of  greatest^  wisest  and  best  of  men,  would  be  more 
desirable,  more  useful  and  more  beneficial  to  individuals 
and  the  community  at  large."  To  this  article  he  ap- 
pends a  long  descriptive  poem,  setting  forth,  satirically, 
the  distinguishing  features  of  the  exhibition. 

In  the  next  paper,  29th  October,  the  discussion  is 
continued  with  a  weak  rejoinder  from  Sarah  Hastings, 
consisting  of  mere  invective,  and  with  a  puerile  squib 
from  a  new  correspondent,  who  signs  himself  Bonus 
Puer.  In  the  issue  of  the  5th  of  November,  we  have 
a  badly-spelled  article  by  a  student,  dated  at  Canons- 
burg,  in  favor  of  the  exhibition,  and  also  the  reply  of 
Bonus  Homo  to  Mrs.  Hastings.  On  the  12th  Novem- 
ber, "A  Friend  to  Truth"  appears  again  upon  the  stage 
in  an  article  of  two  columns,  full  of  abuse  and  feeble 
attempts  at  sarcasm,  and  declining  the  discussion  offeree"! 
by  Bonus  Homo.  In  the  next  week's  issue,  Bonu.r 
Homo  renews  his  onslaught.  Quoting  the  announce 
ment  of  the  exercises  given  in  the  beginning,  he  adopts 
it  as  his  text,  and  shows  that  proceeding,  as  it  doubtless 
did,  from  the  faculty  or  some  friend  of  the  college,  it 
really  admitted  everything  that  he  had  charged  upon 
the  exhibition.  Referring  to  what  is  said  in  this  notice 
that  "a  rich  variety  of  entertainment,  suited  to  the 
varied  tastes  of  the  audience,  was  presented — the 
gay  and  the  grave,  the  young  and  the  old,  w^ise  men 
and  fools  had  each  a  portion  meted  out  to  them" — he 
thus  comments  : 

"  What  a  comprehensive  ingenuity,  what  a  .prudent  for,  - 
sight,  what  a  large  assortment  of  materials  does  it  require  10 


SPECIMENS  OF  EDUCATION. 


suit  an  exhibition  to  the  '  varied  tastes'  of  such  a  motley 
audience  !  What  a  wonderful  exhibition  was-  it,  when  the 
old,  the  voung.  the  gav,  the  grave,  the  wise  man,  the  fool,  the 
drunkard,  the  duelist,  the  gambler,  the  swearer  and  the  fop. 
all  found  something  suited  to  their  respective  tastes!  The 
gay  had  a  pleasant  tune  and  a  merry  tale  sta'ted  to  their  gay 
taste  ;  the  wise  men  had  but  a  small  portion  suited  to  their 
taste.  I  don't  remember  what  it  was,  except  to  gather  experi- 
mental knowledge  from  the  exhibition  of  folly.  The  fool  had 
a  vast  portion  suited  to  his  taste.  The  drunkard  had  the 
flowing  bowl  set  before  him  to  tantalize  his  taste,  and  a  jovial 
drunken  song  suited  to  his  bacchanalian  taste.  A  duel  was 
fought  to  gratify  the  dueler's  taste.  The  gambler  groaned 
under  the  lash  of  satire  ;  and  the  swearer  had  some  good 
round  oaths  suited  to  his  taste.  But,  in  one  word,  the  faculty 
assures  us  there  was  something  *  suited  to  their  varied  tastes.^ 
*  *  *  #  It  only  remains  for  me  to  prove  that  these  things 
are  actually  taught  at  the  academy,  as  there  is  no  person  who 
will  dare  to  contradict  the  honorable  faculty,  and  say  these 
things  were  not  exhibited. 

"And  here  let  it  be  carefully  noted  that  Bonus  Homo  did 
not  say  that  these  were  the  c>??/)/ things  taught  in  the  academy, 
but  that  these  things  were  taught ;  and  it  is  as  certain  that 
they  were  the  only  specimens  of  education  which  were  ex- 
hibited that  day.  On  this  head,  the  fjicultv  say  that  '  the 
various  portions  meted  out  consisted  of  well-composed  pieces, 
original  and  selected.'  Which  of  the  pieces  presented  were 
original  or  selected,  is  not  my  business  to  determine.  It  is 
certain,  however,  that  the  pieces  were  composed  and  selected 
either  at  the  direction  and  discretion  of  the  faculty,  01  else 
the  young  men  were  left  entirely  to  follow  the  dictates  of 
juvenile  fancy  ;  but  is  it  possible  to  imagine  that  the  learned 
faculty  would  invite  the  public  to  witness  an  exhibition  of 
the  performance  of  the  youths  under  their  care,  which  would 
consist  in  specimens  in  the  selection  and  preparation  of  which 
they  would  be  understood  to  have  had  no  hand,  or  which  did 
not  meet  with  their  previous  approbation  }  It  is  also  as  certain 
VOL.  I. — U  26  * 


3o6       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


that  sufficient  time  must  have  been  allowed  for  the  purpose 
of  committing  the  pieces  to  memory  and  for  preparatory 
rehearsals,  which  could  not  be  done  without  the  tuition  of 
the  faculty.  Who  will  then  venture  to  assert,  in  manifest 
opposition  to  the  indispensable  duties  and  just  claims  of  the 
faculty  and  to  the  dictates  of  common  sense,  that  these  things 
were  not  taught  in  the  college  which  furnished  the  matter  of 
a  collegiate  exhibition?  Having  thus  plainly^  fully  and  in- 
controvertibly  established  my  compendious  account  of  the 
far-famed  exhibition  from  the  public  declaration  of  the 
faculty  themselves,  it  therefore  follows  that  whosoever  shall 
hereafter  endeavor  to  subvert  my  statements  in  one  single 
item,  must  also  subvert  the  faculty's  publication,  as  we  both 
substantially  declare  the  same  things." 

The  end  to  this  amusing  discussion  is  found  in  the 
Re-porter  of  3d  of  December,  1810,  where  Bonus 
Homo  gives  the  finishing  stroke  to  the  champion  of 
the  faculty,  "A  Friend  to  Truth,"  exposing  his  per- 
sonal scurrilities  and  lampoons,  and  his  misrepresenta- 
tions of  facts  and  want  of  critical  acumen.  Among 
other  things,  he  notices  an  imputation  of  ingratitude  by 
this  writer,  who  had  said  : 

"  I  must  add  abhorrence  to  that  wretched  ingratitude  which 
would  raise  his  hand  to  destroy  his  benefactor."  To  this 
Bonus  Homo  replies,  I  imagine  he  here  means  the  presi- 
dent. There  is  to  me  something  mysterious  in  this  allegation, 
for,  in  the  next  sentence,  he  considers  me  a  person  scarcely 
an  inhabitant  of  the  country.  Now,  I  can  assure  you,  sir, 
and  the  public,  that,  till  my  arrival  at  Washington,  I  did  not 
know  that  such  a  person  existed,  so  narrow  were  the  bounds 
of  his  fame,  or  so  weak  was  the  voice  of  the  hundred-tongued 
damsel  (or  perhaps  she  had  been  asleep),  that  his  name  did 
never  greet  my  ears.  And  I  can  certainly  avow  that,  since 
my  arrival  here,  I  am  not  conscious  of  receiving  the  smallest 
favoi  fiom  that  gentleman.    Ho\a  then  recognize  him  as  my 


PRELUSIVE  DIALECTICS. 


benefactor?  for  surely  if  he  be  such  to  me,  it  must  have  been 
previDus  to  my  arrival  here,  and  of  course  without  my  know- 
ledge ;  and  if  so,  unless  he  has  entirely  forfeited  my  grati- 
tude, I  hold  myself  still  his  grateful  beneficiary.  But  I  again 
aver  I  never  recognized  him  then,  nor,  although  better  ac- 
quainted with  him  now,  do  I  consider  him  in  the  light  of  a 
benefactor.  But  even  if  I  had  considered  him  as  sucii,  still 
I  hold  myself  entirely  iimocent  of  having  acted  toward  him 
in  any  respect  that  should  render  me  justly  liable  to  the 
charge  of  ingratitude.  For  certainly  gratitude  itself  does 
not  oblige  one  to  acquiesce  in  the  faults  and  errors  of  a  bene- 
factor, nor  tie  up  the  hands  from  opposing  him  in  a  public 
station  when  he  acts  improperly.  I  should  here  distinguish 
with  the  famous  Roman  of  old,  and  say  with  him,  '  As  he 
was  my  friend,  I  loved  him  ;  as  he  was  honorable,  I  revered 
him  ;  but  as  he  acted  improperly,  I  blamed  him  !'  Here,  then, 
was  gratitude  for  his  benefaction,  respect  for  his  dignity,  and 
reproof  for  his  misconduct." 

He  finally  closed  by  renewing  his  challenge  to  dis- 
cuss the  subject  with  any  gentleman  who  would  come 
forward  in  the  proper  manner.  To  this  no  reply  was 
made,  and  Bonus  Homo  remained  the  undisputed 
master  of  the  field. 

It  is  said  of  Samson  that,  when  a  lad,  the  Spirit  of 
the  Lord  began  to  move  him  at  times  to  exercise  his 
gift  of  physical  prowess,  "  in  the  camp  of  Dan,  between 
Zorah  and  Eshtaol."  Thus,  by  a  natural  impulse,  was 
Alexander  Campbell  in  his  youth,  led  to  exercise  those 
l  emarkable  powers  of  mind  for  which  he  became  after- 
ward so  distinguished,  and  in  this  victory  over  the 
faculty  of  the  college  he  enjoyed  a  foretaste  of  his 
future  triumphs.  For  it  was  not  possible  in  a  small 
town  like  Washington,  that  the  authorship  of  Bonus 
Homo  could  remain  long  in  doubt,  and  the  pieces,  by 
common  consent,  were  attributed  to  the  young  Irishman 


3o8       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


who  had  arrived,  some  months  before,  from  Glasgow 
University.  One  morning,  he  happened  to  be  standing 
in  one  of  the  stores,  when  Mr.  Brown,  the  principal  of 
the  college,  came  in.  "Well,  Mr.  Bonus  Homo."  said 
he,  I  hope  you  are  well  this  morning."  At  this  ab- 
rupt greeting,  Alexander  blushed  deeply,  for  he  was  at 
this  time  of  a  very  fair  complexion,  but  he  managed,  in 
respectfully  returning  the  salutation,  to  evade  the  matter 
without  acknowledging  himself  the  author:  which, 
indeed,  was  quite  unnecessary. 

As  to  the  effect  of  the  exposure  made,  it  was  un- 
doubtedlv  beneficial  to  the  cause  of  good  order  and 
correct  education  :  and  remained  long  in  remembrance 
through  that  region  of  country  as  a  warning  against 
similar  improprieties.  Even  conceding  that  the  matters 
involved  were  of  minor  importance,  the  incidents  re- 
lated in  this  chapter  show  that  Alexander  had,  as  has 
been  well  said  of  Luther,  "an  inflexible  reliance  on 
the  conclusions  of  his  own  understanding  and  on  the 
energy  of  his  own  will,"  which  striking  traits  in  his 
character,  already  thus  developed,  will  be  found  con- 
stantly to  display  themselves  in  his  future  history. 

In  closing  this  episode  in  his  life,  it  is  pleasing  to 
relate,  in  connection  with  it,  the  following  incident : 
More  than  thirty  years  after  these  occurrences,  when 
Mr,  Campbell  had  attained  a  high  distinction  as  a 
writer  and  a  public  speaker,  he  was  invited  by  one  of 
the  literary  societies  of  Washington  College,  to  deliver 
an  address.  Soon  after  his  arrival  at  Washington  for 
the  purpose.  Rev.  Mr.  Brown,  now  quite  advanced  in 
years,  called  upon  him  at  his  hotel,  and  after  a  very 
cordial  greeting  and  some  pleasant  conversation,  said 
to  him  with  a  smile,  and  laying  his  hand  upon  his  knee 
in  his  pleasant  familiar  way.  ''Mr.  Campbell,  do  you 


A  PLEASANT  INTERVIEW. 


remember  Bonus  Homo?"  "Yes."  replied  Mr.  Camp- 
bell, laughing,  "I  remember  him."  "  Well."  continued 
Mr.  Brown,  "Mr.  Campbell,  you  were  entirely  right  in 
your  strictures.  There  is  no  doubt  that  you  were  per- 
fectly right.  I  must  admit  that  we  were  wrong,  and 
the  onlv  excuse  I  have  to  offer  is,  that  the  circumstances 
and  manners  of  the  time  seemed  then  to  us  to  author- 
ize a  degree  of  license  \A  hich  would  not  at  present  be 
tolerated.  There  were  then  many  defects  in  our  sys- 
tem ;  but  it  seemed  impossible  to  do  otherwise.  The 
country  was  new,  and  the  people  unprepared  for  strict 
scholastic  discipline,  so  that  many  things  had  to  be  left 
imperfect,  and  you  were  well  justified  in  all  your  criti- 
cisms." This  was  a  very  pleasant  interview  to  Mr. 
Campbell,  who  always  cherished  a  high  esteem  for 
Mr.  Brown,  on  account  of  his  many  excellent  personal 
qualities  and  his  remarkable  zeal  in  behalf  of  the  in- 
terests of  education,  to  which  he  was  incessantly  de- 
voted. He  was  a  warm  friend  to  young  men,  ever 
solicitous  for  their  advancement,  and  an  ever-active 
guardian  of  their  interests ;  so  that  the  memory  of 
President  Brown  is  held  in  affectionate  regard  by  manv 
in  the  West,  who  enjoyed  the  benefit  of  his  labors,  both 
at  Washington  and  at  Canonsburg,  where  he  was  sub- 
sequently for  a  long  time  president  of  Jefferson  College. 

While  the  matters  above  recorded  were  transpiring, 
various  overtures  were  made  both  to  Thomas  Campbell 
and  to  Alexander  to  induce  them  to  unite  with  the 
relijjious  bodies  around  them.  Flatterincr  inducements 
were  held  out  to  iVlexander  particularly,  to  enter  the 
ministry  among  them,  and  devote  his  talents  to  denomi- 
national interests.  Various  proposals  were  also  made 
to  them  in  regard  to  the  establishment  of  seminaries. 
All  these  offers  and  earnest  solicitations  were,  however, 


3IO       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


at  once  declined.  Both  father  and  son  were  unalterably 
devoted  to  the  great  work  they  had  undertaken — to 
break  down  the  barriers  of  religious  partyism,  and  to 
restore  the  Church  to  its  pristine  unity — and  could  not 
think  of  abandoning  these  cherished  objects.  Alex- 
ander had  said  in  one  of  his  replies  to  "A  Friend  to 
Truth,"  when  charged  by  him  with  seeking,  by  attack- 
ing the  college,  to  prepare  the  way  for  establishing  an 
academy  at  Washington:  "However  honorable  and 
important,  in  my  estimation,  a  collegiate  department 
may  be,  I  have  not  the  least  inclination  of  devoting 
myself  to  that  business.  I  conceive  one  calling  to  be 
enough  for  one  man :  I  have  made  my  choice,  and 
mean  to  abide  by  it.  I  therefore  envy  no  man's  situa- 
tion, nor  covet  his  employment."  He  had  already  con- 
secrated his  life  and  his  abilities  to  the  noblest  of 
human  pursuits,  and  in  whatever  he  might  occasionally 
engage  as  collateral  or  subsidiary,  nothing  could  be 
permitted  to  interrupt  the  labors  of  his  appropriate 
calling. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 


First  Public  Attempt — Active  Labors — Methodical  Training — Application  to 
Synod  of  Pittsburg — Controversy  of  Truth  and  Error. 

THE  "Christian  Association,"  formed  for  the  pur- 
poses specified  in  the  "Declaration  and  Address," 
had  occasioned  no  small  stir  in  religious  circles.  Many 
of  the  people  were  pleased  with  the  objects  in  view,  and 
several  ministers,  personal  friends  of  Thomas  Camp- 
bell, expressed  their  approbation  of  the  movement,  but 
refrained  from  taking  an  active  part  in  it  until  they 
could  be  more  assured  of  its  success.  Others  of  the 
clergy  were  in  doubt,  or  regarded  the  project  as  chi- 
merical ;  but  the  more  knowing  ones  among  them, 
mindful  of  the  effects  of  similar  efforts  to  reform, 
began  to  take  the  alarm  and  to  keep  a  watchful  eye 
upon  the  progress  of  affairs.  To  propositions  for  Chris- 
tian union  so  kindly  offered,  they  could,  indeed,  make 
no  direct  opposition,  nor  could  they  fail  to  realize  that 
a  certain  degree  of  respect  was  due  to  a  society, 
many  of  whose  members  were  conspicuous  for  piety, 
and  possessed  of  great  influence  in  the  community. 
No  minister  stood  higher,  as  respected  ability  and  moral 
and  religious  worth,  than  Thomas  Campbell.  No  man 
in  the  county  of  Washington  had  more  influence  than 
Thomas  Acheson,  whose  signature  was  attached,  along 
with  that  of  Mr.  Campbell,  to  the  "Declaration  and 
Address.'     He  was  usually  called  General  Acheson, 

3" 


312       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL, 


being  Lieutenant  Colonel  Commandant  of  the  Twenty- 
second  Regiment  Pennsylvania  Militia,  and  was  uni- 
versally esteemed  and  actively  engaged  in  everything 
calculated  to  promote  the  public  interests.  Besides 
these,  there  were  other  influential  persons  and  lamihes, 
more  or  less  connected  with  the  religious  i:ommunities 
around,  whose  character  and  standing  gave  a  consider- 
aole  degree  of  importance  to  the  Association  in  the 
estimation  of  the  religious  public. 

At  the  time  of  its  organization  (August  i7,  1809),  a 
regular  semi-annual  meeting  of  the  Society  had  been 
appointed  for  the  first  Thursday  of  May  and  of  No- 
vember ;  but,  as  formerly  stated,  Thomas  Campbell 
continued  to  preach,  as  usual,  on  every  Lord's  day, 
tirst  at  private  houses  and  afterward  at  the  meeting- 
house erected  at  the  cross-roads.  Alexander,  after  his 
arrival,  always  attended  his  father's  meetings,  and  as 
he  had  already  signified  his  determination  to  engage  in 
the  proposed  reformation,  his  father,  after  some  time, 
began  to  express  the  wish  that  he  would  take  some 
public  part  in  these  meetings.  From  his  youthfulness, 
however,  and  the  fact  that  he  was  as  yet  unaccustomed 
to  public  speaking,  this  was  for  some  time  delayed, 
until  at  length,  in  the  spring  of  1810,  his  father  being 
about  to  address  a  congregation  at  a  private  house 
(Jacob  Donaldson's),  told  him  that  after  preaching  he 
would  have  a  short  intermission,  and  would  expect  him 
afterward  to  address  the  people.  Accordingly,  after 
the  meeting  was  resumed,  Alexander  arose  and  spoke 
for  a  short  time,  chiefly,  however,  in  the  way  of  ex- 
hortation. His  father  appeared  to  be  much  pleased, 
and  at  the  close  of  his  son's  remarks,  said,  as  it  were,- 
involuntarily,  but  loud  enough  to  be  heard  by  those 
sitting  near,  "  Very  well,"  and  then  went  on  to  close  the 


FIJiST  PUBLIC  DISCOURSE. 


3'3 


meeting.  This  was  really  Alexander's  first  attempt  at 
speaking  ;  and  although  his  remarks  were  brief  and  not 
in  the  usual  form  of  a  regular  sermon,  the  result  in- 
spired him  with  confidence,  so  that,  upon  being  after- 
ward urged  to  prepare  and  deliver  a  public  discourse, 
he  agreed  to  do  so,  and  an  appointment  was  made  for 
him  for  the  15th  of  July,  to  address  those  who  chose  to 
assemble,  in  a  grove  on  the  farm  of  Major  Templeton, 
some  eight  miles  from  Washington. 

The  previous  labors  of  Thomas  Campbell,  and  the 
novelty  of  the  plea  urged  by  the  Christian  Association, 
had  excited,  as  before  stated,  considerable  inquiry 
throughout  this  region  of  country.  The  interest  pre- 
vailing and  the  expectation  which  had  been  created  by 
rumors  of  the  promising  abilities  possessed  by  Alex- 
ander, had  drawn  together  in  the  grove  quite  a  large 
assemblage  to  hear  the  first  discourse  of  the  youthful 
preacher.  He  was  now  in  his  twenty-second  year, 
still  preserving  the  freshness  of  complexion  and  bloom 
of  the  cheeks  with  which  he  left  Ireland  ;  but  he  had 
grown  somewhat  taller,  and  his  figure  was  somewhat 
more  developed.  When  the  hour  arrived,  he  rose  up 
with  modest  dignity,  in  the  temporary  stand  erected  for 
the  occasion,  in  front  of  which  the  audience  were  seated 
upon  rough  planks  or  upon  the  grass  beneath  the  shadv 
maples,  and,  the  meeting  being  opened  in  the  usual 
form,  he  took  up  the  New  Testament  and  read,  from 
the  close  of  the  seventh  chapter  of  Matthew,  the  follow- 
ing passage : 

Therefore,  whosoever  heareth  these  sayings  of  mine  and 
doeth  them,  I  will  liken  him  unto  a  wise  man,  who  built  his 
house  upon  a  rock  ;  and  the  rain  descended,  and  the  floods 
came,  and  the  winds  blew,  and  beat  upon  that  house,  and  it 
fell  not,  for  it  was  founded  upon  a  rock.    And  everv  one 

27 


314       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


that  heareth  these  sa}  ings  of  mine,  and  doeth  them  not,  I 
will  liken  unto  a  foolish  man,  who  built  his  house  upon  the 
sand  ;  and  the  rain  descended,  and  the  floods  came,  and  the 
winds  blew,  and  beat  upon  that  house,  and  it  fell,  and  great 
was  the  fall  of  it." 

Having  read  thus  from  the  twenty-fourth  to  the 
twenty-seventh  verses  inclusive,  he  went  on,  by  way  of 
introduction,  to  speak,  first,  of  the  importance  of  Christ's 
sayings ;  passing,  secondly,  to  a  brief  notice  of  tlie 
Author  of  the  sermon  on  the  Mount,  he,  in  the  third 
place,  called  attention  to  the  comprehensiveness  of  this 
wonderful  discourse  of  Christ,  and,  fourthly,  to  its  prac- 
tical character;  and  thence,  fifthly,  to  its  simplicity  and 
plainness  of  style,  closing  his  introduction  with  some 
observations  on  Christ's  method  of  teaching  by  parables. 
Entering,  then,  upon  the  main  subject,  in  order  to 
evolve  the  doctrine  or  lesson  taught,  he  went  on  to 
describe  the  wise  man  and  the  foolish  man  ;  first,  con- 
trasting them  with  each  other  as  to  the  respects  in  which 
they  agreed,  and,  secondly,  as  to  the  respects  in  which 
they  differed.  He  showed  that  they  agreed  in  three 
respects:  i,  in  their  external  privileges,  2,  in  their 
employment,  3,  in  their  trials;  and  likewise  that  they 
differed  in  three  respects:  i,  in  their  character,  2,  in 
their  manner  of  employment,  3,  in  the  end  or  result. 
While  treating  of  these  particulars,  he  took  occasion  to 
explain  the  metaphorical  words,  house,  rock,  sand, 
wind,  rain,  etc.,  and  having  thus  led  the  audience  to 
contemplate  the  "«nvid  pictures  presented  in  the  passage, 
he  proceeded^  ii.  his  application,  to  describe,  first,  the 
wisdom  and  blessedness  of  those  who  hear  Christ's 
sayings  and  do  them ;  and,  secondly,  the  folly  and 
misery  of  those  who  hear  Christ's  sayings  and  do  them 
not.     He  then  made  an  application  of  the  whole  to  the 


CHAR  A  C  TERIS  TIC  TEA  ITS. 


audience  before  him,  closing  with  an  eloquent  and 
appropriate  exhortation. 

In  the  delivery  of  this  discourse,  the  trepidation 
natural  in  such  a  case,  and  observable  in  the  begin- 
ning, soon  disappeared.  Anxious  to  succeed  in  his 
first  trial,  he  had  taken  the  pains  to  write  out  the  ser- 
mon in  full  and  commit  it  to  memory,  so  that  finding, 
after  he  had  fairly  commenced,  and  as  his  clear,  ring- 
ing voice  resounded  through  the  grove,  that  he  could 
command  the  fixed  attention  of  the  audience,  he  felt 
encouraged,  and  was  enabled  to  proceed  without  em- 
barassment  and  with  increasing  animation  to  the  close. 

There  was,  indeed,  in  the  matter  of  the  discourse 
nothing  that  was  startling  from  its  novelty,  as  the  pas- 
sage and  the  subject  were  familiar.  The  arrangement, 
too,  was  simple,  as  well  as  the  manner  of  delivery, 
which  was  almost  wholly  without  gesticulation.  But 
there  was  something  in  the  reverential  bearing  of  the 
speaker,  in  the  unaflfected  simplicity  of  his  manner, 
in  the  appropriateness  of  his  expressions,  and  in  the 
earnest  and  distinct  intonations  of  his  clear  and  com- 
manding voice,  that  seemed  to  rivet  the  attention  of  all 
upon  the  thoughts  and  the  pictures  he  presented.  Nor 
did  the  discourse  itself,  in  its  general  features,  fail  to 
indicate  that  quality  in  his  mind  which  became  after- 
ward so  marked — the  power  of  generalization,  and  of 
taking  wide  and  expanded  views.  Before  entering 
upon  the  particular  lesson  of  the  passage,  he  must 
survey,  with  an  enlarged  vision,  the  infinite  perfections 
and  authority  of  the  Divine  Author,  and  take  a  general 
view  of  the  character  of  his  teaching,  and  particularly 
of  that  of  the  sermon  on  the  Mount.  Having  thus 
prepared  the  minds  of  his  auditors,  and  elevated  their 
conceptions  to  his  own  lofty  stand-point,  he  could  now, 


3l6       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXAXDER  CAMPBELT-. 


with  the  utmost  facility  and  effect,  fix  their  atttntion 
upon  the  great  truths  and  practical  lessons  which  were 
to  be  impressed  upon  them. 

After  the  audience  was  dismissed,  there  seemed  to  be 
but  one  opinion  as  to  the  qualifications  of  the  speaker. 
A.11  seemed  to  be  forcibly  struck  with  what  they  had 
heard.  The  young  gazed  upon  the  youth  with  wonder- 
ing eyes,  while  the  older  members  said  one  to  another, 
in  subdued  tones,  "Why,  this  is  a  better  preacher  than 
his  tather  I" — a  decision  which,  in  view  of  Thomas 
Campbell's  reputation  as  a  speaker,  was  one  of  the 
highest  compliments  they  could  bestow.  Both  the 
theme  selected  for  the  occasion,  indeed,  and  the  sur- 
rounding circumstances,  seemed  remarkably  appropri- 
ate, and  as  if  Providence  had  so  arrantjed  them  in 
order  to  shadow  forth  the  future.  It  was  the  determi- 
nation of  the  speaker  himself  to  hear  the  sayings  of 
Christ  and  do  them,  and,  in  now  entering  upon  his 
career  as  a  religious  reformer,  to  teach  both  by  precept 
and  example  that  the  religious  world  should  no  longer 
follow  the  commandments  and  doctrines  of  men,  which 
rest  upon  the  sandy  and  unstable  basis  of  opinion,  but 
that  they  should  secure  for  themselves  permanent  habi- 
tations, founded  upon  the  unshaken  rock  of  Divine 
authority.  Nor  was  it  less  appropriate  that  he  who 
was  destined  to  call  men  away  from  human  plans  and 
systems  should  deliver  his  first  discourse,  not  in  an}' 
sectarian  temple  or  place  of  worship  built  by  human 
hands,  but  in  the  open  air  of  free  America  and  be- 
neath the  overarching  trees  which  God  had  planted. 

The  effect  of  this  discourse  was  very  marked,  not 
onlv  upon  the  people,  but  upon  the  speaker  himself. 
With  the  former,  it  at  once  established  his  reputadon, 
and   the  members  of  the  Christian  Association  who 


MINISTERIAL  LABORS. 


were  present  were  delighted  with  this  powerful  acces- 
sion lo  their  cause,  and  unanimously  agreed  to  present 
to  the  youthful  preacher  a  formal  call  to  the  ministry  of 
the  Word.  Upon  himself,  the  effect  was  not  less  deci- 
sive. He  realized,  to  his  great  joy,  that  he  had  not 
mistaken  his  vocation.  He  felt  that  in  addressing  the 
great  congregation  upon  themes  that  had  impressed  his 
lu^art  from  boyhood  and  brightened  the  visions  of  his 
youth,  he  was  in  his  proper  sphere,  and  that  all  the 
hopes  and  purposes  of  his  life  were  destined  to  be 
happily  fulfilled.  From  this  time  his  services  were  in 
continual  requisition,  and  they  were,  on  his  part,  most 
freely  rendered,  as  will  be  seen  when  it  is  stated  that  in 
the  course  of  this,  his  first  year,  he  preached  no  less 
tlian  one  hundred  and  six  sermons.  These  were  de- 
livered at  the  cross-roads  ;  at  Washington,  and  at  Buf- 
falo— several  at  Middletown  ;  some  in  private  houses, 
and,  toward  the  latter  part  of  the  period,  a  few  in  the 
contiguous  portions  of  Ohio,  at  Steubenville,  Cadiz,  St. 
Clairsville,  etc. 

His  first  discourse,  just  noticed,  was  on  July  15th. 
On  the  following  Lord's  day,  22d,  he  spoke  at  the 
cross-roads,  from  Gal.  iii.  28,  29,  upon  Christian  unity. 
In  liis  introduction  he  took  a  grand,  comprehensive 
view  of  religion  from  Adam  to  Christ ;  and,  in  the 
method  of  his  discourse,  went  on,  i.  To  point  out  how 
and  in  what  respects  all  believers  were  one  in  Christ 
Jesus  ;  2.  To  consider  how  their  being  all  one  in  Christ 
makes  them  the  seed  of  Abraham  ;  3.  To  make  some 
remuiks  on  what  is  implied  in  being  heirs  according  to 
the  promise  ;  and,  4.  To  make  some  practical  inferences. 
He  then  considered  the  particulars  under  each  of  these 
heads  ;  as,  the  arguments  made  use  of  by  the  apostle 
to  convince  both  Jews  and  Gentiles  of  their  oneness  in 

27  * 


3lS       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


everj'  respect  under  the  Christian  dispensation,  and 
then  the  similitudes  made  use  of  to  represent  the  one- 
ness of  beHevers  in  Christ:  i.  Members  of  the  same 
body,  2.  Branches  of  the  same  vine,  3.  Stones  of  the 
same  building,  and,  4.  As  represented  under  the  emblem 
of  a  shepherd  and  his  fold.  Having,  in  like  manner, 
illustrated  scripturally  the  second  and  third  heads,  he 
drew  from  the  whole  the  practical  inferences:  "i.  If 
all  believers  be  one  in  Christ  Jesus,  what  love,  what 
charity,  what  benevolence,  what  forbearance  ought  to 
be  manifested!  2.  How  shall  we  be  honored  if  mem- 
bers of  Christ's  body!  and,  3.  How  foolish,  vain  and 
absurd  are  all  associations  formed  for  the  purpose  of 
cementing  men  more  closely  by  means  of  oaths  !"  add- 
ing an  exhortation  to  seek  this  oneness  in  Christ ;  and 
closing  with  regrets  for  the  divided  state  of  the  Church, 
and  with  a  brief  consideration  of  the  motives  for  re- 
joicing in  being  heirs  according  to  the  promise.  This 
sermon  also  was  written  out  in  full  and  committed  to 
memory  before  delivery ;  and,  being  on  a  subject  so 
appropriate  to  the  designs  of  the  Christian  Association, 
was  heard  by  the  audience  with  great  satisfaction. 

On  the  following  Lord's  day,  the  29th  of  Jul}^  he 
preached  at  Washington  from  Matt.  xvi.  26:  "For 
what  is  a  man  profited  if  he  shall  gain  the  whole  world 
and  lose  his  own  soul?  or  what  shall  a  man  give  in  ex- 
change for  his  soul?"  In  the  introduction  he  dwelt 
generally  upon  the  tendency  of  mankind  to  forget  their 
best  interests  and  the  value  of  their  souls,  and  to  put  a 
false  estimate  upon  the  worth  of  the  world.  The 
method  of  the  discourse  was:  "  i.  What  are  we  to 
understand  by  the  whole  world,  here  supposed  to  be  the 
object  of  pursuit — the  thing  to  be  gained?  2.  Inquire 
if  the  gain  of  the  world  necessarily  implies  the  loss  of 


SERMON  ON  FINAL  JUDGMENT. 


the  soul.  3.  Inquire  into  the  greatness  of  the  loss  sus- 
tained by  him  who  should  gain  the  whole  world  and 
lose  his  own  soul.  4.  Examine  "what  is  necessarily 
presupposed  and  implied  in  so  loving  the  world  that  it 
may  become  the  unhappy  occasion  of  losing  our  souls. 
5.  Make  an  appropriate  application."  This  discourse 
was  also  written  out  in  full  and  committed  to  memory, 
and  was  delivered  a  second  time  at  Buffalo,  on  the  5th 
of  August.  On  the  19th  of  August  he  preached  again 
at  Washington.  The  minutes  of  this  sermon  are  as 
follows  : 

"  Revelation  xx.  11  :  And  I  saw  a  great  white  throne^  etc. 
Introduction,  with  remarks  on  the  nature  and  solemnity  of 
judgment  in  general. 

Method. — I.  Describe  the  preparations  made  for  judg- 
ment. II.  The  appearance  of  the  Judge.  III.  The  persons 
to  be  judged.  IV.  The  manner  in  which  they  were  judged, 
v.  -  The  subject  of  trial. 

The  text  thus  divided : — (i.)  "And  I  saw  a  great  white 
throne."  (2.)  "And  him  who  sat  on  it,  from  whose  face  the 
earth  and  heaven  fled  away."  (3.)  "And  the  Sea  gave  up 
the  dead  that  were  in  it,  and  Death  and  Hell  delivered  up  the 
dead  that  were  in  them,  and  I  saw  the  dead,  small  and  great, 
stand  before  God."  (4.)  "And  the  books  were  opened,  and 
another  book  was  opened,  which  was  the  book  of  life."  (5.) 
"And  they  were  judged,  every  man  according  to  his  works." 

I.  Particulars  under  first  head. — i.  The  throne — how  to 
be  understood.  2.  The  greatness  of  it.  3.  Its  whiteness — 
emblem  of  purity  and  righteousness. 

II.  Particulars  under  second  head.  —  The  Judge  de- 
scribed. 

III.  Particulars  under  third  head. — What  we  understand 
by  small  and  great — the  Sea,  Death  and  Hell  giving  up 
their  dead. 

IV.  Particulars  under  fourth  head. —  i.  The  Book  of 
the  law  of  Nature.    2.  The  Book  of  the  law  of  Moses.  3.- 


320        MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


The  Book  of  the  hivv  of  the  Gospel.  4.  The  Book  of  God's 
Remembrance.  5.  The  Book  of  Conscience.  6.  The  Book 
of  Life. 

V.  Particulars  under  jifth  head. — The  subject  of  trial ; 
the  works  of  man. 

Inferences: — i.  The  necessity  of  being  well  acquainted 
with  the  statute-book  of  Heaven,  to  know  how  the  trial 
will  go  with  us. 

3.  The  necessity  of  being  well  acquainted  with  our  own 
.oughts,  words  and  actions. 

3.  A  general  application  of  the  whole  subject. 

This  discourse  was  also  committed  to  memory,  and 
was  delivered  a  second  time  at  Buffalo  on  the  26th. 
The  subject  of  which  it  treats  seems  to  have  been  a 
favorite  one  with  him,  and  he  often  dwelt  upon  it  during 
his  subsequent  public  ministrations  ;  hence,  as  it  was 
among  the  earliest,  so  it  was  among  the  latest  on  which 
he  spoke  at  the  close  of  his  protracted  ministry. 

On  the  second  of  September,  he  preached  at  the 
cross-roads,  from  Genesis  v.  22  :  '*And  Enoch  walked 
with  God."  Introduced  by  remarks  on  the  life  of 
Enoch. 

Method. — I.  What  changes  must  previously  take  place  a^ 
of  indispensable  necessity  before  the  walk  with  God  com- 
mences. II.  Explain  the  nature  and  evidences  of  the  walk 
with  God.    III.  Draw  some  inferences. 

I.  Particulars  under  Jirst  head. — Man's  natural  state 
described — i.  His  understanding  is  darkened;  2.  His  judg 
ment  perverted  ;  3.  His  affections  depraved  ;  4.  His  taste 
vitiated  by  sin  ;  so  that  his  desires,  his  views,  his  ciiaracter, 
his  pursuits,  are  quite  opposite  to  what  God  requires  and 
loves. 

The  change  that  takes  place  is  then  described. 

II.  Particulars  under  second  head. — The  walk  with  God 
described.    A  number  of  Scriptures  cited  where  the  j)hra«ie  1? 


DELI  VERT  OF  SERMONS. 


321 


used.  The  walk  with  God  consists  in:  (i.)  The  continual 
exercise  of  repentance  and  faitli  in  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ ; 
(3.)  in  an  habitual  realizing  regard  to  the  presence  of  God; 
(3.)  In  a  daily  dependence  on  his  word,  promises,  providence 
and  gi  ace  ;  (4.)  In  a  careful  attendance  upon  all  his  ordi- 
nances; (5.)  In  a  conscientious  obedience  to  all  his  com- 
mantlnients,  without  regarding  the  praise  or  the  censure  of 
men;  (6.)  In  subjuission  to  his  providential  appointments, 
and  adorning  his  Gospel  with  a  becoming  conversation. 

111.  The  advantages  derived — God — i.  Supplies  his 
wants;  2.  Interposes  in  his  straits;  3.  Meets  him  in  his 
ordinances — is  his  guide,  companion  and  friend,  and  at  last 
receives  him  to  abide  with  him  for  ever. 

Application. — To  commence  this  walk  early  and  to  main- 
tain it  closely. 

This  sermon  was  not  committed  to  memory  like  the 
preceding  ones  ;  and  though  he  occasionally  afterward 
wrote  out  a  sermon  in  full,  he,  from  this  time,  aban- 
doned the  practice  of  committing  them  to  memory, 
depending  upon  a  few  notes  of  the  general  heads  or 
divisions  of  the  subject.  This  is  the  common  usage 
with  extemporaneous  speakers,  as  it  leaves  the  mind  in 
greater  freedom,  and  imposes  no  restraints  upon  the 
imagination  and  the  fancy.  It  was  the  custom  of  the 
eloquent  Robert  Hall,  who  used  to  say  that  he  liked  to 
have  such  a  general  outline  of  his  subject,  as  a  chan- 
nel for  his  ihoiig'hls  to  Jiozv  in'^  But  even  this 
assistance,  Alexander  Campbell,  after  some  time,  relin- 
quished, relying  altogetlier  on  his  own  recollections  ot 
thf  arrangement  of  his  theme,  upon  which  he  had  pre- 
viousl}'  meditated,  or  upon  the  methodizing  power  of 
his  own  mind  at  the  time  of  delivery. 

As  many  members  of  the  Christian  Association  lived 
near  Butlalo  Creek,  it  was,  about  this  time,  resolved  to 
erect  a  house  of  worship  there.    They  accordingly 

VOL.  I. — V 


322        MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


selected  a  piece  of  ground  on  the  farm  of  William  Gil- 
christ, in  the  valley  of  Brush  Run,  about  two  miles 
above  its  junction  with  Buffalo  Creek,  as  an  eligible 
site  for  the  building  which  was  to  be  framed.    On  the 
farm  immediately  adjoining  there  was  a  saw-mill,  and 
the  sons  of  the  proprietor,  David  Bryant,  one  of  whom, 
Joseph,  was  a  zealous  member  of  the  Association,  at 
once  engaged  in  sawing  out  the  necessary  lumber. 
Meantime,  it  was  agreed  to  erect  a  temporary  stand 
near  the  ground  chosen,  and  Alexander  was  requested 
to  deliver  the  first  discourse,  which  he  did,  standing 
beneath  the  shade  of  a  spreading  tree.    The  text  he 
chose  for  the  occasion  w^as,  in  view  of  subsequent 
events,  singularly  appropriate  and  prophetic.    It  was 
from  Job  viii.  7:  '''-Though  thy  beginning  was  small y 
thy  latter  end  should  greatly  increase.''''    In  his  Intro- 
duction he  illustrated  the  maxim  from  the  works  of 
nature.  Providence  and  grace,  showing  how  small  the 
seeds  of  things,  and  how  apparently  insignificant  the 
sources  of  mighty  streams  and  the  causes  of  the  most 
important  revolutions.    His  "  Method"  then  was  to  treat, 
first,  of  what  is  meant  by  the  beginning;  secondly,  of 
what  is  meant  b}'  the  increase;  thirdly,  to  consider  how 
we  ought  to  act  that  from  small  beginnings  the  end  may 
greatly  increase.    Under  the  first  head,  the  "begin- 
ning" was  understood  and  explained  of  temporal,  spirit- 
ual and  church  affairs ;   and  under  the  second,  the 
"  increase"  was  illustrated  in  the  augmentation  of  the 
same  species,  the  spread   of  truth,  etc.     From  the 
w^hole,  rules  were  deduced  for  direction  as  to  how  we 
are  to  manage  that,  from  small  beginnings,  the  latter  end 
may  greatly  increase.    This  discourse  was  delivered 
on  September  16,  1810,  and  was  often  referred  to  in 
subsequent  years  by  those  who  had  heard  it,  when  the 


COMPOSITION  OF  SERMONS.  323 

rapid  spread  of  the  principles  of  the  reformation  fur- 
nished for  the  text  a  striking  application. 

On  the  following  Lord's  day  (September  23d),  four 
days  previous  to  the  college  exhibition  on  which  he 
commented  in  the  Reporter  (as  related  in  the  last 
chapter)  under  the  pseudonym  of  Bonus  Homo,  he 
spoke  tw^ice  in  Washington — the  first  sermon  being  from 
Numbers  xii.  10,  and  the  second  from  Luke  x.  41,  42. 
x\nd  again,  on  the  first  day  of  the  following  week  (30th 
of  September),  he  preached  at  Buffalo  from  Romans  iii. 
28.  Of  these  discourses,  according  to  custom,  he  pre- 
served copious  minutes,  of  which  want  of  space  here 
forbids  the  insertion,  enough  having  been  already  given 
to  show  the  careful  training  to  which  his  mind  was 
subjected  in  the  preparation  of  sermons  during  the  early 
period  of  his  ministry.  For  the  adoption  of  this  strict 
and  careful  method  he  was  much  indebted  to  the  in- 
structions and  careful  criticisms  of  his  father,  who  had 
been  educated  according  to  the  strict  rules  of  the  Scotch 
Seceder  clergy,  and  who  could  never  be  satisfied  with 
a.  sermon  unless  it  was  composed  and  arranged  accord- 
ing to  rule.  The  rules,  indeed,  were  very  proper, 
being  founded  upon  correct  principles,  both  of  logic 
and  of  rhetoric,  which  were  already  familiar  to  Alex- 
ander, and  readily  reduced  to  practice.  It  became, 
accordingly,  almost  an  invariable  custom  with  the  father 
and  the  son,  after  having  heard  each  other's  discourses, 
to  examine  and  test  them  upon  their  return  home  by 
the  established  rules.  It  was  always  a  special  point 
with  Thomas  Campbell  to  ascertain,  first,  whether  or 
not  the  division  of  the  subject  had  been  such  as  to 
exhaust  it ;  and,  secondly,  whether  or  not  the  views  or 
doctrines  delivered,  were  truly  those  of  the  text,  taken  in 
its  proper  connection  with  what  preceded  and  what  fol- 


324        MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


lowed  it.  He  would  admit  of  no  fanciful  interpretations 
or  far-fetched  applications,  but  desired  constantly  that 
the  discourse  should  be  strictly  confined  within  the 
range  of  the  ideas  presented  in  the  passage.  In  regard 
to  this  point,  he  differed  greatly  from  many  of  his  fellow- 
ministers  among  the  Seceders  and  other  parties,  who 
often  wandered  widely  from  the  text,  and  made  it  rather 
a  motto  for  some  speculation  of  their  own,  than  a  Scrip- 
ture theme  to  be  discussed  and  enforced. 

About  this  time  an  event  occurred  which  had  con- 
siderable influence  in  determining  the  progress  of  affairs. 
It  had  become  for  some  time  evident  to  Thomas  Camp- 
.bell  that  the  reformatory  movement  of  which,  by  unani- 
mous consent,  he  still  retained  the  entire  direction,  was 
not  extending  itself  as  he  had  hoped.  '  The  arguments 
and  entreaties  of  the  "  Declaration  and  Address"  seemed 
to  have  fallen  upon  dull  ears.    His  overtures  appeared  to 
meet  with  but  little  response,  and  no  effort  was  known  to 
be  making  anywhere  to  form,  as  proposed,  societies 
auxiliary  to  the  Christian  Association.    On  the  other 
shand,  the  Association  itself  seemed  to  be  insensibly 
/  assuming  a  somewhat  diflerent  character  from  the  one 
/  originally  contemplated,  and,  under  the  regular  minis- 
/  trations  of  Alexander  and  himself,  to  be  gradually 
/  taking  the  position  of  a  distinct  religious  body.  This 
was  a  matter  which  occasioned  Thomas  Campbell  great 
uneasiness  ;  though  it  was  but  a  natural  consequence  of 
the  antagonism  which  existed,  of  necessity,  between  the 
Society  and  all  the  religious  parties,  since  its  avowed 
object  was  to  put  an  end  to  partyism.    The  idea  that 
he  should,  after  all,  be  the  means  of  creating  a  new 
party  was  most   abhorrent  to  the  mind  of  Thomas 
Campbell ;  and  as  he  began  to  realize  more  and  more 
the  probability  of  such  a  result,  he  felt  the  more  dis- 


FEARS  OF  A  NEW  PARTY. 


posed  to  adopt  any  measures  consistent  with  his  princi- 
ples by  which  it  could  be  avoided.  It  was  while  he 
was  contemplating  the  progress  of  affairs  from  this 
point  of  view,  that  he  was  very  earnestly  solicited,  both 
by  private  members  and  by  some  of  the  ministers  of 
the  Presbyterian  Church,  to  form  an  ecclesiastical  union 
with  them.  This  was  urged  upon  him  especially  by 
Rev.  Mr.  Anderson,  then  pastor  of  the  congregation  at 
Upper  Buffalo,  who  was  warmly  attached  to  Mr.  Camp- 
bell personally,  and  who  expressed  his  confidence  that 
the  Presbytery  generally  would  willingly  receive  him 
and  the  members  of  the  Christian  Association  upon  the 
principles  they  advocated,  as  all  of  them  professed  their 
belief  in  the  doctrines  of  the  Westminster  Confession. 
This,  indeed,  was  true,  with  the  exception  that  Thomas 
Campbell  objected  to  the  chapter  conferring  power 
upon  the  clergy  ;  and  that  a  few  members  doubted,  and 
others  denied,  the  validity  of  infant  baptism,  though 
they  all  seemed  willing  to  make  this  a  matter  of  for- 
bearance. Influenced,  accordingly,  by  these  solicita- 
tions, and  a  strong  desire  to  avoid  even  the  appearance 
of  forming  a  new  party,  Thomas  Campbell  finally  con- 
cluded to  propose  at  least  the  matter  to  the  Presbyterian 
Synod  which  was  soon  to  assemble  at  Washington. 

His  previous  ill-treatment  by  the  Secession  Presby- 
tery and  Synod,  and  their  refusal  to  tolerate  the  liberal 
views  he  advocated,  had  not  discouraged  him.  In  the 
exercise  of  that  charity  that  *'beareth  all  things."  and 
*'believeth  all  things,"  he  also  "hoped  all  things,"  trust- 
ing that  his  former  ministerial  associates  would  vet  see 
their  error  ;  and,  in  the  fullness  of  the  convictions  which 
rested  upon  his  own  mind  as  to  the  all-sufficienc\-  of 
the  Divine  basis  of  union  which  he  proposed,  fondly 
thinking  that  the  educated  and  intelligent  ministers  of 

28 


526 


MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


the  Presbyterian  Church  might  be  induced  to  accept 
his  overture,  and  co-operate  with  him  in  a  work  so 
desirable  as  that  of  uniting  all  in  one  common  brother- 

^  hood.  It  could,  at  least,  he  thought,  do  no  harm  to 
propose  the  matter.  As  he  had  labored  in  the  Old 
World  to  bring  about  a  union  between  two  of  the 
branches  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  the  Burghers 
and  Anti-Burghers,  he  felt  that  now,  from  the  higher 
religious  stand-point  to  which  he  had  attained,  it  would 
be  a  privilege  to  plead,  before  one  of  the  high  courts  of 
the  ecclesiastical  body  which  in  America  was  the  repre 
sentative  of  the  mother  Kirk  of  Scotland,  the  cause  of 
a  universal  Christian  union.  In  so  doing,  he  would,  at 
all  events,  deliver  his  own  soul ;  relieve  himself  from 
responsibility,  and  prove  whether  the  sympathy  shown 
him  by  his  Presbyterian  friends,  realty  proceeded  from 
their  appreciation  of  the  justness  of  his  cause,  or  merely 
from  their  sectarian  hostility  and  rivalry  in  relation  to 
the  Seceders.  It  should  be  stated  here,  however,  that 
Alexander,  who  held  somewhat  different  views  from 
'  those  of  his  father  in  regard  to  the  spirit  of  Presby- 
terianism,  neither  approved  the  measure  nor  antici- 

V  pated  any  favorable  results  ;  but,  under  existing  circum- 
stances, he  did  not  think  it  proper  to  make  any  direct 
opposition  to  his  father's  wishes. 

It  was  on  the  second  day  of  October  that  the  Synod 
met  at  Washington,  and  the  Rev.  Samuel  Ralston, 
who  had  been  Moderator  at  the  previous  meeting, 
opened  the  session  with  a  sermon.  The  Synod  was 
termed  the  "Synod  of  Pittsburg,"  and  was  composed 
of  the  Presbyteries  of  Erie,  Hartford,  Lancaster,  Red- 
stone, Ohio,  etc.*    The  following  account  of  the  pro- 

*  The  representatives  of  the  Redstone  Presbytery  were — Dr.  James  Power, 
Samuel  Porter,  Jacob  Jennings,  William  Speare,  William  Swan,  F.  Laird, 


Sl'NOD  OF  PITTSBURG. 


ceedings  in  the  case  is  taken  from  the  published  min- 
utes in  the  records  of  the  Synod,  as  approved  by  the 
General  Assembly,  Eliphalet  Nott  being  Moderator, 
May  21,  181 1.  On  the  third  day  of  the  meeting, 
October  4,  1810,  afternoon  session,  the  following  entry 
appears  : 

S\  nod  met  pursuant  to  adjournment.  Mr.  Thomas  Cam}> 
bell,  formerly  a  minister  of  the  Associate  Synod,  now  repre- 
senting himself  as  in  some  relation  to  a  Society  called  the 
'  Christian  Association  of  \Vashington,'  applied  to  the  Synod 
to  be  taken  into  Christian  and  ministerial  communion. 

After  hearing  Mr.  Campbell  at  length,  and  his  answers 
to  various  questions  proposed  to  him,  the  Synod  unanimously 
resolved,  that  however  specious  the  plan  of  the  Christian 
Association  and  however  seducing  its  professions,  as  experi- 
ence of  the  effects  of  similar  projects  in  other  parts  has 
evinced  their  baleful  tendency  and  destructive  operations  on 
the  whole  interests  of  religion  by  promoting  divisions  instead 
of  union,  by  degrading  the  ministerial  character,  by  providing 
free  admission  to  any  errors  in  doctrine,  and  to  any  corrup- 
tions in  discipline,  v\^hilst  a  nominal  approbation  of  the 
Scriptures  as  the  only  standard  of  truth  may  be  professed^ 
the  Synod  are  constrained  to  disapprove  the  plan  and  its 
native  effects. 

"And  further,  for  the  above  and  many  other  important 
reasons,  it  was  resolved,  that  Mr.  Campbell's  request  to  be 
received  into  ministerial  and  Christian  communion  cannot 
be  granted. 

"Mr.  Campbell  requested  to  have  a  copy  of  the  SynodV 
decision  in  his  case.  The  Synod  agreed  to  grant  his  request, 
and  the  clerk  was  ordered  to  furnish  him  with  a  copy.    *  * 

James  Adams,  William  Wiley,  James  Grahame,  J.  Guthrie  and  Thomas, 
Hunt  From  the  Piesbyxery  of  Ohio  were  present — Rev,  John  McMillan^ 
James  Duniap,  Joseph  Patterson,  James  Hughs,  Thomas  Marquis,  Boyd 
Mercer,  Samuel  Ralston,  William  Wood,  John  Anderson,  Andrew  Given 
Matthew  Brown,  Joseph  Anderson.  George  Scott,  etc. 


328       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


Session  of  Friday,  October  5,  at  3  o'clock  P.  M.  Synod 
met  agreeably  to  adjournment,  etc. 

"  Mr.  Thomas  Campbell  appeared  in  Synod  and  asked  an 
explanation  of  what  those  '  important  reasons'  are,  mentioned 
in  a  former  minute  respecting  him,  for  which  the  Synod  can- 
not receive  him  into  Christian  and  ministerial  communion. 
On  motion,  resolved  that  Mr.  Campbell  shall  be  furnished 
with  an  answer  to  his  request  before  the  rising  of  the  Synod. 
The  Synod  agreed  to  return  the  following  answer  to  Mr. 
Campbell's  inquiry,  viz.  :  It  was  not  for  any  immorality  in 
practice,  but,  in  addition  to  the  reasons  before  assigned,  for 
expressing  his  belief  that  there  are  some  opinions  taught  in 
our  Confession  of  Faith  which  are  not  founded  in  the  Bible, 
and  avoiding  to  designate  them  ;  for  declaring  that  the  ad- 
ministration of  baptism  to  infants  is  not  authorized  by  scrip- 
tural precept  or  example,  and  is  a  matter  of  indifference,  yet 
administering  that  ordinance  while  holding  such  an  opinion  ; 
for  encouraging  or  countenancing  his  son  to  preach  the 
gospel  without  any  regular  authority  ;  for  opposing  creeds 
and  confessions  as  injurious  to  the  interests  of  religion  ;  and, 
al-so,  because  it  is  not  consistent  with  the  regulations  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church  that  Synod  should  form  a  connection 
with  any  ministers,  churches  or  associations;  that  the  Synod 
deemed  it  improper  to  grant  his  request. 

*'On  reading  the  above  to  Mr.  Campbell,  he  denied  having 
said  that  infant  baptism  was  a  matter  of  indifference,  and 
declared  that  he  admitted  many  truths  drawn  by  fair  induc- 
tion from  the  Word  of  God  ;  acknowledged  that  he  opposed 
creeds  and  confessions  when  they  contained  anything  not 
expressly  contained  in  the  Bible  ;  that  he  believes  there  are 
some  things  in  our  Confession  of  Faith  not  expressl}'  revealed 
in  the  Bible.  He  also  declared  that  he  felt  himself  quite 
relieved  from  the  apprehension  which  he  at  first  had  with 
respect  to  his  moral  character." 

There  are  several  points  in  regard  to  this  sot/iewhat 
curious  affair  that  deserve  notice.    Thomas  Camp>^ell 


UNION  ON  CHRISTIAN  PRINCIPLES. 


3-9 


^appears  to  have  made  the  application  as,  impliedly  at 
least,  the  representative  of  the  Christian  Association, 
and  it  seems  to  have  been  so  understood  by  the  Synod, 
from  what  is  said  in  their  reply,  that  "it  is  not  consis- 
tent with  the  regulations  of  the  Presbyterian  Church 
that  Synod  should  make  a  connection  with  any  minis- 
ters, churches,  or  associations."  It  appears  also  that 
Mr.  Campbell  laid  before  the  Synod  a  full  and  candid 
statement  of  the  plan  and  purposes  of  the  Society,  as 
these,  in  their  reply,  constitute  the  principal  ground  of 
objection  ;  and  that  there  was  no  indication  given  of  a 
disposition,  on  the  part  of  the  Society,  to  abandon  these 
purposes,  the  proposition  being  in  effect  that  the  Pres- 
byterian body  would  afford  shelter  and  give  its  coun- 
tenance and  support  to  the  proposed  reformation.  In 
his  address  before  the  Synod,  Mr.  Campbell  was  care- 
ful to  define  clearly  the  position  which  the  Society 
occupied,  and  to  state  that  it  was  not  a  Church,  but 
simply  a  society  organized  for  the  promotion  of  Chris- 
tian unity.  He  humbly  and  earnestly  proposed  to  the 
Synod  to  be  obedient  to  it  in  all  things  that  the  gospel 
and  law  of  Christ  inculcated,  only  desiring  to  be  per- 
mitted to  advocate  that  sacred  unity  which  Christ  and 
his  apostles  expressly  enjoined  ;  or,  in  other  words,  that 
the  Synod  would  consent  to  "Christian  union  upon 
Christian  principles."  It  was  not,  then,  an  offer  on  the 
part  of  Thomas  Campbell  or  those  connected  with  him, 
to  unite  with  the  Synod  on  Presbyterian  principles.  It 
was  not  an  offer  to  join  the  Presbyterian  party  as  such* 
Had  they  been  willing  to  do  this,  and  to  become  Pres- 
byterians in  a  denominational  sense,  they  would  have 
been  most  gladly  welcomed.  But  the  Society  had  no 
idea  of  thus  losing  its  identity  or  relinquishing  its 
aims.    On  the  contrarv,  it  desired  to  continue  its  labors 

28  * 


330       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


under  the  auspices  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  with 
which  its  members  proposed  to  have,  in  the  mean  time, 
ministerial  and  Christian  communion. 

This  seemed  to  them  desirable  on  several  accounts. 
For,  as  the  Society  was  not  a  Church,  having  distinctly 
disavowed  this  character  in  the  "Declaration  and  Ad- 
dress," most  of  its  members,  in  attendance  on  the  public 
ministrations  of  Thomas  Campbell  and  his  son  Alex- 
ander, were  deprived  of  various  privileges  which  be- 
longed to  the  church  relation.  Thomas  Campbell  him- 
self belonged  to  no  sect,  having  left  the  Seceders, 
though  in  doing  so,  he  by  no  means  considered  himseJf 
as  renouncing  his  ministerial  character  or  rights.  Most 
of  those  who  had  been  in  connection  with  the  parties 
around,  felt  that  this  connection  was  virtually  dissolved 
by  their  long  absence  from  their  places  in  the  congrega- 
tions ;  and  there  were  some  members  of  the  Society 
who  had  never  been  united  religiously  w^ith  any  party. 
It  was  hence  evident  that  the  Society  must  obtain  ad- 
mission into  some  regularly  organized  religious  body, 
or  be  itself  compelled  to  change  its  attitude  and  resolve 
itself  into  an  independent  Church — an  alternative  which 
Thomas  Campbell  particularly  desired  to  avoid.  It 
was  this  very  dread  of  the  ultimate  formation  of  a  new 
religious  body,  that  caused  him  to  overlook  the  absurd- 
ity of  expecting  that  any  sect  would  receive  him  and 
the  Society  he  represented,  on  the  terms  proposed.  For 
a  partv  to  have  admitted  into  its  bosom  those  who  were 
avowedly  bent  on  the  destruction  of  party  ism,  would  of 
course  have  been  perfectly  suicidal.  It  would  have 
been  only  to  repeat  in  another  form,  and  with  a  full 
knowledge  of  the  object  in  view,  the  story  of  the 
wooden  horse  of  Troy,  and  to  have  the  gates  of  its 
welMvalled  ecclesiastical  city  thrown  open  to  its  ene- 


SB  C  TARIAX  PRE  TEXTS. 


mies.    It  cannot  reasonably  be  denied,  therefore,  that  ^ 
the  Presbyterian  Synod,  in  rejecting  the  appH cation, 
manifested  very  much  of  the  wisdom  of  the  serpent. 

From  the  Christian  stand-point,  however,  its  course 
displayed  a  marvelous  lack,  not  only  of  the  qualities  of 
the  dove,  but  of  the  wisdom  that  cometh  from  on  high. 
In  reality,  the  application  of  Thomas  Campbell  was  a 
high  compliment  to  the  supposed  liberality  and  the 
assumed  purposes  of  the  Presbyterian  organization,  and 
the  candid  and  kind  manner  in  which  the  proposition 
was  made,  as  well  as  the  excellent  character  of  the 
applicant,  ought  to  have  secured,  in  the  reply  at  least, 
some  few  words  of  courteous  recocrnition.  But  the 
terms  of  the  reply,  in  the  first  instance,  were  curt, 
harsh,  and  in  one  place  so  ambiguous  that  Mr.  Camp- 
bell was  compelled,  from  a  sense  of  duty  to  himself,  to 
appear  again  before  the  Synod,  to  ask  for  an  explana- 
tion of  the  phrase  '-many  other  important  reasons,"  by 
which  the  Synod  attempted  to  justify  its  action — an 
expression  so  indefinite  as  obviously  to  allow^  if  not  to 
invite,  the  very  worst  construction.  And  in  their  ex- 
planation, the  Rev.  Synod,  in  searching  for  these  "im- 
portant reasons."  finds  one  of  them  in  the  frivolous 
pretext  that  Alexander  had  been  allowed  to  exercise  his 
gift  of  public  speaking,  as  it  says,  "without  any  regular 
authority,"  or  before  ordination — a  liberty  taken  by  both 
Knox  and  Calvin,  and  one  often  accorded  tc  theological 
students.  It  condescends,  also,  in  other  alleged  reasons, 
to  misrepresent  Mr.  Campbell's  views,  and  to  give  its 
sanction  and  authority  to  unfounded  rumors,  as  if  they 
had  been  admitted  matters  of  fact.  In  all  this,  how- 
ever, it  was  sectarianism  that  spoke,  in  the  exercise  of 
that  self-sufficient,  narrow  and  despotic  spirit  which 
seems  inherent  in  all  legislative  religious  bodies. 


33- 


MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


On  the  other  hand,  on  the  principles  professed  by  the- 
Synod,  it  does  not  appear  how  they  could  legitimately 
reject  the  application.  The  Confession  of  Faith  of  the 
Synod  declared  the  Bible  to  be  the  only  rule  of  faith 
and  practice,  and  yet  when  a  respectable  bodv  of  re- 
ligious persons  apply  for  admission,  they  are  ru*led  out, 
because  they  will  have  no  other  rule  than  the  Bible  ! 
They  are  rejected  for  adhering  to  the  "only  ru»le" 
admitted  to  be  infallible,  and  tor  presuming  to  doubt 
the  infallibility  of  the  Westminster  Confession  ! — Re- 
jected, not  for  any  violation  of  the  "'only  rule,"  but 
because  they  cannot  admit  that  a  human  creed  or  con- 
fession is  in  reality  the  ''only  rule  I"  How  completelv 
this  verified  the  remark  made  by  Mr.  Campbell  in  his 
'-Declaration  and  Address,"  "That  a  book  adopted  by 
any  partv  as  its  standard  for  all  matters  of  doctrine, 
worship,  discipline  and  government,  must  be  considered 
as  the  Bible  of  that  party  !"  And  how  evident  it  is  that, 
in  the  sectarian  world,  there  are  just  as  many  different 
Bibles  as  there  are  different  and  authoritative  explana- 
tions of  the  Bible,  called  creeds  and  confessions  !  In 
the  case  of  Thomas  Campbell  it  was  the  "Confession." 
and  not  the  Bible,  that  was  made  the  standard  by  which 
one  of  the  best  of  men  was  denied  religious  fellowship. 
No  principles,  however  true ;  no  individual,  however 
pious,  could  be  admitted.  \\  the  safety  of  the  party 
would  be  thereby  endangered.  The  sect,  with  all  its 
machinery,  must,  at  all  hazards,  be  preserved.  It 
could  permit  no  change,  it  could  endure  no  reformation, 
but  must  remain  a  sect  to  the  end  of  time  I 

Before  closing  this  notice  of  the  proceedings  of  the 
Synod,  it  may  be  well  to  remark  that,  as  the  article  of 
Bonus  Homo,  exposing  the  improprieties  which  had 
been  permitted  at  the  commencement  of  Washington. 


CONFIDENCE  IN  TRUTH. 


333 


College,  appeared  in  the  Reporter  on  the  very  day  of 
the  assembling  of  the  Synod,  it  might  be  supposed  that 
the  action  of  the  Synod  was,  in  part,  due  to  feelings  of 
irritation.  If,  however,  such  feelings  could  be  at  all 
supposed  to  influence  so  respectable  a  body  of  divines^ 
it  does  not  appear  that  the  authorship  of  Bonus  Homo 
was,  at  that  time,  sufficiently  known  to  give  such  a 
direction  to  them  as  to  occasion  the  rejection  of  Mr. 
Campbell's  application.  It  is  true,  that  in  reversing 
what  was  the  Divine  rule  under  the  Jewish  institution,, 
of  visiting  the  iniquities  of  the  fathers  upon  the  chil- 
dren, the  Synod  made  Alexander's  preaching,  for  the 
three  months  previous,  one  of  their  ''important  reasons" 
for  rejecting  his  father's  application,  and  in  so  doing 
might  appear  to  have  some  special  reason  for  mention- 
ing and  singling  out  the  youth  as  a  particular  mark 
for  censure.  Still,  as  its  action  admits  of  satisfactory 
explanation  upon  the  well-known  principles  that  govern 
religious  parties,  it  is  not  necessary  to  suppose  the  exist- 
ence of  influences  merely  temporary  and  personal. 

As  for  Thomas  Campbell,  he  had  now  gained  addi- 
tional insight  into  the  mysteries  of  sectarianism,  and 
could  better  appreciate  the  sagacity  with  which  his  son 
had  anticipated  the  results  of  his  application.  Finding 
that  all  his  overtures  for  Christian  union  were  rejected, 
and  all  his  efforts  to  induce  the  religious  parties  to 
accept  the  Bible  as  the  only  basis  of  union  had  proved 
abortive,  he  now  felt  himself  like  a  waif  dropped  upon 
the  surface  of  religious  society,  unsought  and  unclaimed. 
He  did  not,  however,  on  this  account,  lose  for  a  mo- 
ment his  equanimity  or  his  confidence  in  the  principles 
which  he  advocated  ;  and,  as  according  to  the  ancient 
law,  all  unclaimed  waifs  belonged  to  the  king,  he  felt 
that  he  truly  belonged  to  the  King  of  kings,  and  that,. 


334       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


however  his  principles  or  his  efforts  might  be  disre- 
garded by  men,  his  labors  were  in  perfect  harmony 
with  the  revealed  wdll  of  that  glorious  Being  whom  he 
delighted  to  serve,  and  that  they  could  not  fail  to  be, 
therefore,  acceptable  in  His  sight.  He  cherished  no 
unkind  feelings  in  relation  to  the  action  of  the  Synod  in 
liis  case,  and  did  not  think  it  expedient  to  take  any 
public  notice  of  the  allegations  in  the  Synod's  reply. 
He  was  so  much  opposed  to  religious  controversy,  and 
so  much  in  hope  that  his  plea  for  Christian  union  would 
be  accepted  by  the  religious  parties  without  debate, 
that  he  had,  in  the  "  Declaration  and  Address,"  entirely 
precluded  himself  and  the  Association  from  engaging 
in  any  oral  discussion  upon  the  subject,  merely  propos- 
ing to  answer,  in  writing,  any  respectful  written  com- 
munications. 

There  was  one  member,  however,  of  the  Society 
who  had  joined  it  after  the  adoption  of  the  "  Declara- 
tion and  Address,"  who  took  a  different  view  both  of 
the  propriety  and  the  necessity  of  religious  controversy, 
and  who  was  not  disposed  to  allow  the  aspersions  and 
misrepresentations  of  the  Synod  of  Pittsburg  to  pass 
without  a  suitable  exposure.  Alexander  Campbell, 
though  but  a  youth,  and  as  yet  a  novice  in  the  field  of 
polemics,  was  not  of  a  spirit  tamely  to  submit  to  the 
proceedings  of  the  Synod  in  relation  to  his  father  and 
the  Christian  Association,  and  he  resolved  to  avail 
himself  of  the  first  favorable  opportunity  to  review  them 
publicly.  He  felt  that  this  duty  rested  upon  him,  his 
father  being  inhibited  by  his  published  Declaration, 
and  no  other  member  of  the  Society  seeming  disposed 
to  take  upon  him  this  office.  Thus  the  youthful  cham- 
pion was  left  to  meet,  by  himself,  the  formidable  array 
of  reverend  clergymen  and  doctors  of  divinity  that 


DEFENCE  OF  THE  SOCIETT. 


335 


composed  the  Synod  of  Pittsburg,  as  the  son  of  Manoah 
was  left  by  the  Israelites  to  encounter  alone  the  hosts 
of  the  Philistines. 

As  the  semi-annual  meeting  of  the  Christian  Associa- 
tion happened  to  be  near  at  hand,  he  concluded  to  avail 
himself  of  it,  as  affording  the  most  suitable  public 
opportunity  for  his  purpose.  In  this  the  Association 
acquiesced,  as  the  course  of  the  Synod  had  given  rise 
to  various  misapprehensions,  and  it  was  deemed  desir- 
able to  bring  the  nature  and  objects  of  the  Society  more 
prominently  before  the  people.  The  following  adver- 
tisement was  accordingly  inserted  in  the  Reporter  on 
the  22d  and  29th  of  October,  1810,  a  few  days  after  the 
meeting  of  the  Synod  ; 

"  The  Christian  Association  of  Washington  holds  its  semi- 
annual meeting  at  Washington  on  Thursday,  the  first  of  No- 
vember next,  at  11  o'clock.  There  will  be  delivered  upon 
that  occasion  by  Alexander  Campbell,  V.  D.  S.,*  an  appro- 
priate discourse  illustrative  of  the  principles  and  design  of 
the  Association,  and  for  the  purpose  of  obviating  certain 
mistakes  and  objections  which  ignorance  or  willful  opposition 
has  attached  to  the  humble  and  well-meant  attempts  of  the 
Society  to  promote  a  thorough  scriptural  reformation,  as 
testified  in  their  address  to  the  friends  and  lovers  of  peace 
and  truth  throughout  all  the  Churches."    *    *    *  * 

At  the  time  appointed,  Alexander  addressed  a  large 
assemblage  from  Isaiah  Ivii.  14,  and  Ixii.  10.    As  this 

*  In  renouncing  the  title  "  Reverend"  as  an  improper  designation  for  a 
preacher,  it  being  apph'ed  in  Scripture  to  the  name  of  the  Divine  Being, 
1  homas  Campbell  continued  for  some  time  to  annex  occasionally  to  his  name 
the  initials  V.  U.  M.,  representing  the  words  Verbi  Divini  Minister,  or 
"  Minister  of  the  Word  of  God,"  as  indicating  the  position  to  which,  in 
Divine  Providence,  he  felt  him.self  called.  In  the  advertisement  above, 
Alexander,  either  to  attract  a  little  more  attention,  or  as  an  offset  to  the  D.D.'s 
of  the  reverend  Synod,  chose  to  indicate  his  office  by  the  initials  of  the 
words  Verbi  Divini  Servus,  "  Servant  of  the  Word  of  God." 


33^        MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


discourse  reveals  the  views  which  he  at  this  time  held 
in  relation  to  some  important  points,  as  well  as  the 
objects  then  proposed,  an  abstract  of  it  is  here  given. 
He  introduced  his  subject  thus  : 

"As  the  benighted  traveler  at  midnight's  dreary  hour  is 
consoled  with  the  hope  of  day's  return  ;  as  the  husbandman^ 
when  frigid  winter's  icy  hands  congeal  the  plains,  is  cheered 
by  the  hope  of  spring ;  as  the  septennial  captive  rejoices  in 
the  expectation  of  the  hour  of  freedom,  so  the  Bible-illumined 
Christian,  in  the  dismal  season  of  Zion's  tribulation,  exults  in 
the  firm  persuasion  that  the  promise  of  her  deliverance  will 
be  fulfilled,  and  that  the  happy  hour  will  speedily  arrive  when 
God  will  favor  her,  make  her  '  a  praise  in  the  midst  of  the 
earth.'  and  shall  cause  her  'righteousness  to  go  forth  as 
brightness,  and  her  salvation  as  a  lamp  that  burneth.'  Aided 
by  the  light  of  Divine  revelation,  and  encouraged  by  the 
faithfulness  of  God,  we  are  enabled  to  expect,  and  with  joy 
anticipate,  a  happy  season,  when  the  '  heathen'  shall  be  given 
to  King  Jesus  ^  for  his  inheritance,'  and  "  the  uttermost  parts 
of  the  earth  for  his  possession  ;'  when  '  the  Gentiles  shall  see 
Zion's  righteousness,  and  all  kings  her  glory.'  Even  in  this 
misty  day,  when  the  love  of  many  waxeth  cold  ;  when  vile 
corruptions  have  stained  the  professed  Church  of  God  ;  when 
animosities  and  angry  controversy,  discord  and  division  have 
tarnished  the  sacred  name  of  Christian ;  when  the  eccle- 
siastical hireling  lifts  up  his  voice  in  the  sanctuary,  sayings 
*  What  will  you  give  me.'*'  when  many  shepherds  have  fleeced 
their  flocks  and  then  scattered  them  on  the  mountains, — even 
in  this  portentous  day,  we  are  warranted  to  expect  that  the 
Lord  will  soon  revive  his  work,  and  are  encouraged,  by  the 
kind  prophecy  of  God,  to  hope  that  the  day,  is  not  far  hence 
when  the  stumbling-block  shall  be  removed  out  of  the  way 
of  the  people  ;  when  the  Canaanite  shall  not  be  found  within 
Jerusalem's  hallowed  walls  ;  when  buyers  and  sellers  shall 
be  scourged  out  of  the  temple,  and  when  angry  discord  shall 
no  more  alienate  the  sons  of  God." 


CHURCH  REFORMATION. 


337 


Continuing  his  introductory  remarks,  lie  spoke,  first, 
of  the  gracious  design  of  prophecy,  and  its  influence 
upon  the  mind  ;  secondly,  of  the  design  of  the  predic- 
tion under  consideration  ;  and,  thirdly,  of  the  things  to 
which  these  predictions  chiefly  referred.  In  the  fourth 
place,  he  showed  that  the  state  of  the  Jews  and  the 
providence  of  God  toward  them  corresponded  remark- 
ably with  the  present  state  of  the  Church  and  the  provi- 
dence of  God  toward  it ;  that,  in  both  cases,  there 
was  to  be  a  great  revival — that  the  same  prophecy 
which  announced  the  glorious  end,  declared  also  that 
previously  there  should  be  fit  persons  raised  up  to  main- 
tain the  Lord's  cause — the  cause  of  Zion.  I  have  set 
watchmen  upon  thy  walls,  O  Jerusalem,  which  shall 
never  hold  their  peace,  day  nor  night."  Isaiah  Ixii.  6. 
"  Ye  that  make  mention  of  the  Lord,  keep  not  silence, 
and  give  him  no  rest  till  he  establish  and  till  he  make 
Jerusalem  a  praise  in  the  earth."  In  this  connection, 
after  showing  how  much  had  been  done  since  the 
French  Revolution  to  arouse  the  people  to  a  true  sense 
of  civil  and  religious  liberty,  and  to  spread  the  Gospel 
over  the  world,  he  continues  as  follows  : 

''But  time  forbids  us  to  enumerate  the  many  noble  exertions 
that  have  been  made,  and  are  at  this  day  making,  for  the  con- 
version of  the  heathen.  Rapid  progress  is  making  in  the  trans- 
lation of  the  Scriptures  into  every  language  under  heaven,  so  that 
they  shall  soon  be  read  in  every  language  and  in  every  tongue^ 
In  the  mean  time,  the  work  is  in  its  infancy.  It  is  well,  how- 
ever, that  it  is  begun,  be  it  within  or  without  the  Church. 
Reformation  is  also  begun  within  the  Church,  and  the  labors 
of  those  who  have  been  engaged  in  this  work  have  not  been 
in  vain.  Many  within  these  last  sixteen  years,  both  by  writ- 
ing and  preaching,  have  been  engaged  in  the  arduous  work ; 
many  are  crying  day  and  night,  and  are  determined  to  '  give 
V07.  I. — W  29 


33^       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


God  no  rest  till  he  make  Zion  a  praise  in  the  midst  of  the 
earth.'  Not  long  since,  an  humble  attempt  has  been  made 
here,  where,  indeed,  the  enemy,  the  demon  of  divisions  and 
delusions,  raging  and  tearing  like  an  impetuous  flood,  seemed 
to  carry  all  before  it.  Even  here  has  the  Lord's  banner  been 
displayed  in  behalf  of  truth,  in  an  humble  and  unanswerable 
expostulation  upon  the  evils  of  division,  accompanied  by  an 
irrefutable  detection  of  their  evil  causes,  and  an  overture  for 
union  in  truth  amongst  all  the  friends  and  lovers  of  truth 
throughout  the  churches.  (See  Address,  p.  19.)  The  recep- 
tion this  attempt  has  experienced  has  evinced  its  origin.  It 
has  met  the  approbation  of  no  party  as  such.  Had  it  fared 
otherwise,  it  would  have  evinced  itself  not  catholic,  original 
and  pure,  for  no  party  can,  with  any  show  of  decency,  pre- 
tend to  these  properties  and  yet  refuse  to  be  measured  by  the 
pure,  original  and  catholic  standard  of  the  Holy  Scriptures. 
They  will  only  submit  to  be  tried  by  their  own  standards ; 
that  is,  in  other  words,  by  their  own  opinions,  as  if  the  word 
had  no  certain,  fixed  or  express  meaning  of  its  own,  but  just 
what  they  are  pleased  to  give  it." 

After  dwelling  on  these  and  several  other  introductory 
points,  he  went  on  to  discuss  the  subject,  first  "  considering  the 
duties  inculcated  in  the  figures  presented  in  the  text ;  sec- 
ondly, showing  that  the  performance  of  these  duties  had  been 
attempted  under  the  auspices  of  the  '  Christian  Association  ;' 
and,  in  the  third  place,  endeavoring  to  obviate  some  feigned 
and  plausible  objections  that  ignorance  or  willful  opposition 
had  made."  He  then  makes  a  proper  division  of  the  text,  and 
goes  on  to  elucidate  the  different  heads. 

I.  "Go  through,  go  through  the  gates,"  is  shown  *' to  be 
spoken  in  reference  to  the  situation  of  the  persons  addressed, 
who  were  in  the  midst  of  Babylon.  It  is  necessary  that  they 
should  remove  hence  ere  they  could  come  to  Zion.  Hence 
separation  from  Babylon  is  the  first  duty  inculcated  in  the 
natural  order  of  the  text.  Refer  to  2  Cor.  vi.  17  ;  Rev.  xviii.** 
4.  He  then  showed  "  what  was  meant  by  Babylon  in  the  New 
Testament  sense  and  the  indispensable  necessity  of  removmg 


THE   WAT  OF  HOLINESS. 


339 


from  it,  I.  For  our  own  sakes,  in  compliance  with  God's 
commands;  and,  2.  For  the  sake  of  others,  in  the  work  of 
reformation." 

2.  Under  the  second  division,  ''Prepare  the  way,  *  *  * 
take  up  the  stumbling-block  out  of  the  way  of  my  people, 

*  *  *  cast  up  the  highway,  gather  out  the  stones,"  he 
went  on  to  observe  that  various  figures  are  employed  to 
illustrate  the  preparation  of  the  way  here  intended,  and  that 
various  things  have  always  been  necessary  in  preparing  the 
way  for  a  general,  permanent  reformation.  Previous  to  the 
establishment  of  the  Christian  religion,  a  messenger  was  sent 
to  say.  Prepare  ye  the  way  of  the  Lord,  make  straight  in  the 
desert  a  highway  for  our  God  ;  every  valley  shall  be  exalted, 
and  ever}'  mountain  shall  be  made  low,  and  the  crooked  shall 
be  made  straight,  and  the  rough  places  smooth." 

3.  He  then  applied  the  expressions  "cast  up  the  highway," 
etc.,  as  now  "equivalent  to  'disencumber  the  Scriptures  from 
the  traditions  of  men,  and  exhibit  them  in  a  simple  and  per- 
spicuous manner,'  as  they  are  the  only  authorized  highway 
from  Babylon  to  Zion,  or  from  this  world  to  heaven.  Of  it 
Isaiah  (xxxv.  8,  9)  says,  '  And  a  highway  shall  be  there, 
and  a  way,  and  it  shall  be  called  the  way  of  holiness ;  the 
unclean  shall  not  pass  over  it,  but  it  shall  be  for  those  :  the 
wayfaring  men,  though  fools,  shall  not  err  therein.  No  lion 
shall  be  there,  nor  any  ravenous  beast  shall  go  up  thereon,  it 
shall  not  be  found  there  ;  but  the  redeemed  shall  walk  there. 
And  the  ransomed  of  the  Lord  shall  return,  and  come  to 
Zion  with  songs  and  everlasting  joy  upon  their  heads.' 

"  There  have  been  other  ways  found  out  by  men,  but  none 
of  them  were  broad  enough  to  hold  every  traveler  to  Zion. 
They  were  by-roads  appropriated  to  their  owners,  but  not 
like  the  king's  high-road,  that  suffered  every  man  who  was  a 
lawful,  well-behaved  subject  to  pass  unmolested." 

4.  He  then  shows  that  "  the  persons  who  should  be  instru- 
mental in  making  this  reformation  are  commanded  to  repair 
this  established  road  and  direct  the  people  to  it ;  to  stand  and 
cry  (Jer.  vi.  16)  :  'Thus  saith  the  Lord,  stand  ye  in  the  ways 


34^^       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


and  see  and  ask  for  the  old  paths,  where  is  the  goud  way, 
and  walk  therein  and  ye  shall  find  rest  for  your  souls.'  It  is 
only  by  walking  in  this  way  that  rest  can  be  obtained;  and 
what  is  this  way.'  Do  not  the  Scriptures  of  truth  furnish  the 
only  established  law  or  way  for  Christians,  whether  in  an 
individual  or  church  capacity,  to  walk  to  heaven  in To  the 
law  and  to  the  testimony.  Psalm  cxix.  105  :  *  Thy  word  is  a 
lamp  unto  my  feet  and  a  light  unto  my  path.'  It  is  sufficient 
for  every  purpose  and  for  every  work.  2  Tim.  iii.  16,  17: 
*  All  Scripture  is  given  by  inspiration  of  God,  and  is  profit- 
able for  doctrine,  for  reproof,  for  correction,  for  instruction  in 
righteousness :  that  the  man  of  God  may  be  perfect,  tho- 
roughly furnished  unto  all  good  works.'  It  is  also  said.  Psalm 
xix.  7,  8.  9 :  •  The  law  of  the  Lord  is  perfect,  converting  the 
soul ;  the  testimony  of  the  Lord  is  sure,  making  wise  the 
simple.  The  statutes  of  the  Lord  are  right,  rejoicing  the 
heart;  the  commandment  of  the  Lord  is  pure,  enlightening 
the  eyes ;  the  fear  of  the  Lord  is  clean,  enduring  for  ever ; 
the  judgments  of  the  Lord  are  true  and  rigliteous  altogether.' 
In  harmony  with  these  teachings,  the  apostle  commands 
Christians  and  the  preachers  of  the  gospel  to  hold  fast  the 
'form  of  sound  words,  which,'  says  he,  'ye  have  heard  of 
me.'  The  sects  have  all,  in  a  good  degree  at  least,  held  fast 
the  substance,  but  none  of  them  the  form,  and  vet  Paul  com- 
mands Timothy  to  hold  fast  the  form,  and  also  '  to  commit 
those  things  to  faithful  men,  who  should  be  able  to  teach 
others  also  ;'  and  he  declares  that  '  if  any  man  teach  other- 
wise and  consent  not  to  wholesome  words,  even  the  words  of 
our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  to  the  doctrine  which  is  according 
to  godliness,  he  is  proud,  knowing  nothing,'  etc.  Ail  the 
sects  have  been  strenuously  contending  for  their  own  con- 
fessions, but  none  of  them  for  the  faith  once  delivered  to  the 
saints  in  the  form  in  which  it  was  delivered. 

"''5.  The  next  figure  of  expression  made  use  of  for  instruct- 
ing us  in  the  necessarv  preparation  of  the  wav  is.  '  take  up 
the  stumbling-block  from  the  wav  of  mv  people.'  This 
Btumblino^-block  and  the  stones  that  were  to  be  o-athered  out 


OBSTACLES   TO  UNITY.  34 1 

jf  the  way  are  understood  to  denote  whatever  causes  God's 
people  to  stumble  on  their  way  Zionward  ;  whatever  prevents 
them  from  conforming  to  the  Word  of  God  in  all  things; 
whatever  prevents  them  from  enjoying  all  the  privileges  of 
the  dispensation  under  which  we  live.  These  hinderances  are 
then  shown  to  be  human  opinions  and  inventions  of  men, 
and  the  way  in  which  they  thus  hinder  is  explained." 

In  explaining  the  figure,  lift  up  a  standard  for  the  people," 
it  is  shown,  "  i.  That  the  standard  is  the  testimony  of  Jesus 
Christ,  which  is  the  spirit  of  prophecy.  2.  That  other  testi- 
monies have  in  vain  been  lifted  up  for  this  purpose.  That 
standards  had  been  lifted  up  which  narrowed  the  gates  of 
Zion,  so  that  only  a  few  of  a  certain  height  and  breadth 
could  have  admission,  and  there  were  none  of  them  but 
would  reject  those  whom  God  has  not  rejected,  and  deny 
admission  to  those  whom  God  had  admitted.  All  are  defec- 
tive. The  apostle  Paul,  the  angel  Gabriel  in  human  form, 
could  not  be  admitted  on  the  principles  of  these  standards. 
The  standard,  as  infallible,  is  made  to  open  admission  into 
the  door  of  the  Church  as  well  as  into  the  gates  of  heaven." 

Under  the  second  general  head,  he  endeavored  to  show 
"that  their  Society  had  attempted  to  perform  the  duties  re- 
ferred to,  I.  By  endeavoring  to  remove  the  stumbling-block 
of  making  the  private  opinions  of  men  a  term  of  communion. 
2.  By  gathering  out  of  the  way  the  stumbling-stones  of 
human  invention.  3.  By  pointing  to  the  good  old  way,  and 
maintaining  that  it  is  perfect,  infallible,  and  sufficient.  4.  By 
lifting  up  as  our  standard  and  maintaining  that  the  New  Tes- 
tament is  as  perfect  a  constitution  for  the  worship,  discipline 
and  government  of  the  New  Testament  Church,  and  as  per- 
fect a  rule  for  the  particular  duties  of  its  members,  as  the  Old 
Testament  was  for  its  members.  We  have  decided,  there- 
fore, to  lift  it  up  as  a  standard  for  the  Church,  to  open  the 
gates  of  admission  into  the  Church  as  wide  as  the  gates  of 
heaven." 

He  now,  under  the  third  head,  goes  on  to  obviate  objec- 
tions ;  the  first  one  of  these  noticed  is,  "  that  the  principle 

29  * 


34^ 


MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


and  plan  adopted  have  a  tendency  to  increase  divisions.,  and 
to  terjninate  in  a  new  party .'^  This  objection  he  obviates, 
"  T.  By  reference  to  the  express  declarations,  in  the  appendix 
lo  the  Address,  on  this  particular  point.  2.  By  noticing  the 
effects  of  the  labors  of  the  Prince  of  Peace,  and  showing  that 
as  it  was  in  his  case,  so  it  is  in  ours.  If  our  overture  offend 
any  of  the  brethren,  the  blame  cannot  be  attached  to  us.  3.  By 
referring  to  the  proceedings  of  the  Society  heretofore,  as  bear- 
ing testimony  to  the  sincerity  of  its  professions,  as  all  con- 
cerned well  knew.  He  then  further  proceeds  to  show  that 
if  the  \arious  parties  refuse  to  give  up  their  anti-Christian 
practices-,  usurpations  and  administrations,  separation  from 
them  becomes  indispensably  necessary.  '  It  is  in  their  power,* 
he  sa3'S,  '  to  verify  their  own  predictions  by  forcing  us  into  a 
party.  But  even  then  we  do  not  become  a  new  party,  but 
only  in  the  same  sense  that  the  primitive  Christians  became  a 
new  party — a  sect  everywhere  spoken  against.'  He  insists 
that  they  could  be  regarded  as  a  party  only  on  the  ground 
that  taking  the  New  Testament  for  their  constitution,  or 
making  it  the  only  rule,  or  opening  the  door  of  communion 
as  wide  as  the  gate  of  heaven,  could  be  regarded  as  party 
principles;  that  the  primitive  Church  was  precisely  such  a 
party,  and  that  if  such  a  party  does  not  now  exist,  we  should 
be  happy  to  be  such  a  party — such  as  would  receive  the 
whole  household  of  faith  upon  original,  catholic  and  pure 
principles.  If,  however,  he  adds,  our  brethren  still  persist  to 
criminally  impeach  us  with  partyism  and  schism,  we  must 
impute  it  to  their  willful  opposition.' 

The  second  objection  is,  that  it  te?ids  to  degrade  the  ?nin- 
ibterial  character.  This,  like  the  former,  is  an  impeachment 
thrown  in  the  very  face  of  express  declarations.  See  Address, 
resolution  fifth,  which  says,  *  That  this  Society,  formed  for 
the  sole  purpose  of  promoting  simple,  evangelical  Christianity, 
shall,  to  the  utmost  of  its  power,  countenance  and  support 
such  ministers,  and  such  only,  as  exhibit  a  manifest  conformity 
to  the  original  standard  in  conversation  and  doctrine,  in  zeal 
and  diligence  ;  only  such  as  reduce  to  practice  that  simple- 


OBJECTIONS  CONSIDERED. 


343 


original  form  of  Christianity  expressly  exhibited  upon  the 
sacred  page,  without  attempting  to  inculcate  anything  of 
human  authority,  of  private  opinion  or  inventions  of  men,  as 
having  any  place  in  the  constitution,  faith  or  worship,  of  the 
Christian  Church,  or  anything  as  matter  of  Christian  faith  or 
duty,  foi  which  there  cannot  be  expressly  produced  a  Thus 
saith  the  Lord,  either  in  express  terms  or  by  approved  prece- 
<lent.*  Does  such  a  proposal  as  this,  tend  to  degrade  the 
ministerial  character?  If  so,  we  know  not  how  to  exalt  the 
ministerial  character.  What !  Will  the  acknowledgment  of 
only  such  ministers  as  are  scripturally  qualified  degrade  the 
ministerial  character?  What!  Will  the  admission  of  such 
doctrines  only  as  are  expressly  revealed  open  a  door  to  errors 
and  corruptions?  Then  surely  the  blame  must  lie  on  the 
Scriptures  and  not  on  us.  That  our  principles  would  reduce 
hirelings,  drones,  idle  shepherds,  dumb  dogs,  blind  guides 
and  unfaithful  watchmen  to  contempt,  we  allow. 

"  It  is  also  true,  that  if  nothing  be  admitted  but  what  is 
expressly  found  in  the  Bible,  many  things  that  are  deemed 
precious  and  important  must  be  excluded.  But  none  will 
dare  to  say  that  what  is  expressly  revealed  will  be  error. 
Therefore,  unless  our  accusers  produce  relevant  proof  to 
condemn  our  conduct  as  inconsistent  with  our  principles,  we 
must  consider  them  ignorant  of  these  principles  and  malicious. 
But  such  proof  we  humbly  presume  they  cannot  exhibit,  and 
we  are  determined,  through  grace,  they  never  shall. 

"  The  third  objection  is,  that  our  flan  tends  to  open  a  door 
to  corruption  in  discipline.  This  charge  is  confidently 
exhibited  in  opposition  to  our  own  declaration.  Prop.  7, 
8,  12.  The  sum  of  all  of  which  is,  that  as  there  is  but  one 
class  which,  according  to  the  Word,  can  be  called  Chris- 
tians, so  none  else  ought  to  be  received  or  retained  in  the 
Church's  communion  ;  but,  if  we  have  mistaken  their  char- 
acter, we  would  be  obliged  to  our  brethren  to  correct  our 
mistake,  and  if  not,  we  should  humbly  presume  that  the  real 
intention  of  discipline  would  be  secured.  Or  do  they  object 
that  we  condemn  or  acquit  by  the  express  letter  of  the  law? 


344        MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


NVe  leave  them  to  the  hiw,  or  rather  to  the  Author  of  it,  and 
remliul  them  that  the  controversy  is  not  with  us,  but  with  the 
hiw,  and  that  whosoever  judgeth  the  hiw  is  not  a  doer  of  the 
law,  but  a  judge. 

"  The  fourth  objection  is,  that  we  make  a  nominal  appro- 
bation of  the  Bible  a  satisfactory  test  of  truths  and  that  all 
the  before-mentioned  evils  are  attributable  to  this  laxity  of 
discipline.  Who  told  them  these  were  our  intentions.''  Surely^ 
we  have  declared  the  very  contrary.  See  appendix  to  *•  De- 
claration and  Address.'  Why,  then,  do  our  brethren  impute 
such  things  to  us  in  the  open  face  of  our  express  decla- 
ration to  the  very  contrary,  as  they  have  evidently  done 
in  every  item  of  their  false  impeachments.'*  Is  such  conduct 
consistent  with  truth,  justice  or  charity.''  Yet  all  these  things 
have  the  Synod  of  Pittsburg  laid  to  our  charge.  In  so  doing 
they  must  have  judged  our  hearts,  our  secret  intentions,  and 
not  our  public  profession  nor  our  practice  ;  for  as  to  these 
we  defy  them  and  all  men  to  make  good  a  single  objection. 

"  Having  briefly  answered  these,  we  proceed  to  answer  a 
few  other  popular  objections,  or  rather  popular  clamors^ 
excited  against  us  by  designing  men,  such  as  the  following: 
V.  T^hat  your  principles  exclude  infant  baptism. 

"  I.  We  dare  not  inculcate  infant  baptism  in  the  name  of 
the  Lord  as  indispensably  incumbent  upon  Christians,  be- 
cause the  Lord  has  nowhere  expressly  enjoined  it.  If  any- 
thing can  be  produced  on  this  head,  we  should  be  glad  to  see 
it.  Until  this  be  done,  we  think  it  highly  anti-scriptural  to 
make  it  a  term  of  communion,  for  to  do  this  is  to  make  it  a 
term  of  salvation.  It  is  as  much  as  to  say,  '  Except  you  bap- 
tize your  children  you  cannot  be  saved  !' 

2.  They  virtually  say  when  they  make  it  a  term  of  com- 
munion, '  You  are  excluded  from  the  Church  below,  conse- 
quently fiom  the  Church  above.*  They  have  no  revealed 
right  to  heaven  above,  so  that  unless  our  brethren  can  show 
us  that,  though  excluded  from  the  Church  below,  they  still 
have  a  right  to  expect  admission  into  heaven,  we  must  con- 
clude they  make  it  a  term  of  salvation,  as  much  at  least  a& 


< )  BJE  C  T/OXS  C  O  XS  IDE  RED. 


345 


the  Judaizing  teachers  did  their  beloved  circumcision,  in  tlve 
room  of  which  our  brethren  say  baptism  is  come.  \\  hile 
we  oppose  the  procedure  as  the  apostle  did  circumcision,  we 
are  as  far  from  condemning  the  practice  in  existing  circum- 
stances, when  not  held  in  this  important  point  of  view,  as  the 
apostle  was,  in  his  own  time,  from  condemning  the  procedure 
of  the  Jewish  brethren  in  regard  to  circumcision,  and  woiild 
comply  with  the  conscientious  scruples  of  our  bretiiren  as  far 
as  the  Apostle  Paul  did  when  he  circumcised  Timotheus  with 
his  own  hand. 

•'■  3.  While  we  declare  that  neither  paedobaptism  nor  anti- 
p^dobaptism  availeth  anything,  we  would  consider  ourselves 
as  unjustly  impeached  by  the  objection  under  consideration 
as  the  apostle  considered  himself  (Acts  xxi.  21)  in  regard  to 
Jewish  observances,  and  with  him  would  be  at  some  pains  to 
convince  our  brethren  that  '  those  things  whereof  they  were 
informed  were  nothing.' 

4.  Upon  the  whole,  we  conclude  that  it  should  be  a 
matter  of  forbearance,  as  it  is  evident  circumcision  was  in  the 
primitive  Church,  by  no  means  considering  it  a  matter  of 
indifference.  It  can  never  be  a  light  thing  to  mistake  tlie 
will  of  God.  We  look  at  baptism  now  in  nearly  the  same 
point  of  view  in  which  the  primitive  Church  looked  at  cir- 
cumcision, and  consider  the  cases,  if  not  altogether  yet  nearly 
•parallel ;  so  far  so,  that  we  must  either  forbear  or  otherwise  re- 
ject a  great  number  of  God's  dear  children  without  his  special 
warrant,  if  not  in  express  violation  of  his  Divine  commands  : 
*  Him  that  is  weak  in  the  faith  receive  ye.*  ^  Receive  ye  one 
another  as  Christ  has  also  received  us  to  the  %\ory  of  God.' 

VI.  //  is  objected  that  our  plan  tends  to  establish  inde- 
pe7ident  church  govcrniuent. 

"I.  We  believe  that  the  Church  of  Christ  is  completely 
independent  beneath  the  government  of  her  glorious  Head, 
expressly  declared  in  the  rules  and  ordinances  of  his  own 
appointment. 

''2.  And  that  the  rulers  ordained  of  him  are  elders  and 
deacons. 


34^       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


"3.  Each  church  had  a  government  within  itself,  to  which 
it  was  subject,  yet  the  churches  were  not  so  independent  of  each 
other  but  that  they  stood  in  a  brotherly  relation  to  each  other. 

"  4.  But  until  our  brethren  can  show  us  that  the  churches 
at  Corinth  and  Antioch  and  Pisidia  were  governed  by  their 
rulers  i?i  conjimctioii  ivith  one  another^  we  must  say  that 
such  government  is  not  founded  in  the  Scriptures  ;  and  still 
further,  till  tliey  can  show  that  they  managed  their  affairs  bv 
\  ote,  etc.,  in  superior  and  inferior  courts,  we  consider  such 
conduct  as  a  gross  intrusion  on  the  rights  of  conscience  and 
the  liberties  of  Christians.  We  are,  therefore,  scriptural 
Presbyterians. 

"VII.  //  is  again  objected  that  it  opens  a  door  for  lay 
preaching. 

"  I.  See  resolution  12.  '  Our  ministers  should  be  duly  and 
scripturally  qualified.'  Does  this  imply  that  we  are  advo- 
cates for  lay  preaching.?  Are  lay  preachers  the  only  persons 
*  duly  and  scripturally  qualified.?'  If  they  be,  let  us  have  a 
number  of  them. 

2.  But  what  do  we  understand  by  lay  preachers .?  It  seems 
that  if  lay  preachers  be  '  scripturally  qualified,*  our  brethren 
would  not  like  them. 

"  3.  The  clergy  are  the  opposite  to  the  laity.  Both  these 
terms  are  used  in  Scripture  to  denote  God's  people.  Trace 
them  to  their  origin  and  we  find  no  difference.*  We  would 
be  obliged  to  some  person  of  exquisite  keenness  of  distinc- 
tion to  point  out  and  define  the  difference  between  laical  and 
clerical  preachers." 

In  addition  to  the  above  objections,  he  noticed,  in 

*  \  aoi  (laos)  signifies  ijeople,  and  is  constantly  applied  to  God's  people. 
KX^pof  (kleros)  signifies  lot,  inheritance,  and  is  applied  to  the  tribe  of  Le\'i  in 
the  Old  Testament  In  the  New,  it  is  used  of  the  antitype,  the  people  of 
God,  as  in  I  Pet,  v.  3,  "  not  as  lords  over  God's  heritage,^''  clergy  or  kleros,  so 
that  the  term  is  here  applied  to  the  whole  brotherhood,  and  there  is  not,  in 
Scripture,  the  slightest  ground  for  the  distinction  between  clergy  and  laity. 
On  the  contrary,  all  the  disciples  collectively  are  denominated  a  "roj'al 
priesthood,"  a  'peculiar  people,"  i  Pet.  ii.  9  ;  and  in  Rev.  v,  lo ;  are  said  to 
be  made  "kings  and  priests  to  God." — R. 


PRESB  TTERIANISM  A  G  GRESSIVE. 


347 


concluding,  one  or  two  others,  as,  '-that  the  principles  of 
the  Association  would  exclude  females  from  the  Lord's 
table,"  and  would  "abrogate  the  Sabbath,"  on  which  it 
is  unnecessary  now  to  dwell. 

Such  was  the  substance  of  Alexander  Campbell's 
reply  to  the  allegations  of  the  Synod  of  Pittsburg, 
which  seems  to  have  paid  no  attention  to  the  published 
declaration  of  the  views  and  purposes  of  the  "Chris- 
tian Association,"  but  to  have  gone  out  of  its  w^ay  to 
characterize  these  according  to  its  own  religious  pre- 
judices. Its  answer  to  Thomas  Campbell's  application 
would  have  been  dignified  and  proper,  if  it  had  simply 
confined  itself  to  one  of  the  reasons  given,  viz.  ;  that 
"it  is  not  consistent  with  the  regulations  of  the  Presby- 
terian Church  that  Synod  should  make  a  connection 
with  an}'  ministers,  churches  or  associations."  And  it 
would  have  been  still  more  becoming,  if,  after  courte- 
ously admitting  the  candor  and  good  intentions  of  Mr. 
Campbell,  it  had  declined  acceding  to  his  request  on 
the  true  and  simple  ground  that  it  had  neither  the 
-power  nor  the  tJiclination  to  effect  the  proposed  changes 
in  the  attitude  and  polity  of  the  Presbyterian  Church. 
But  in  characterizing  Mr.  Campbell's  plan  to  promote 
Christian  union  as  "specious"  and  "seducing,"  and 
classing  it  indefinitely  with  "similar  projects,"  w^hich 
were  of  "baleful  tendency,"  leading  to  "destructive 
operations,"  "errors  in  doctrine,"  "corruptions  in  dis- 
cipline," etc.,  the  Synod  became  at  once  aggressive^ 
and  initiated  a  controversy,  which,  in  various  forms, 
was  maintained  for  half  a  century,  to  the  great  detri- 
ment of  the  interests  of  the  Presbyterian  party.  The 
Synod  little  thought,  at  the  time,  that  the  youth  who  so 
readily  took  up  the  gauntlet  it  had  proudly  thrown 
down,  would,  in  subsequent  years,  overthrow  the  ablest 


3-1^ 


MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


champions  of  their  denomination  in  public  discussions, 
and  do  more  to  sap  the  foundations  and  check  the 
proirress  of  Presbyterianism  in  the  United  States  than 
all  other  causes  combined. 

As  to  the  views  entertained  at  this  time  by  Alexander 
Campbell  and  his  father,  it  appears,  from  the  above 
discourse,  i.  That  they  regarded  the  religious  parties 
around  them  as  possessing  the  substance  of  Christianity, 
but  as  having  failed  to  preserve  "the  foKm  of  sound 
words"  in  w  hich  it  w  as  originally  presented  ;  and  that 
the  chief  object  in  the  reformation  proposed,  was  to 
persuade  to  the  abandonment  of  ex'erv  human  svstem, 
and  the  adoption  of  "this  form  of  sound  words"  as  the 
true  basis  of  union.  2.  That  they  regarded  each  cliurch 
as  an  independent  organization,  having  its  own  internal 
government  by  bishops  and  deacons,  yet  not  so  abso- 
lutely independent  of  other  churches  as  not  to  be  bound 
lo  them  by  fraternal  relations.  3.  That  the}^  considered 
'•lay  preaching''  as  authorized,  and  denied  the  distinc- 
tion between  clergy  and  laity  to  be  scriptural.  4.  That 
they  looked  upon  infant  baptism  as  without  direct  scrip- 
tural authoritv.  but  were  willincj  to  leave  it  as  a  matter 
of  forbearance,  and  allow  the  continuance  of  the  prac- 
tice in  the  case  of  those  who  conscientiously  approved 
it,  as  Paul  and  James  permitted  circumcision  for  a  time 
in  deference  to  Jewish  prejudices.  5.  That  they  clearly 
anticipated  the  probability  of  being  compelled,  on  ac- 
count of  the  refusal  of  the  religious  parties  to  accept 
their  overture,  to  resolve  the  Christian  Association  into 
a  distinct  Church,  in  order  to  carry  out  for  themselves 
the  duties  and  obligations  enjoined  on  them  in  the 
Scriptures.  And,  6.  That  in  receiving  nothing  but 
what  was  ex}")ressl v  revealed,  they  foresaw  and  ad- 
mitted that  manv  things  deemed  precious  and  important 


OBJECTS  OF  THE  PROPOSED  REFORM.  349 


by  the  existing  religious  societies,  must  inevitably  be 
excluded. 

Such,  then,  was  the  progress  already  made  by  the 
principles  of  the  reformation  iu  the  minds  of  tliose  vvlio 
promoted  this  religious  movement.  It  will  have  been 
seen  that,  from  the  beginning,  its  object  and  its  nature 
'vere  clearly  understood  and  distinctly  defined  ;  and 
.hat,  originating  in  no  pride  of  opinion,  no  freak  of 
disappointed  ambidon,  no  hope  of  worldly  honor  or 
emolument,  it  was  carried  on  with  calm  deliberation 
and  with  constant  reference  to  the  basis  at  first  adopted 
— the  Bible  alone. 

It  will  be  seen,  further,  that  the  positions  taken  by 
the  Christian  Association  at  this  period  were  almost 
identical  with  those  held  by  the  churches  established 
by  the  Haldanes,  with  which  Alexander  had  become 
familiar  during  his  residence  in  Scotland.  The  inde- 
pendence of  each  congregation  ;  its  government  by  its 
own  rulers ;  the  Scriptures  as  the  only  authoritative 
guide  ;  the  practice  of  lay  preaching,  and  the  toleration 
of  infant  baptism,  were  all  points  of  agreement.  But 
in  other  respects,  there  were  differences,  due  to  the  dif- 
fering circumstances  attending  these  efforts  at  reform. 
The  Irlaldanean  reformation  spent  much  of  its  force 
in  battling  with  infidelity  and  Socinianism  in  the  Eslab 
lished  Church  and  in  seeking  to  restore  the  Lutheran 
doctrine  of  justification  by  faith  in  the  work  of  Clirist ; 
and  although,  in  making  its  appeal  to  the  Scriptures,  it 
was  gradually  led  to  the  adoption,  in  part,  of  primitive 
Church  government  and  order,  it  was  essentially  an 
effort  to  expose  the  doctrinal  errors  which  had  crept 
into  the  Church,  and  to  give  a  wider  range  and  greater 
efficiency  to  the  means  employed  for  the  spread  of  the 
evangelical  doctrines.    On  the  other  hand,  the  reform 

30 


35°       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


urged  by  the  Campbells,  while  it  necessarily  embraced 
these  points,  was  much  more  radical  and  sweeping. 
Its  aim  was  not  so  much  to  repair  defects  in  modern 
Christianity,  as  to  restore  that  which  was  original  and 
pure,  *'both  in  letter  and  spirit,  in  principle  and  in 
practice."  It  proposed  to  pay  no  respect  whatever  to 
the  doctrinal  or  other  controversies  which  had  existed 
since  apostolic  times,  but  to  adopt,  at  once,  the  original 
basis  on  which  the  primitive  Church  itself  rested.  It 
proposed  to  build  upon  the  first  foundations,  rather  than 
to  attempt  to  repair  the  breaches  in  the  crumbling  walls 
of  modern  religious  systems.  It  trusted  to  the  Bible, 
therefore,  and  to  the  Bible  alone,  as  furnishing  the 
entire  plan  and  all  the  necessary  specifications  of  the 
Divine  Architect,  and,  though  delayed  and  hindered  by 
the  necessity  of  removing  often  the  accumulated  rubbish 
of  human  speculations,  it  steadily  pursued  its  original 
design,  until  it  succeeded  at  length  in  developing  the 
entire  structure  of  primitive  Christianity. 


CHAPTER  XVII. 


Religious  Speculation  and  Dictation — Partyism — New  Acquaintances — Mar- 
riage— Church  Organization — First  Baptisms — Scripture  Themes. 

THE  concealments  of  the  Bible  are  as  Divine  as  its^ 
revelations.  Infinite  wisdom  was  required  aa 
much  to  determine  of  what  man  should  be  ignorant  as 
what  man  should  know.  Indeed,  since,  in  regard  to 
all  matters  connected  with  the  unseen  spiritual  world, 
man  is  entirely  dependent  upon  Divine  revelation,  the 
limits  of  that  revelation  must  necessarily  mark  out  also 
the  domain  of  human  ignorance,  as  the  shores  of  a 
continent  become  the  boundaries  of  a  trackless  and 
unfathomed  ocean.  Hence  it  is,  that  the  silence  of  the 
Bible  is  to  be  reverenced  equally  with  its  teachings, 
and  that  to  intrude  into  things  not  seen  and  not  revealed, 
evinces  the  vanity  of  a  fleshly  mind  as  much  as  to  mis- 
interpret and  pervert  the  express  statements  of  the 
Scriptures.  Unfortunately,  both  of  these  errors  had 
prevailed  in  religious  societ}s  which  was  not  content 
with  either  the  reticence  or  the  teachings  of  the  Bible, 
but  had  presumed  to  supply  the  former  by  speculations 
upon  the  eternal  decrees  of  God,  the  Trinity,  the  Divine 
nature,  the  future  destiny  of  mankind,  etc.  ;  and  ta 
substitute  for  the  latter,  the  commentaries  of  party 
leaders  and  the  decisions  of  councils  or  other  eccle- 
siastical tribunals.  Against  this  latter  usurpation  of 
Divine  authority,  where  men  had  assumed  to  regulate 

351 


MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


the  faith  and  practice  of  the  Church,  eminent  reformers 
bad,  indeed,  from  age  to  age,  remonstrated.  Unfor- 
tunately, however,  while  endeavoring  to  correct  this 
error,  and  to  reinstate  the  Scripture  in  its  proper  posi- 
tion as  an  infallible  and  Divine  revelation,  too  little 
attention  was  paid  to  the  fact  that  this  revelation  had 
its  appointed  limits,  and  these  reformers  themselves  pre- 
sumed to  transcend  these  boundaries,  and  to  superadd 
their  own  opinions  and  speculations  about  questions  of 
which  the  Scriptures  do  not  treat.  There  was,  there- 
fore, a  necessity  for  both  the  specifications  in  the  prin- 
ciple which  Thomas  Campbell  had  adopted,  "  where 
the  Scriptures  speak,  we  speak  ;  where  the  Scriptures 
are  silent,  we  are  silent,"  as  it  was  not  merely  necessary 
to  take  Divine  revelation  as  a  guide,  but  equally  so  to 
prohibit  the  addition  and  admixture  of  human  opinions. 
It  was  tills  last  point  pardcularly,  viz.  :  that  the  silence 
of  the  Scriptures  is  to  be  respected  equally  with  its 
teachings,  that  was  almost  peculiar  to  the  reformation 
urged  by  Mr.  Campbell,  and  continued  to  be  one  of  its 
most  important  and  characteristic  traits. 

As  it  was  the  distinguishing  error  of  Romanism  to 
presume  to  dictate  the  faith  and  regulate  the  ordinances 
of  the  Church,  irrespecdve  of  the  teaching  of  the 
Scriptures  :  so  the  chief  mistake  of  Protestantism  con- 
sisted in  substituting  for  the  silence  of  the  Bible 
human  opinions  and  speculative  theories.  The  great 
principle  urged  by  Thomas  Campbell,  which  demanded 
implicit  faith  in  express  revelation  alone,  and  an  ac- 
knowledged or  explicit  ignorance  in  regard  to  all  un- 
taught questions,  brought,  therefore,  those  who  adopted 
it  into  direct  antagonism  with  the  entire  religious  world. 
Accordingly,  \\  \\\\  perhaps  the  exception  of  the  churches 
established  by  the  Haldanes  and  a  few  other  small  inde- 


REASONS  AGAINST  PARTISANSHIP.  353 


pendent  bodies  of  reformers,  who  had,  in  various  parts 
of  Europe  and  America,  been  led  to  take  the  Bible 
alone  as  a  guide,  there  was  not  any  religious  denomina- 
tion whatever,  known  to  them,  with  which  the  reformers 
could  consistently  have  established  a  real  and  fraternal 
union.  Whatever  confidence  they  might  have  in  the 
faith  and  piety  of  many  of  the  individuals  composing  a 
party,  they  could  have  none  in  the  party  itself  or  in  the 
system  upon  which  it  was  maintained,  and  could  not 
therefore,  by  uniting,  give  their  sanction  to  those  divisive 
principles  which  it  was  their  chief  purpose  to  subvert. 
On  the  other  hand,  it  is  obvious  that  no  party  desiring 
to  continue  such,  and  comprehending  the  sweeping 
character  of  the  great  fundamental  principle  adopted 
by  Thomas  Campbell,  could,  consistently  with  its 
own  security,  receive  the  reformers  into  religious  fel- 
lowship. 

''Am  I  asked,"  said  Alexander  Campbell  about  this 
period  (in  an  address  after  sermon  at  the  house  of  JNIr. 
Buchanan),  in  order  to  anticipate  certain  objections, 
"why  I  am  not  a  party  man?  or  why  1  do  not  join 
some  party?  I  ask,  in  return.  Which  party  would  the 
Apostle  Paul  join  if  now  on  earth?  Or,  in  other  words, 
which  party  would  receive  him?  I  dare  not  be  a  party 
man  for  these  reasons  : 

"I.  Because  Christ  has  forbidden  me.  He  has  com- 
manded us  to  keep  the  '  unity  of  the  spirit to  be  '  of 
one  mind  and  of  one  judgment;'  to  'love  each  other 
with  a  pure  heart  fervently,'  and  to  'call  no  man  master' 
on  earth. 

"2.  Because  no  party  will  receive  into  commimion 
all  whom  God  w^ould  receive  into  heaven.  God  loves 
his  children  more  than  our  creeds,  and  man  was  nc^t 
made  for  the  Bible,  but  the  Bible  for  man.    But  if  1  am 

\OL.  I. — X  30  * 


354        MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


asked  by  a  partisan.  Could  you  not  join  us  and  let  these 
things  alone?  I  answer,  no,  because — 

"3.  The  man  that  promotes  the  interests  of  a  party 
stands  next  in  guilt  to  the  man  that  made  it.  The  man 
that  puts  the  second  stone  on  a  building  is  as  instru- 
mental in  its  erection  as  the  man  that  laid  the  first.  He 
that  supports  a  party  bids  the  party  God  speed  ;  and  he 
that  bids  them  God  speed  is  a  partaker  of  their  evil 
deeds. 

"4.  Because  all  parties  oppose  reformation.  They 
all  pray  for  it,  but  they  will  not  work  for  it.  None  of 
them  dare  return  to  the  original  standard.  I  speak  not 
against  any  denomination  in  particular,  but  against  all. 
I  speak  not  against  any  system  of  truth,  but  against  all 
except  the  Bible.  '  Hold  fast  the  form  of  sound  words' 
condemns  them  all.  It  is  a  doleful  truth,  that  the  very 
persons  who  ought  to  have  advocated  reformation, 
always  opposed  it.  See  the  History  of  the  Christian 
Churchy  and  Matthew  xxiii.  When  I  consider  what 
Paul  and  thousands  of  others  suffered  for  a  good  con- 
science, I  would  do  so  too.  I  desire  to  fight  for  '  the 
faith  once  delivered  to  the  saints.'  I  like  the  bold 
Christian  hero." 

Such,  at  this  period,  were  the  noble  and  decided 
utterances  of  Alexander  Campbell  in  relation  to  part}'- 
ism  and  to  his  own  convictions  of  religious  duty  ;  and 
such  were  the  feelings  which  he  and  those  associated 
with  him  then  entertained  in  reference  to  these  sad 
defections  from  primitive  precept  and  example.  Such, 
too,  were  the  views  which  they  labored  to  impress  upon 
the  religious  community  as  opportunity  was  afforded. 
Except,  however,  in  the  case  of  the  special  address 
delivered  at  Washington  on  November  i,  in  defence  of 
the  Christian  Association  against  the  aspersions  of  the- 


SERMONS  ON  BIBLE  THEMES. 


355 


Synod  of  Pittsburg,  which  was  delivered  at  a  regular 
meeting  of  the  Association,  and  the  object  of  which 
had  been  previously  announced  by  advertisement, 
Alexander  Campbell  and  his  father  appear  never  to 
have  made  their  views  of  reformation  the  particular 
theme  of  their  regular  discourses,  which  they  continued 
to  deliver  in  the  court-house  or  in  the  seminary  build- 
ing at  Washington  ;  at  Brush  Run ;  the  cross-roads  ; 
Middletown',  and  occasionally  at  private  houses,  as 
at  Thomas  McClellan's,  Thomas  Hodgens',  Thomas 
Sharp's,  James  McElroy's,  etc.  These  discourses  were 
devoted  to  the  elucidation  of  portions  of  Scripture  for 
Christian  edification  and  for  the  enforcement  of  the  great 
duties  of  the  Christian  life.  Both  of  them  had  too  much 
reverence  for  the  Lord's  day  and  the  solemnities  of 
religious  worship,  to  appropriate  those  hours  to  the  dis- 
cussion of  inferior  themes,  or  to  the  ungrateful  subject 
of  religious  schisms,  unless,  indeed,  this  happened  to 
be  involved  legitimately  in  the  text;  Thus,  amongst 
the  numerous  discourses  w^hich  Alexander  Campbell 
delivered  during  the  early  years  of  his  ministry,  and 
of  which  he  preserved  skeletons  and  notes  sufficient  to 
make  an  interesting  volume,  none  are  to  be  found  of  a 
partisan  or  disputatious  character,  and  none  of  them 
are  directed  against  any  existing  denomination.  They 
are  from  texts  such  as  these :  "  Let  us  hear  the  conclu- 
sion of  the  whole  matter.  Fear  God  and  keep  his 
commandments,  for  this  is  the  whole  duty  of  man.'* 
Ecclesiastes  xii.  13.  *' Search  the  Scriptures,  for  hi 
them  you  think  you  have  eternal  life,  and  they  are  they 
which  testify  of  me."  John  v.  39.  "  Behold  I  stand  at 
the  door  and  knock  :  if  any  man  hear  my  voice  and 
open  the  door,  I  will  come  in  to  him,  and  will  sup  with 
him,  and  he  with  me."  Revelation  iii.  20.    "For  in 


35^       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL, 


Jesus  Christ  neither  circumcision  availeth  an3'thing, 
nor  uncircumcision,  but  faitli  that  worketh  by  love." 
Gahitians  v.  6.  How  shall  we  escape  if  we  neglect 
so  great  salvation?"  Hebrews  ii.  3.  ''To  be  carnally- 
minded  is  death,  but  to  be  spiritualh'-minded  is  lite  and 
peace."  Romans  viii.  6.  They  are  discourses  upon  the 
excellency  and  glory  of  Christ  and  the  sufficiency  of 
his  finished  work ;  upon  the  covenants  and  promises  of 
God  ;  upon  the  study  of  the  Scriptures  as  the  rule  of 
life  ;  upon  faith,  righteousness  and  judgment  to  come 
Confining  themselves  thus,  according  to  their  own  prin- 
ciples, to  Scripture  themes  in  their  public  ministrations, 
neither  father  nor  son  had  anv  disposition  to  speak, 
unless  incidentally  and  briefly,  and  in  general  terms,  of 
existing  divisions.  These  matters  they  reserved  for  con- 
terence  in  private  with  religious  persons,  and  for  friendly 
discussion  in  the  families  to  which  they  had  access, 
and  especially  with  ministers  and  persons  of  influence 
amongst  the  difl'erent  parties.  Thomas  Campbell, 
especially,  spent  much  of  his  time  in  visiting  the  fami- 
lies with  which  he  was  acquainted  throughout  this 
region  of  country,  not  only  to  promote  the  interests  of 
religion,  but  from  his  affectionate  attachment  to  the 
numerous  friends  he  had  formed  while  a  Seceder  min- 
ister, and  from  that  eminently  social  disposition  so 
characteristic  of  his  countrymen,  of  whom  he  was  in 
this  respect  a  fair  representxitive. 

Among  the  various  families  that  he  occasionally 
visited,  there  was  one  by  the  name  of  Parkinson, 
living  on  the  upland  immediately  bordering  on  the 
valley  of  BuflJ'alo,  eight  miles  from  Charlestown.  Mrs. 
Parkinson  was  a  member  of  the  Associate  Reformed 
congregation  at  W.  Middletown,  then  under  the  care 
of  a  Mr.  Findley.   She  had  been  left  a  widow  -vith  a 


A  NEW  ACQUAINTANCE. 


357 


family  of  children,  and  was  a  woman  of  intelligence 
and  piety,  much  respected  by  Mr.  Campbell.  While 
here,  he  was  introduced  to  a  Mr.  John  Brown,  who 
owned  the  farm  adjoining,  which  extended  down  into 
the  valley  of  the  creek,  and  embraced  a  large  portion 
of  its  rich  alluvial  bottoms.  Around  these  the  creek 
swep"-  with  a  graceful  curve,  washing  the  base  of  the 
lofty  hill  on  which  the  Parkinson  farm  was  situated, 
and  just  here,  Mr.  Brown,  who  was  a  carpenter  and 
millwright,  had  a  grist-mill  and  saw-mill,  which  were 
at  this  time,  with  some  adjoining  acres,  in  the  pos- 
session of  a  Mr.  Talbot.  Beyond  these,  at  a  consider- 
able distance,  on  a  more  elevated  portion  of  the  farm, 
near  the  public  road,  stood  Mr.  Brown's  comfortable 
and  capacious  dwelling,  two  stories  high,  weather- 
boarded,  painted  w^hite,  and  with  green  Venetian  shut- 
ters. Mr.  Brown  was  a  Presbyterian,  but  somewhat 
independent  and  original  in  his  modes  of  thinking ; 
fond  of  investigation,  and  a  great  admirer  of  men  of 
talent.  He  was  a  man  of  great  kindness  of  disposi- 
tion ;  of  great  piety  and  integrity,  and  had  a  remarkable 
love  for  simplicity  and  plainness  in  dress  and  mode  of 
living,  maintaining,  as  far  as  practicable,  the  habits  of 
the  early  settlers.  Thomas  Campbell's  acquaintance 
with  him  soon  grew  into  a  warm  friendship,  and  they 
did  not  fail  to  have  many  agreeable  discussions  upon 
religious  topics.  Mr.  Campbell  having  on  a  particular 
occasion  promised  Mr.  Brown  some  books,  upon  his 
return  to  Washington  sent  them  down  by  his  son  Alex- 
ander. This  was  the  first  visit  Alexander  had  paid  to 
this  part  of  the  country,  and  the  acquaintance  which 
he  then  formed  with  Mr.  Brown  and  his  famity,  led  to 
important  results. 

Mr.  Brown's  family  consisted  at  this  time  of  his 


35^       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


wife,  his  daughter  Margaret,  about  eighteen  years  of 
^ge,  and  his  step-daughter,  Miss  Jane  Glass,  a  few 
years  older.  His  present  wife  was  the  widow  of  a  Mr. 
Glass,  who  had  lived  on  the  farm  immediately  above,  in 
the  valley  of  the  creek.  After  the  death  of  her  first 
husband,  Mrs.  Glass  had  married  Mr.  Brown,  who  was 
at  that  time  a  widower.  She  was  considerably  below 
the  medium  height,  energetic,  industrious  and  intelli- 
gent. Her  first  husband  having  been  one  of  the  early 
settlers,  her  life  had  been  full  of  privations,  labor  and 
trial.  During  the  hostilities  which  for  a  long  time 
prevailed  between  the  white  settlers  and  the  Indians 
upon  their  borders,  she  had  met  at  one  time  with 
a  very  perilous  adventure,  an  account  of  which  is  here 
given  from  Dr.  Joseph  Doddridge's  Notes  on  the 
Settlement  and  Indian  Wars  of  West  Pennsylvania 
and  Virginia :" 

"On  the  27th  day  of  March,  1789,  about  ten  o'clock  in  the 
forenoon,  as  she  was  spinning  in  her  house,  her  black  woman, 
who  had  stepped  out  to  gather  sugar  water,  screamed  out, 
*  Here  are  Indians.'  She  jumped  up,  ran  to  the  window  and 
then  to  the  door,  where  she  was  met  by  one  of  the  Indians 
presenting  his  gun.  She  caught  hold  of  the  muzzle  and 
turning  it  aside,  begged  him  not  to  kill,  but  take  her  prisoner. 
The  other  Indian,  in  the  mean  time,  caught  the  black  woman 
and  her  boy,  about  four  years  old,  and  brought  them  into  the 
house.  They  then  opened  a  chest,  took  out  a  small  box  and 
some  articles  of  clothing,  and  without  doing  any  further 
lamage  or  setting  fire  to  the  house,  set  off'  with  herself  and 
her  son,  about  two  and  a  half  years  old,  and  the  black  wo- 
man and  her  two  children,  the  oldest  four  years  and  the 
youngest  one  year  old.  After  going  about  one  and  a  half 
miles,  they  halted  and  held  a  consultation,  as  she  supposed, 
about  killing  the  children.  This  she  understood  to  be  the 
subject  from  their  gestures  and  frequently  pointing  at  the 


A  PER /LOU'S  ADVENTURE. 


children.  To  one  of  the  Indians  who  could  speak  English 
she  held  out  her  little  boy  and  begged  him  not  to  kill  him,  as 
he  would  make  a  fine  little  Indian  after  a  while.  The  Indian 
made  a  motion  to  her  to  walk  .on  with  her  child.  The  other 
Indian  then  struck  the  negro  boy  with  the  pipe  end  of  his 
tomahawk,  which  knocked  him  down,  and  then  despatched 
him  by  a  blow  with  the  edge  across  the  back  of  the  neck, 
and  then  scalped  him. 

About  four  o'clock  in  the  evening,  they  reached  the  river 
about  a  mile  above  Wellsburg.  and  carried  a  canoe,  which 
had  been  thrown  into  some  driftwood,  into  the  river.  They 
got  into  this  canoe  and  worked  it  down  to  the  mouth  of  Rush 
Run,  a  distance  of  about  five  miles.  They  pulled  up  the 
canoe  into  the  mouth  of  the  run  as  far  as  they  could,  then 
went  up  the  run  for  about  a  mile  and  encamped  for  the 
night.  The  Indians  gave  the  prisoners  all  their  own  clothes 
for  covering,  and  added  one  of  their  own  blankets.  A  while 
before  daylight,  the  Indians  got  up  and  put  another  blanket 
over  them. 

"  About  sunrise  they  began  their  march  up  a  very  steep 
hill,  and  about  two  o'clock  they  halted  on  Short  Creek,  about 
twenty  miles  from  the  place  from  whence  they  had  set  out  in 
the  morning.  The  place  where  they  halted  had  been  an 
encampment  a  short  time  before,  as  well  as  a  place  of  deposit 
for  the  plunder  which  they  had  recently  taken  from  the 
house  of  a  Mr.  Vanmeter,  whose  family  had  been  killed.  The 
plunder  was  deposited  in  a  sycamore  tree.  They  tapped 
some  trees  when  there  before.  Here  they  kindled  a  fire  and 
put  on  a  brass  kettle  with  a  turkey,  which  they  had  killed  on 
the  way,  to  boil  in  sugar  water. 

"Mr.  Glass,  the  first  husband  of  Mrs.  Brown,  was  work- 
ing in  a  field  with  a  hired  man,  about  a  quarter  of  a  mile 
from  the  house,  when  his  wife  and  family  were  taken,  but 
knew  nothing  of  the  event  until  tvs'o  o'clock.  After  search- 
ing about  the  house,  and  going  to  several  houses  in  the 
neighborhood  in  quest  of  his  family,  he  went  to  Mr.  Wells' 
fort,  and  collected  ten  men  beside  himself ;  and  the  same 


360       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL, 


night  lodged  in  a  cabin  on  the  bottom  on  which  the  town 
now  stands. 

"  Next  morning  they  discovered  the  place  from  which  the 
Indians  had  taken  the  canoe. from  the  drift,  and  their  tracks 
at"  tlie  place  of  their  embarkation.  Mr.  Glass  could  distin- 
guish the  track  of  his  wife  by  the  print  of  the  high  heel  of 
her  shoe.  They  crossed  over  the  river  and  went  down  on  the 
other  side  until  they  came  near  the  mouth  of  Rush  Run  ;  but 
discovering  no  tracks  of  the  Indians,  most  of  the  men  con- 
cluded they  would  go  to  the  mouth  of  Muskingum  by  water, 
and  therefore  wished  to  turn  back.  Mr.  Glass  begged  of 
them  to  go  as  far  as  the  mouth  of  Short  Creek,  which  was 
only  two  or  three  miles  farther.  To  this  they  agreed.  When 
thev  got  to  the  mouth  of  Rush  Run,  they  found  the  canoe  of 
tiie  Indians.  This  was  indentified  by  a  proof  which  goes  to 
sliow  the  presence  of  mind  of  Mrs.  Brown.  While  going 
^Jown  the  river  one  of  the  Indians  threw  into  the  water  some 
papers  which  he  had  taken  from  Mr.  Glass's  trunk  ;  some  of 
these  she  picked  up,  and  under  pretence  of  giving  them  to 
tlic  child,  dropped  them  in  the  bottom  of  tlie  boat.  These 
left  no  doubt.  The  trail  of  the  Indians  and  the  prisoners  up 
the  run  to  their  camp,  and  then  up  the  river  hill,  was  soon 
discovered.  The  trail  at  that  time,  owing  to  the  softness  of 
the  ground  and  the  height  of  the  weeds,  was  easily  followed. 
About  an  hour  after  the  Indians  had  halted,  Mr.  Glass  and 
his  men  came  within  sight  of  the  smoke  of  their  camp.  The 
object  was,  then,  to  save  the  lives  of  the  prisoners  by  attack- 
ing the  Indians  so  unexpectedly  as  not  to  allow  them  time  to 
kill  them.  With  this  view,  they  crept  as  slyly  as  they  could 
till  they  got  within  something  more  than  a  hundred  yards  of 
the  camp.  Fortunately,  Mrs.  Brown's  little  son  had  gone  to 
a  sugar  tree  to  get  some  water,  and  not  being  able  to  get  it 
out  of  the  rough  trough,  his  mother  had  stepped  out  of  the 
camp  to  get  it  for  him.  The  negro  woman  was  sitting  some 
distance  from  the  two  Indians,  who  were  looking  attentively 
at  a  scarlet  jacket  they  had  taken  some  time  before.  On  a 
sudden  they  dropped  the  jacket  and  turned  their  eyes  toward 


FORTUNATE  RESCUE. 


361 


the  men,  who,  supposing  they  were  discovered,  immediately 
discharged  several  guns,  and  rushed  upon  them  at  full  speed 
with  an  Indian  yell.  One  of  the  Indians,  it  was  supposed, 
was  wounded  at  the  first  fire,  as  he  fell  and  dropped  his  gun 
and  shot-pouch.  After  running  about  one  hundred  yards  a 
second  shot  was  fired  after  him  by  Major  Maguire,  which 
brought  him  to  his  hands  and  knees,  biit  there  was  no  time 
for  pursuit,  as  the  Indians  had  informed  Mrs.  Brown  that 
there  was  another  encampment  close  by.  They  therefore  re- 
turned home  wnth  all  speed,  and  reached  the  Beach  Bottom 
fort  that  night. 

"•The  other  Indian,  at  the  first  fire,  ran  a  little  distance 
beyond  Mrs.  Brown,  so  that  she  was  in  a  line  between  him 
and  the  white  men  :  here  he  halted  for  a  little  to  put  on  his 
shot-pouch,  which  Mr.  Glass  for  a  moment  mistook  for  an 
attempt  to  kill  his  wife  with  a  tomahawk. 

This  artful  manoeuvre  no  doubt  saved  the  life  of  the 
savage,  as  his  pursuers  durst  not  shoot  at  him  without  risking 
the  life  of  Mrs.  Brown." 

Mrs.  Glass,  at  the  time  of  her  marriage  to  Mr.  Brown, 
had  an  only  daughter,  who,  sorne  time  after  Alexander's 
introduction  to  the  family,  married  a  Mr.  Stevenson 
and  settled  near  Pittsburg.  Mr.  Brown,  also,  had  been 
left  with  an  only  daughter  by  his  first  wife,  whose 
maiden  name  was  Grimes,  and  whose  relatives  lived  in 
Charlestown  and  its  vicinity,  one  sister  being  married 
to  a  Major  Congleton.  Miss  Brown  was  tall  and  slen- 
der, but  graceful.  She  had  a  sweet,  benignant  coun- 
tenance, very  dark  hair,  regular  features,  full  and 
expressive  dark  hazel  eyes,  and  was  already  noted  for 
her  piety,  industry  and  engaging  manners.  Her  educa- 
tion had  been  the  best  which,  in  this  region,  was  at 
that  time  accorded  to  females. 

The  agreeable  acquaintance  which  Alexander  had 
thus  formed  with  the  Brown  famih- ,  induced  him  soon 

31 


3^2       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


to  repeat  his  visit.  Mr.  Brown  had  conceived  a  very 
warm  attachment  to  the  young  preacher,  whose  talents 
and  acquirements  he  greatly  admired,  and  with  whose 
sprightly  and  agreeable  conversation  he  was  so  much 
delighted,  that  he  sought  every  opportunity  of  enjoying 
his  company.  On  his  part,  Alexander  entertained  a 
very  earnest  regard  for  Mr.  Brown.  He  loved  his 
independent  turn  of  thought ;  his  simple  manners  ;  the 
unyielding  integrity  which  characterized  his  life,  and 
the  childlike  and  unaffected  confidence  which  he  re- 
posed in  those  he  esteemed.  As  an  instance  of  his 
fondness  for  investigation,  it  may  be  related  that,  one 
evening  when  Alexander  was  at  his  house,  an  eccentric 
Baptist  preacher  who  occasionally  traversed  this  part 
of  the  country,  and  with  whom  Mr.  Brown  was  ac- 
quainted, happening  to  call  to  spend  the  night,  he 
managed  pretty  soon  to  get  up  a  discussion  between 
him  and  Alexander  on  the  subject  of  baptism.  Greatly 
to  his  delight,  the  debate  soon  became  animated.  The 
various  covenants  were  considered  at  length.  The 
Christian  and  Jewish  institutions  weie  compared,  and 
the  cause  of  paedobaptism  was  argued,  with  more  than 
usual  dexterity,  by  the  young  disputant.  Finding  him- 
self baffled,  however,  by  the  direct  Scripture  quotations 
of  his  opponent,  he  insisted  that  infant  baptism  should, 
at  least,  like  circumcision  in  the  early  Church,  be  left 
as  a  matter  of  forbearance.  This  position  was  vigor- 
ously assailed  by  the  close-communion  Baptist,  and  the 
discussion  became  so  interesting  that  it  was  prolonged 
until  near  morning,  and  the  parties  finally  separated 
under  an  agreement  to  meet  in  two  weeks  in  order  to 
continue  the  subject.  They  met,  accordingly,  at  the 
time  appointed,  but  Alexander,  whose  love  foi"  truth  did 
not  permit  him  to  feel  entirely  sadsfied  with  the  argu- 


THE  VIRTUOUS  WOMAN. 


ments  he  had  prepared,  begged  for  a  further  adjourn- 
ment, and  it  so  happened  that  the  discussion  was  not 
afterward  resumed. 

The  intimacy  thus  established  in  the  fall  of  1810 
with  Mr.  Brown  and  his  family  soon  led  to  a  warmer 
feeling  than  that  of  friendship  between  Alexander  and 
the  daughter,  and  they  became  finally  so  much  attached 
to  each  other  as  to  lead  to  a  proposal  of  marriage. 
This  being  entirely  agreeable  to  the  relatives  on  both 
sides,  the  marriage  ceremony  was  performed  on  the 
I2th  of  March,  181 1,  by  Rev.  Mr.  Hughes,  pastor  of 
the  Presbyterian  church  at  the  town  of  West  Liberty, 
four  miles  distant,  and  of  which  Mr.  Brown  and  his 
family  were  members.  On  the  following  day,  accord- 
ing to  the  custom  of  the  time,  Alexander  went  up  with 
his  bride  to  Washington  to  receive  the  congratulations 
of  his  friends  at  his  father's  house.  The  day  having 
been  thus  agreeably  spent,  all  the  members  of  the 
family  assembled  at  the  usual  hour,  according  to  their 
invariable  custom,  for  worship.  Each  one  had,  as 
usual,  a  Scripture  recitation  to  offer,  and  Alexander's 
sister  Jane,  now  about  eleven  years  old,  who  had  been 
greatly  troubled  in  the  morning  as  to  what  portion  of 
Scripture  she  should  memorize  for  so  important  an 
occasion,  and  who  had  at  last  settled  upon  the  descrip- 
tion of  the  model  wife  contained  in  the  last  twenty-two 
verses  of  the  concluding  chapter  of  Proverbs,  gave  her 
recitation  very  correctly,  as  follows : 

^' Who  can  find  a  virtuous  woman?  for  her  price  is  far 
above  rubies.  The  heart  of  her  husband  doth  safely  trust  in 
her,  so  that  she  shall  have  no  need  of  spoil.  She  will  do  him 
good,  and  not  evil,  all  the  days  of  her  life.  She  seeketh  wool 
and  flax,  and  worketh  willingly  with  her  hands.  She  is  like 
the  merchant  ships ;  she  bringeth  her  food  from  afar.  She 


MEMOIRS  OF  .  \f.!:XANDER  CAMPBELL. 


risetii  while  11  is  \et  night,  and  giveth  meat  to  her  househoM, 
and  a  portion  to  her  maidens.  Slie  considereth  a  field,  ana 
buyeth  it;  with  the  fruit  of  her  liand  she  planteth  a  vineyard. 
She  girdeth  her  loins  with  strength,  and  strengtheneth  her 
arms.  She  perceiveth  that  her  merchandise  is  good;  her 
candle  goeth  not  out  by  night.  She  layeth  her  hand  to  the 
spindle,  and  her  hands  hold  the  distaff.  She  stretcheth  out 
her  hand  to  the  poor  ;  yea,  she  reacheth  forth  her  hands  to 
the  needy.  She  is  not  afraid  of  the  snow  for  her  household  ; 
for  all  her  household  are  clothed  with  scarlet.  She  maketh 
herself  coverings  of  tapestry;  her  clothing  is  silk  and  purple. 
Her  husband  is  known  in  the  gates  when  he  sitteth  among 
the  elders  of  the  land.  She  maketh  fine  linen  and  selleth  it ; 
and  delivereth  girdles  unto  the  merchant.  Strength  and 
honor  are  her  clothing  ;  and  she  shall  rejoice  in  time  to  come. 
She  openeth  her  mouth  with  wisdom  ;  and  in  her  mouth  is 
the  law  of  kindness.  She  looketh  well  to  the  ways  of  her 
household,  and  she  eateth  not  the  bread  of  idleness.  Her 
children  arise  up  and  call  her  blessed  ;  her  husband  also,  and 
he  praiseth  her.  Many  daughters  have  done  virtuously,  but 
thou  excellest  them  all.  Favor  is  deceitful,  and  beauty  is 
vain  ;  but  a  woman  that  feareth  the  Lord,  she  shall  be  praised. 
Give  her  of  the  fruits  of  her  hands  ;  and  let  her  own  works 
praise  her  in  the  gates." 

After  worship,  the  bride,  coming  to  Jane,  kissed  her 
affectionately,  and  thanked  her  warmly  for  the  beautiful 
passage  of  Scripture  she  had  so  well  recited,  expressing 
the  hope  that  she  might  herself  be  enabled,  in  some 
measure,  to  practice  its  teachings.  Her  subsequent  life 
truly  showed  how  earnestly  she  sought  to  conform  to 
the  model  she  so  much  admired  ;  for  she  became  a  true 
helpmate  to  her  husband,  sympathizing  with  him  in 
all  his  labors,  managing  his  domestic  affairs  with  the 
utmost  prudence  and  economy,  and  enduring  patiently 
the  privations  consequent  upon  his  frequent  absences 


REMOVALS  AND  OCCUPATIONS. 


from  home,  in  order  that  he  might  accompHsh  the  great 
work  to  which  he  had  devoted  his  life. 

On  the  loth  of  March,  two  days  before  his  marriage, 
Alexander  had  preached  twice  at  Brush  Run.  On  the 
following  two  Lord's  days  he  preached  at  Washington  ; 
and' on  the  25th  of  March  he  went,  with  his  wife,  to  live 
with  his  father-in-law.  On  the  succeeding  Lord's  day, 
the  31st,  he  spoke  at  Samuel  Guy's,  who  lived  on  the 
creek  some  miles  above  :  and  so  continued  his  labors- 
regularly  at  different  points  within  convenient  reach. 
He  did  not,  however,  occupy  his  time  wholly  either  in 
fulfilling  these  duties  and  preparing  for  them,  or  in 
reading  and  study.  His  delight  in  active  exercise,  and 
the  practical  knowledge  he  had  acquired  of  farming  in 
his  boyhood,  led  him  at  once  to  engage  in  assisting  Mr.. 
Brown  in  the  management  of  the  farm,  in  which  he 
appears  to  have  displayed  his  usual  activity  and  energy, 
devoting  to  it  all  the  time  he  could  spare  from  his  min- 
isterial duties. 

About  this  time,  his  father  removed  from  Washington 
to  a  small  farm  for  which  he  had  bargained  with  a  Mr. 
Hammond,  situated  near  John  McElroy's,  and  about 
a  mile  and  a  half  from  the  village  of  Mount  Pleasant. 
Here,  he  thought,  he  could  live  with  his  family  more 
inexpensively  than  in  town,  especially  as  his  kind  friends 
and  neighbors  were  ready  to  render  him  every  possible 
assistance  in  the  management  of  the  farm,  his  own 
attention  being  almost  exclusively  devoted  to  religious 
interests.  He  had,  by  this  time,  become  fully  convinced 
that,  on  account  of  the  continued  hostility  of  the  different 
parties,  it  was  necessary  that  the  Christian  Association 
should  assume  the  character  of  an  independent  Church,  in 
order  to  the  enjoyment  of  those  privileges  and  the  per- 
formance of  those  duties  which  belong  to  the  Church 

31  * 


366       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL, 

relation.  It  was  with  great  reluctance  that  he  finally 
concluded  to  take  this  step,  and  to  separate  himself 
from  those  whom  he  desired  to  recognize  as  brethren. 
Such,  nevertheless,  is  the  usual  fate  of  reformers.  Re- 
ligious reformations,  however  they  may  be  aided  or 
modified  by  external  circumstances,  must  always  origi- 
nate within  the  Church  itself.  Such  was  the  case  with 
the  Reformation  of  Luther,  of  Calvin,  of  Knox,  of 
Wesley.  Luther  was  a  monk,  Calvin  a  Romish  cure; 
Knox  a  Catholic  priest,  Wesley  an  Episcopal  presbyter. 
The  reformation  urged  by  Thomas  Campbell  was  no 
exception  to  the  general  rule.  It  commenced  in  a  com- 
munity claiming  to  be  the  purest  portion  of  the  Church, 
and,  when  proposed  to  its  hierarchy,  was  rejected  and 
denounced.  Now,  as  before,  the  light  shone  in  dark- 
ness, but  the  darkness  comprehended  it  not.  Hence  a 
separation  became  inevitable,  and  this  separation  ap- 
peared not  less  grievous  to  the  human  feelings  and 
sympathies  of  Thomas  .Campbell,  than  similar  ones  had 
done  to  those  of  other  reformers,  He  would  have 
liked,"  as  D'Aubigne  says  of  Calvin,  "to  see  all  the 
Church  transformed,  rather  than  set  himself  apart  and 
build  up  a  new  one."  Having  found  it  impossible, 
however,  to  effect  this  transformation,  he  felt  it  to  be  his 
duty  to  organize  an  independent  community. 

At  the  next  meeting  of  the  Association,  accordingly, 
the  matter  was  duly  considered  and  agreed  to,  as  the 
attitude  which  the  religious  parties  had  assumed,  seemed 
to  leave  no  other  alternative.  Before  entering  into  this 
sacred  relation,  Thomas  Campbell  deemed  it  proper 
that  each  member  should  give  some  personal  and  public 
evidence  of  a  fitting  knowledge  of  the  way  of  salva- 
tion ;  and  he  proposed  therefore  that  each  should  be 
required  to  give  a  satisfactory  answer  to  the  question : 


FIRST  CHURCH  ORGANIZATIOJSl. 


367 


What  is  the  meritorious  cause  of  a  sinner's  acceptance 
svith  God?"  With  most  of  the  answers  to  this  question 
he  was  entirely  satisfied,  and  was  particularly  well 
pleased  with  che  views  expressed  on  the  occasion  by 
Joseph  Bryant.  The  answers  of  two  of  the  members 
being  unsatisfactory,  their  admission  was  postponed. 
Neither,  however,  was  received,  both  having  subse- 
quently proved  themselves  unworthy.  James  Foster 
happened  not  to  be  present  at  the  above  meeting,  and 
when,  on  Saturday,  the  4th  of  May,  he,  with  the  other 
members,  assembled  at  Brush  Run  for  the  purpose  of 
organization,  the  question  arose:  "Is  James  Foster  a 
member,  not  having  been  present  at  the  time  the  test 
question  was  propounded?"  Some  seemed  to  think  not; 
but  Alexander,  who,  it  would  seem,  was  not  entirely 
convinced  that  there  was  any  authority  for  such  a  test, 
immediately  arose  and  said  :  Certainly,  James  Foster 
is  a  member,  having  been  with  us  from  the  beginning, 
and  his  religious  sentiments  being  perfectly  well  known 
to  all."  The  test  question,  accordingly,  was  not  pro- 
pounded to  him,  nor  to  any  one  else  afterward. 

At  this  meeting,  Thomas  Campbell  was  appointed 
elder,  and  Alexander  was  licensed  to  preach  the  gospel. 
Four  deacons  were  also  chosen,  viz.  :  John  Daw^son, 
George  Sharp,  William  Gilcrist  and  James  Foster ;  and 
amidst  the  prayers  and  solemn  services  of  the  day, 
they  united  in  singing  Psalm  cxviii.,  from  the  thirteenth 
to  the  twenty-ninth  verses,  in  the  old  metrical  version, 
which,  as  Seceders,  they  had  been  in  the  habit  of  using. 
They  felt  that  the  position  they  had  now  assumed  was 
one  of  great  responsibility,  and  one  that  was  destined 
to  lead  to  most  important  results.  They  hoped,  how- 
ever, to  have,  in  their  new  relation,  a  happy  end  to 
that  painful  state  of  suspense  in  which  they  had  hitherto 


368        MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


been  kept,  in  regard  to  the  results  of  their  religious 
movement.  Rejected,  misrepresented  and  contemned 
by  the  rulers  of  religious  society,  they  felt,  neverthe- 
less, that  they  had  experienced  much  of  the  Divine 
presence  and  guidance  in  their  conscientious  efforts  to 
promote  Christian  unity ;  and  they  rejoiced  that,  all 
uncertainty  being  now  at  an  end,  they  could  proceed 
without  delay  or  hinderance  in  the  field  of  labor  to 
W'hich  they  had  been  called.  Under  these  circum- 
stances, these  verses  of  the  Psalm  they  sung  had  to 
them  a  peculiar  significance  : 

"  Thou  sore  hast  thrust  that  I  might  fall ; 

But  my  Lord  helped  me — 
God  my  salvation  is  become, 

My  strength  and  song  is  he. 
The  right  hand  of  the  mighty  Lord 

Exalted  is  on  high  ; 
The  right  hand  of  the  mighty  Lord 

Doth  ever  valiantly. 

"  I  shall  not  die,  but  live,  and  shall 

The  works  of  God  discover. 
The  Lord  hath  me  chastised  sore, 

But  not  to  death  given  over. 
Oh,  set  ye  open  unto  me 

The  gates  of  righteousness ; 
Then  will  I  enter  into  them, 

And  I  the  Lord  will  bless. 

*'  God  is  the  Lord,  who  unto  us 

Hath  made  light  to  arise  : 
Bind  ye  unto  the  altar's  horns 

With  cords  the  sacrifice. 
Thou  ait  my  God,  I'll  thee  exalt ; 

My  God,  I  will  thee  praise. 
Give  thanks  to  God,  for  he  is  good ; 

His  mercy  lasts  always." 


On  the  following  day,  being  the  Lord's  day,  the 
Church  held  its  first  communion  service.  Alexander 


BIBLE  THE  TRUE  BASIS  OF  UNION.  369 


preached  from  John  vi.  48,  "I  am  that  bread  of  life," 
and  verse  58,  last  clause:  "He  that  eateth  of  this 
bread  shall  live  for  ever."  In  his  introduction,  he  • 
showed  :  i.  That  as  sin  and  death  came  into  the  world  by 
eating,  so  God  had  ordained  that  righteousness  and  life 
should  be  imparted  by  spiritual  food.  2.  That  as  Jesus 
Christ  is  all  in  all  to  the  sinner,  so  he  is  represented  to 
us  in  the  Scripture  under  every  kind  of  emblem  that 
might  encourage  us  to  trust  in  him.  3.  That  the 
term  ''bread"  in  Scripture  is  not  always  used  in  its 
strict  and  literal  sense,  and  that  in  these  passages  it  is 
employed  in  its  utmost  latitude,  as  representing  any- 
thing that  can  be  conducive  to  the  life  and  happi- 
ness of  the  creature.  He  then  proceeded  to  consider,. 
I.  The  propriety  and  import  of  the  expression  ;  2.  The 
appropriate  duty  of  the  Christian  in  regard  to  partak- 
ing of  this  bread;  3.  The  motives  to  comply  with  this 
duty  ;  and,  4.  To  make  a  proper  application  to  the  vari- 
ous classes  of  those  present,  expressing,  to  those  about 
to  partake,  the  hope  that  they  were  hungering  after  this 
bread  of  life,  and  remarking  that,  in  assembling  there 
on  that  occasion,  they  furnished  an  emblem  of  the 
millennial  state  of  the  Church,  nay,  an  emblem  of  the 
heavenly  state,  when  men  of  different  nations,  and 
known  by  different  names,  should  sit  dow^n  together  in 
the  kingdom  of  God.  Afterward,  his  father  delivered 
a  discourse  from  Rom.  viii.  32:  "He  that  spared  not 
his  own  Son,  but  delivered  him  up  for  us  all :  how  shall 
he  not  with  him  also  freely  give  us  all  things?"  Thus 
there  was  formally  established  a  distinct  religious  com- 
munity, based  solely  upon  the  Bible,  and  destined,  in 
its  future  histor}^  to  exhibit  the  entire  sufficiency  of  the 
basis  thus  chosen.  On  the  8th  of  May,  Alexander  spoke 
at  Christian  Hutman's  :  on  the  12th,  at  the  cross-roads 


37°       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


on  the  15th,  at  William  Gatwood's.  Next  day  he  set 
out  from  home  on  his  first  preaching  tour,  of  which  he 
preserved  the  following  memoranda  : 

''I  set  out  from  home  Thursday,  May  16,  181 1,  and 
stopped  first  evening  at  Lutham  Young's.  Conversed  upon 
the  fundamental  doctrines  of  the  Christian  religion.  Next 
morning,  accompanied  to  the  river  by  Mr.  Young,  I  ciossed 
opposite  Steubenville.  Introduced  myself  to  Mr.  James  Lari- 
more  and  Dr.  Slemmons,  and  was  received  with  courtesy. 
Was  introduced  by  Dr.  Slemmons  to  Mr.  Buchanan,  lodging 
at  the  Doctor's.  After  dining,  reasoned  with  Mr.  Buchanan 
on  the  general  state  of  religion,  and  argued  the  principles 
with  him  which  we  advocate  ;  but  he  would  not  see.  In  our 
discourse  a  Mr.  Boyd,  of  Steubenville,  interrupted  by  vocifer- 
ously taking  Mr.  Buchanan's  side  of  the  argument.  Finished 
in  a  disorderly  manner.  Appointed  to  preach  in  the  court- 
house. Sabbath  day,  at  12  o'clock.  Proceeded  to  James 
McElroy's,  where  I  tarried  till  Friday  morning,  hospitably 
entertained.  On  Sabbath  day,  I  preached,  according  to  ap- 
pointment, in  Steubenville.  Had  a  crowded  house,  notwith- 
standing Messrs.  Buchanan,  Snodgrass,  Lambdin,  Powel, 
etc.  I  had  a  mixed  audience  of  Presbyterians,  Unionists, 
Methodists,  etc.  Mr.  Lambdin,  the  Methodist  preacher,  was 
present.  I  was  introduced  to  a  Mr.  Hawkins,  a  most  re- 
spectable citizen,  and  a  Methodist.  Sabbath  evening,  preached 
at  Mr.  McElroy's.  Had  a  smaller  audience,  among  whom 
was  Mr.  McMillan,  with  whom  I  sojourned  that  niglit  at  Mr. 
Thompson's.  Reasoned  with  him  upon  our  principles.  He 
granted  me  three  things  of  magnitude:  i.  That  independent 
church  government  had  as  good  a  foundation  in  Scripture  as 
the  Presbyterian.  2.  That  the  office  of  a  ruling  elder  was 
not  found  clearly  in  the  Scriptures,  but  was  a  human  expedi- 
ency. 3.  That  he  did  not  believe  that  the  Confession  of  Faith 
was  the  systet?i.,  that  is,  the  precise  system,  the  whole  system, 
or  the  only  system  of  truth  contained  in  the  Bible.  Preached 
on  Monday,  at  Mr.  McElroy's,  to  a  respectable  assembly, 
from  Gal.  vi.  15,  16 — On  the  Sabbath  at  Steubenville,  my 


FIRST  PREACHING  TOUR. 


371 


text  was  Heb.  ii.  3.  In  the  evening,  Mark  xvi.  15.  On 
Wednesday  morning,  left  Mr.  McElroy's,  and  arrived  at 
Cadiz.  That  evening  lodged  at  Squire  McNeeley's.  Thurs- 
da}-  morning,  proceeded  to  Dr.  McFadden's ;  tarried  with 
him  till  Sabbath  morning.  Preached,  Sabbath  day,  two  ser- 
mons, to  a  large  audience — one  from  John  v.  39,  and  ti  e 
other  from  Acts  xi.  26.  Sabbath  evening,  lodged  at  Samue. 
Gilmore's.  Monday  evening  at  James  Ford's.  Preachecl  at 
James  Ford's,  Tuesday,  two  discourses — one  from  Rom.  viii. 
32,  and  the  other  from  2  Tim.  '.  13.  Tuesday  evening,  lodged 
at  a  Methodist  exhorter's.  Wednesday  at  James  Sharpe's. 
Preached,  Thursday,  at  William  Perry's.  Stopped  all  night. 
Friday,  stopped  at  Samuel  Garref  s  Preached,  Saturday,  at 
Samuel  Patten's,  in  Wheeling,  from  Phil.  iii.  8.  Lodged 
with  him,  and  preached.  Sabbath  day.  Tune  2,  at  St.  Clairs- 
ville,  from  Rom.  viii  32.  and  secondly,  from  Isa.  Ixvii.  14, 
with  Ixii.  10,  and  lodged  at  Mr  Bell's  ' 

On  returning,  ne  delivered  a  discourse  in  Warren, 
one  at  the  house  ot  jonn  Forsyth,  and  one  in  Charles- 
town,  reaching  home  m  time  to  preach,  on  the  i6th,  the 
first  sermon  delivered  in  the  new  meeting-house  at 
Brush  Run,  which,  though  unfinished,  was  used  from 
this  time  tbrward,  rough  seats  being  provided  for  the 
assembly  This  sermon  was  based  upon  Gal.  i.  4: 
*' Who  gavf  himself  for  our  sins  that  he  might  deliver 
us  from.  >-his  present  evil  world,"  and  treated,  after  some 
introduclorv  remarks,  upon  the  evils  resulting  from  igno- 
rance of  ourselves,  of  Christ  and  of  the  gospel ;  and 
then  proceeded  to  dwell  upon  the  glorious  character  of 
redemption,  and  of  the  deliverance  which  it  brings, 
closing  with  an  appropriate  application. 

It  had  been  remarked  by  some  of  the  members  that 
Joseph  Bryant  and  one  or  two  others,  who  had  given 
satisfactory  answers  to  the  test  question  proposed  by 
Thomas  Campbell,  did  not  partake  with  the  rest  at  the 


37^       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL, 


Lord's  Supper,  which,  according  to  the  custom  of  the 
Independent  churches  in  Scotland,  was  now  celebrated 
weekly.  The  reason  being  asked,  Joseph  Bryant  re- 
plied, that  he  did  not  consider  himself  authorized  to 
partake,  as  he  had  never  been  baptized.  Such  was  the 
case  also  with  two  other  members — Margaret  Fullerton, 
whose  father  had  been  a  Baptist,  and  iVbraham  iVltars, 
whose  father  had  been  a  Deist.  These  cases  had 
brought  up,  in  a  new  and  more  practical  aspect,  the 
question  of  baptism,  and  particularly  as  regarded  what 
has  been  called  its  mode,  or,  more  correctly,  the  par- 
ticular action  meant  by  baptism  ;  and  the  subject  had 
continued  to  be  generally  discussed  among  the  mem- 
bers duiyng  Alexander's  absence. 

While  Thomas  Campbell  had,  as  formerly  stated, 
serious  scruples  about  baptizing  those  who  had  been 
already  recognized  as  members  of  the  Church,  he  had 
none  in  the  present  instance,  as  none  of  the  candidates 
had  received  baptism  at  all  in  any  of  its  so-called  forms. 
Neither  did  he  appear  to  have  any  doubt  or  objection 
in  regard  to  immersion,  but  he  at  once  acquiesced 
in  Joseph  Bryant's  view  that  this  alone  was  baptism. 
Going  over  with  Thomas  Sharp  to  confer  with  Joseph 
Bryant  upon  the  subject,  he  at  once  admitted  it  was 
evident  that  in  the  primitive  age  they  went  down  into 
the  water  and  were  buried  in  it.  "Water,"  said  he, 
"is  water;  and  earth  is  earth.  We  certainly  could  not 
call  a  person  buried  in  earth  if  only  a  little  dust  were 
sprinkled  on  him."  He  consented,  therefore,  to  per- 
form the  ceremony,  which  took  place  on  the  4th  of 
July  in  a  deep  pool  of  Buffalo  Creek,  about  two  miles 
above  the  mouth  of  Brush  Run,  and  on  the  farm  of 
David  Bryant.  The  pool  was  narrow,  and  so  deep 
that  the  water  came  up  to  the  shoulders  of  the  candi- 


THE  FIRST  BAPTISMS. 


373 


dates  when  they  entered  it.  Thomas  Campbell,  then, 
without  going  into  the  water,  stood  on  a  root  that  pro- 
jected over  the  edge  of  the  pool,  and  bent  down  their 
heads  until  they  were  buried  in  the  liquid  grave,  re- 
peating at  the  same  time,  in  each  case,  the  baptismal 
formula.  James  Foster,  who  was  present,  did  not  al- 
together approve  the  manner  of  the  baptism,  neither 
did  he  think  it  congruous  that  one  who  had  not  him- 
self been  immersed,  should  immerse  others.  It  so  hap- 
pened, however,  that  Thomas  Campbell,  who  had  been 
the  first  to  introduce  the  reformatory  movement,  became 
thus,  on  this  occasion,  the  first  to  introduce  immersion — 
a  practice  which  subsequently  became  a  distinguishing 
feature  in  the  progress  of  the  reformation. 

By  this  time,  many  of  those  who  had  at  first  been 
identified  with  the  Christian  Association  had  gradually 
become  indifferent,  and  many,  who  still  sympathized 
with  the  movement,  held  back  from  entering  into  a 
church  relation,  while,  from  distance  and  other  hin- 
derances,  others  were  unable  to  attend  the  meetings. 
Hence  it  was,  that  the  church  at  this  time  could  reckon 
only  about  thirty  regular  members,*  who  continued  to 
meet  alternately  at  the  cross-roads  and  at  Brush  Run 
as  formerly.  These  religious  meetings  were  sources  of 
great  enjoyment.  Warmly  attached  to  one  another  for 
the  truth's  sake,  and  sympathizing  with  each  other  in 
their  trials  and  religious  experiences,  they  seemed  to  be 


*  Those  who  were  then  members  of  the  Brush  Run  Church  were  Thomas 
and  Alexander  Campbell ;  Mrs.  Jane  Campbell  and  her  daughter  Dorothea ; 
James  Foster  and  wife ;  John  Dawson  and  wife ;  Thomas  Hodgens,  Sen.  and 
wife,  and  his  son  James  Hodgens  ;  James  Hanen  and  wife  ;  William  Gilcrist 
and  daughter,  with  his  wife  and  her  mother  ;  George  Sharp,  Sen.  and  wife 
and  son  John  ;  Thomas  Sharp  and  a  Mrs.  Sharp,  wife  of  George  Sharp,  Jun. ; 
George  Archer  and  wife  ;  Abraham  Altars,  Margaret  Fullerton,  Joseph  Bry- 
ant and  Johji  Donaldson. 

32 


574       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


of  one  heart  and  of  one  soul,  and  took  the  utmost  de- 
light in  assisting  one  another  to  acquire  a  more  com- 
plete knowledge  of  Divine  things.  The  Bible  was  their 
daily  study,  and  they  came  to  the  assembly,  like  bees 
to  the  hive,  laden  with  the  sweet  lessons  of  instruction 
it  afforded,  and  ready  to  sa\',  in  the  language  of  the 
Psalm  they  had  sung  at  the  organization  : 

"  God  IS  the  Lord,  who,  unto  us 
Hath  made  light  to  arise." 

Thus  increasing  in  scriptural  knowledge,  the  discover}' 
of  new  truths  maintained  that  fervor  of  spirit  which 
can  never  continue  long  unless  the  intellectual  na- 
ture is  supplied  and  cultivated  as  well  as  the  feelings, 
but  which  alone  can  give  true  power  and  efficacy  to 
religious  exercises.  They  had  broken  the  seal  by 
which  clerical  authorit}-  had  closed  the  Sacred  Volume, 
and  rejoiced  that,  by  its  guidance,  they  had  cast  off  the 
fetters  of  partyism,  and  were  enabled  to  pass  from  the 
dark  and  narrow  caverns  of  sectarian  theology  toward 
the  heavenl}'  light,  which,  though  yet  dim  and  distant, 
finally  led  them  into  the  open  day. 

As  it  may  interest  the  reader  to  know^  the  character 
of  the  religious  teaching  received  by  this  little  band  of 
reformers,  and  the  views  at  this  time  entertained  by 
Alexander  Campbell,  a  few  extracts  from  the  minutes 
of  discourses  which  he  delivered  about  this  period  are 
here  given.  Thus,  t\vo  days  before  his  marriage,  in 
his  discourse  at  Brush  Run  from  Matt.  xi.  27.  after 
speaking  in  general  terms  of  authority  in  religious 
matters,  and  the  necessit}-  of  having  a  command  from 
God  for  every  religious  duty%  he  speaks  of  the  authority 
of  Christ  and  of  the  apostles  as  having  been  fully  and 
carefully  demonstrated,  and  remarks  that  they  delivered 


RELIGIOUS  INSTRUCTION. 


375 


just  what  they  were  commanded  to  dehver ;  that  Paul 
was  careful  to  discriminate  between  his  own  opinions 
and  God's  commands,  and  that  he  applauded  those  who 
searched  the  Scriptures  for  the  truth;  showing,  further, 
that  there  is  a  curse  denounced  against  those  whost 
religion  is  taught  by  the  precepts  of  men,  and  that 
Christ  is  given  as  a  leader  and  commander  to  the  people. 
He  then  adds  : 

From  the  above  considerations  two  things  are  strange  :  i. 
That  men  should  preach  whole  sermons  and  scarcely  cite  one 
Scripture  text,  and  that  hearers  should  suffer  their  faith  to  rest 
in  the  wisdom  of  men  rather  than  in  the  wisdom  of  God.  2. 
That  men  should  be  afraid  or  unwilling  to  take  the  Word  of 
God  for  their  rule — afraid  that  what  God  has  commanded 
them  is  not  enough.  But,  stranger  still,  that  they  should  set 
aside  the  Word  of  God  by  their  traditions.  A  singular  com- 
mand in  Deuteronomy  is  little  attended  to  (Deut.  xii.  32)  : 
*  What  thing  soever  I  command  you,  observe  to  do  it.  Thou 
shalt  not  add  thereto  nor  diminish  from  it.'  '* 

He  then  dwells  upon  the  glory  of  Christ,  and  says : 
**A11  things  in  heaven  and  on  earth,  animate  and  inanimate, 
are  delivered  unto  Jesus  Christ  for  the  good  of  his  Church 
on  earth  and  for  its  glory  in  heaven.  *  *  *  *  j,^  the 
economy  of  grace  for  the  restoration  and  salvation  of  fallen, 
depraved,  guilty  man,  Jesus  Christ  the  Son  of  God  humbled 
himself,  took  upon  himself  the  form  of  a  servant  and  made 
himself  of  no  reputation,  lived  on  earth  and  died  upon  a  cross, 
hated  and  despised  ;  for  this  cause,  having  spoiled  principali- 
ties and  powers,  and  finished  the  work  which  the  Father  gave 
him  to  do,  he  is  now  exalted  to  the  right  hand  of  the  Majest}' 
on  high.  Eph.  i.  20-22.  And  there  he  sits,  waiting  till  all 
his  enemies  be  made  his  footstool ;  until  the  end  shall  come, 
when  he  shall  have  delivered  up  the  kingdom  into  the  hands 
of  his  Father.  1  Cor.  xv.  24,  25.  *  *  *  *  Observe, 
they  who  deny  the  divinity  or  personality  of  the  Son  must 
be  ignorant  of  the  whole  mystery  of  the  religion  of  godliness." 


37^        MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


After  speaking  then  ;it  large  of  the  blessings  conferred  through 
Christ  upon  the  redeemed  in  the  ministry  of  angels,  tiie  gift 
of  the  Holy  Spirit  and  the  promises  of  the  future,  he  closes 
thus:  "From  this  subject  learn,  i.  To  thank  God  for  the 
method  of  commiuiicating  grace  that  he  has  ciiosen.  2.  Let 
us  honor  Christ  as  the  Father  hath  honored  him,  in  commit- 
ting our  all  into  his  hands.  3.  Let  us  seek  tliat  God  will 
reveal  his  Son  in  us." 

In  a  sermon  delivered  on  the  7th  of  April  of  this 
year  (I811),  from  Romans  x.  4,  he  thus  speaks  of 
faith  : 

Great  dissertations  ha\  e  been  in  the  world  about  faith — 
its  nature,  kinds,  properties,  etc.  All  these  descriptions  un- 
able to  produce  it  in  the  mind  of  a  simier.  No  arguments 
whatever  can  produce  it.  Trulv  of  this  we  may  say  it  is  the 
finger  of  God.  Describing  the  disease  and  its  remedies  will 
not  heal  the  disorder. 

"No  description  of  faith  is  given  in  the  Bible,  but  the 
evidences  and  eHects  of  it  are  there  clearly  delineated.  It  is 
there  represented  to  us  as  '  coming  to  Christ,*  '  receiving 
Christ,'  '  flying  for  refuge,'  '  trusting  in  Christ,'  etc.  The 
simplest  definition  of  it  is,  a  hearty  reliance  upon  tJie  Lord 
jfesies  Christ  for  that  salvation  which  he  came  into  the  world 
and  dietl  upon  the  cross  to  procure  for  lost  .sinners.  The  sin- 
ner who,  from  his  heart  relies  upon  and  trusts  in  Jesus,  is  a 
believer,  and  he,  and  none  but  he,  shall  be  saved. 

"5.  This  faith  we  are  constantly  led  to  understand  is  of  the 
operation  of  God,  and  an  effect  of  Almighty  power  and 
regenerating  grace,  i  John  v.  i  :  '  Every  one  that  believcth 
that  Jesus  is  the  Christ,  is  born  of  God.' 

"  Difierent  kinds  of  faith  are  spoken  of  in  the  Scriptures, 
and  many  vague  definitions  of  it  <imong  men.  It  consists  in 
an  act  of  the  understanding  and  the  will ;  but  principally  of 
the  will.  Illustrate,  first,  in  the  case  of  Rebecca's  espousals. 
Secondly,  from  its  being  a  c(.)U"'mand  which  can  only  be 
obeyed  by  the  zcili. 


EXTERNALS  IN  RELIGION. 


VII 


'All  the  promises  contained  in  the  sacred  Scriptures  are 
addressed  to  the  understanding,  and  through  it  to  the  will. 
They  appear  to  the  understanding  true,  to  the  will  as  good." 

It  will  be  apparent  from  this,  that  while  he  had  taken 
a  simple  and  just  view  of  faith  as  a  "trusting  in  Christ'* 
— "a  hearty  reliance  upon  him  for  salvation,"  etc.,  he 
still  retained  at  this  period  the  opinion  that  this  "trust- 
ing" was  "from  the  operation  of  God  and  the  effect  of 
almighty  power  and  regenerating  grace."  This  view, 
as  will  be  seen  hereafter,  was  much  modified  in  subse- 
quent years ;  and  though  he  always  retained  the  idea  of 
a  Divine  interposition,  he  came  to  regard  this  as  a 
providential  agency,  rather  than  as  a  direct  operation 
of  the  Spirit,  as  held  by  the  popular  parties. 

His  view  of  what  have  been  called  "the  externals" 
of  religion  may  be  gathered  from  a  sermon  delivered 
while  on  his  tour  in  Ohio,  on  the  20th  May,  from  Gal. 
vi.  15,  16  : 

"  God  says  neither  circumcision  nor  uncircumcision  availeth 
anything.  The  doctrines  here  taught  seem  to  be  three: 
I.  That  all  things  merely  foriJtal  and  external  in  religion, 
being  alone,  will  not  avail  the  possessors.  II.  That  a  new 
CREATURE  is  the  only  thing  of  value  or  esteem  in  the  judg- 
ment of  God,  and  advantageous  to  man.  III.  That  this  is  a 
rule  in  our  judgment  of  things  spiritual  that  will  always  keep 
us  riglit,  and  tend  to  promote  peace  and  harmony  in  the 
Church."  He  then  adds,  in  reference  to  Doctrine  I.:  ''All 
things  merely  formal  and  external  in  religion,  beiiig  alone^ 
shall  not  avail  the  possessors.  i.  The  moral-virtuous  life 
which  some  lead  will  not  avail  them  one  day,  they  not  being 
new  creatures.  2.  The  orthodox  creeds  and  formal  attend- 
ance on  religious  duties  by  men,  they  not  being  new  crea- 
tures, will  one  day  prove  to  be  of  no  importance."  In  rela- 
tion to  Doctrine  11.,  he  then  takes  the  position  that  "being  a 


37^       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXAXDER  CAMPBELL. 


ne-ju  creature  is  the  only  thing  essentially  necessary  to  our 
enjoyment  of  God.  The  only  thing  on  earth  of  value  and 
importance  in  God's  eyes,  and  the  only  thing  that  will  avail 
us."  He  then  defines  a  new  creature  as  "  one  who  is  made  a 
partaker  of  the  Divine  nature — one  who  is  justified,  sanctified, 
adopted  and  an  heir  of  glory — one  who  is  crucified  to  tiie 
world,  to  the  flesh,  and  who  denies  himself.  And  this  is  the 
way  we  are  to  know  him,  Rom.  viii.  Such  a  one  is  of 
more  value  in  God's  eyes  than  the  whole  world.  All  things 
are  yours,  Rom.  viii.  32."  He  then,  in  illustrating  Doctrine 
III.,  closes  by  stating, 

"  That  judging  thus  of  things  we  shall  never  err  : 
I.  In  our  daily  practice.  2.  In  our  zeal  for  orthodoxy. 
3.  In  this  way  we  shall  have  peace  for  our  souls.  'Peace  be 
on  them  that  walk  by  this  rule.'  4.  Let  us  walk  in  this  way. 
*  O  house  of  Jacob,  come  ye  and  let  us  walk  in  the  light  of 
the  Lord.' " 

It  will  be  seen  from  these  quotations,  that  the  views 
entertained  by  Alexander  Campbell  in  regard  to  the 
important  points  of  Christian  doctrine  discussed,  did  not 
conflict  with  those  held  by  the  parties  denominated 

Orthodox,"  and  that  the  religious  movement  in  which 
he  was  engaged  had  not  for  its  object  the  propagation 
of  any  new  opinions,  or  the  establishment  of  any  new 
party  upon  some  particular  theory  of  religion  or  of 
church  government ;  but  that,  while  it  rejected  no  truths 
received  by  the  good  and  pious  in  religious  society,  it 
sought  to  make  its  appeal  always  directly  to  the  Divine 
testimony,  and  to  be  guided,  in  all  its  advances,  by  the 
licrht  which  this  aflfbrded. 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 


Preaching  Tours  in  1811 — Ordination — Change  of  Views  in  Regard  to  Bap 
tism — True  Basis  of  Union — Progress  in  Knowledge. 

AFTER  his  return  from  his  first  preaching  tour,  in 
June,  181 1,  Alexander  Campbell  resumed  his 
regular  labors  at  the  usual  places  of  meeting  in  Wash- 
ington county,  and  at  •  the  houses  of  friends  in  the 
vicinity.  In  the  month  of  August,  he  revisited  Ohio, 
preaching  at  Cadiz,  St.  Clairsville  and  other  points. 
In  September,  he  again  preached  at  Steubenville  and 
in  its  neighborhood  several  times,  and  in  October,  spoke 
once  at  David  Carson's  and  six  times  at  Cadiz,  and  also 
at  Wheeling  and  at  Newelstown.  In  December,  he 
preached  again  at  Cadiz,  on  the  8th  and  loth  of  the 
month  ;  at  St.  Clairsville  on  the  15th,  and,  on  the  29th, 
at  Smithfield,  giving  his  last  sermon  for  the  year  1811 
at  Charlestown,  on  the  30th,  from  2  Cor.  v.  21.  He 
thus  extended  his  acquaintance  and  convinced  many 
pious  and  excellent  individuals,  who  afterward  became 
advocates  of  the  principles  of  the  reformation. 

It  was  his  custom,  at  the  end  of  every  year,  to  devote 
some  time  to  a  careful  review  of  the  manner  in  which  I, 
it  had  been  spent,  and  to  a  serious  and  searching  self- 
examination,  as  well  as  to  the  forming  of  new  resolu- 
tions and  arrangements  for  the  coming  year.  On  the 
25th  of  December  of  this  year  (1811),  after  a  solemn 
review  of  his  past  labors,  he  set  himself  to  consider 
various  important  practical  questions,  such  as  the  best 

379 


33o       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


course  of  regular  Scripture  reading  and  memorizing, 
and  the  hours  which  he  could  most  appropriately  set 
apart  for  devotional  exercises.  After  deciding  to  com- 
mit to  memory,  first,  the  epistles  to  Timotiiy  and  the 
Hebrews,  he  reflected  upon  another  question  which 
seems  particularly  to  have  pressed  upon  his  mind  at 
this  time,  and  which  was,  whether  or  not  it  was  his 
dut\'  to  be  ordained  to  the  ministry  of  the  Word.  Witii 
him,  ordination  implied  a  formal,  public  and  irrevocable 
consecration  of  life  to  the  preaching  of  the  gospel,  and 
his  present  circumstances  seemed  naturally  to  demand 
that  this  question,  already  several  times  decided  in  his 
own  heart,  amidst  hours  of  peril  and  adversity,  should 
be  again  debated  before  the  bar  of  conscience,  against 
the  seductive  but  silent  pleadings  cf  a  comfortable 
home,  and  the  quieter  and  more  profitable  pursuits  of 
agriculture.  Eminently  blest  in  his  connubial  relations, 
and  placed  in  a  position  which  opened  up  to  one  of  his 
active  temperament  the  most  flattering  prospects  of 
worldly  advancement,  the  time  had  come  when  his 
resolution  was  to  be  tried  by  some  of  the  severest  tests 
to  which  it  could  be  subjected.  While  meditating  upon 
the  subject,  he  was  at  the  pains  to  note  down,  in  order, 
the  motives  which  should  govern  his  decision  ;  and,  in 
reconsidering  the  eventful  past,  he  took  occasion  to 
review  the  whole  question  in  the  light  of  the  Divine 
guidings  and  the  providential  dispensations  he  had  ex- 
perienced. Among  the  entries  made  on  this  occasion 
which  reveal  his  heartfelt  devotion  to  the  service  of 
God,  and  that  conscientiousness  which  was  so  striking 
an  attribute  of  his  character,  are  the  following  : 

Special  instances  of  Divine  power  which  I  consider  to 
bind  me  uiuler  obligations  to  he  specially  devoted  to  llim, 
with  my  whole  mind,  soul  and  body. 


CONSECRATION  OF  LIFE. 


38i 


I.  In  being  born  of  religious  parents,  and  of  course 
religiously  educated. 

"  11.  In  receiving  an  education,  in  some  respects,  to  qualify 
me  for  that  office,  and  this  education  providential  in  the  fol- 
lowing respects:  i.  In  my  grand  design  at  first  being,  not  to 
preach  the  Gospel,  but  to  shine  in  literary  honors  and  affluence. 
2.  In  my  design  being  frustrated,  and  my  mind  turned  to  desire 
that  office.  3.  In  my  being  introduced,  quite  contrary  to 
expectation,  to  the  University  of  Glasgow,  and  the  literary 
advantages  there. 

III.  In  resolving,  when  in  imminent  danger  at  sea,  to 
serve  God  in  this  way,  on  two  occasions  of  extraordinary 
deliverance. 

IV.  In  my  situation  being  such,  upon  my  arrival  in  this 
country,  that  I  could  not  prepare  myself  for  any  other  office. 

V.  In  the  particular  persecutions  that  befell  my  father, 
which  shut  up  any  prospects  of  support  in  the  exercise  of 
that  office,  yet  in  my  giving  it  the  preference. 

VI.  In  my  favorable  and  easy  circumstances  for  that 
purpose. 

VII.  In  giving  me  a  choice  companion,  congeriial  to  my 
inclination  of  serving  Him. 

"  Vlll.  In  giving  me  some  desire  after  his  salvation. 
IX.  In  giving  me  some  desire  after  the  salvation  and 
reformation  of  mankind. 

**  X.  In  giving  me  tolerably  good  talents  for  edifying 
others. 

XI.  In  giving  me  a  call  from  the  Church  to  preach  the 
Gospel. 

XII.  In  my  desire  to  suffer  hardships  and  reproach  in 
that  good  work." 

These  memorahiUa  of  the  heart  are  interesting  and 
touching,  showing  the  calm  deliberation  that  marked 
Alexander  Campbell's  purpose,  and  the  noble  and  dis 
interested  motives  that  determined  his  choice.  He 
must  renounce  the  ambitious  hopes  of  youth  to  follow 


382       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


the  indications  of  Providence,  and  disregarding  the 
fascinations  of  wealth  and  fame,  must  yield  to  the  im- 
pulse by  which  he  was,  as  he  says,  "  turned  to  desire" 
the  humble  ministerial  office.  He  cherishes  the  remem- 
brance of  the  special  deliverances  he  liad  experienced 
in  his  past  history,  which,  he  feels,  impose  upon  him  the 
obligation  of  entire  consecration  to  the  service  of  God. 
Even  the  easy  and  happy  circumstances  at  present  sur- 
rounding him,  and  his  natural  and  acquired  gifts  how- 
ever humbly  estimated,  seem,  in  his  view,  intended  of 
Heaven  to  facilitate  the  work  to  which  he  is  called  by 
the  intimations  of  Providence  and  the  voice  of  the 
Church.  Lastly  and  especially,  is  he  convinced  that 
necessity  is  laid  upon  him  to  preach  the  gospel,  by  his 
consciousness  that  it  has  been  given  to  him  not  only  to 
be  willing,  but  even  "  to  desire  to  suffer  hardship  and 
reproach  in  that  good  work."  It  is  here  we  find  the 
true  spirit  of  a  reformer,  who  will  sacrifice  everything 
for  God  and  truth,  and  who,  indifferent  to  mere  per- 
sonal considerations,  will  yield  only  to  the  dictates  of 
conscience  and  of  duty. 

As  it  respects  the  ceremony  of  ordination,  it  will  have 
been  perceived,  from  his  view  of  "  lay  preaching,"  that 
he  did  not  regard  it  as  essential  to  the  exercise  of  the 
functions  of  the  ministerial  office.  With  Greville  Ewing 
and  the  Haldanes,  he  was  fully  satisfied  that  it  was 
"  the  indispensable  duty  of  every  Christian  to  warn 
sinners  to  flee  from  the  wrath  to  come  ;  to  point  out 
Jesus  as  the  way,  the  truth  and  the  life,"  and,  after  the 
example  of  the  first  Church  at  Jerusalem,  to  "  preach 
the  word,"  as  Providence  might  afford  opportunity.  He 
distinguished,  however,  between  the  simple  recital  of 
the  story  of  the  cross,  as  a  duty  incumbent  on  all,  under 
proper  circumstances,  and  the  entire  devotion  of  the 


VIEWS  OF  ORDINATION 


life  of  an  individual  to  the  particular  work  ot  preach- 
ing the  gospel.  In  the  latter  case,  he  believed  there 
were  special  and  unmistakable  indications  afforded  to 
the  individual  of  his  appropriate  calling,  and  that  it 
was  his  duty,  in  obedience  to  these,  to  consecrate  him- 
self solemnly  to  the  work,  and  to  be  formally  set  apart 
by  ordination.  This  he  believed  to  be  equally  proper 
in  the  case  of  other  officers  or  functionaries  in  the 
Church. 

In  a  sermon  which  he  preached  about  this  period, 
trom  Titus  i.  5,  in  which  he  takes  a  view  of  the  offices, 
office-bearers  and  ordinations  under  the  Jewish  and 
Christian  dispensations,  and  particularly  of  the  pastoral 
office  in  the  Church  of  Christ,  he  thus  refers,  under 
"  Head  II."  to  ordination  : 

John  the  Baptist  was  sent  of  God  especially.  John  i.  6. 
(2.)  Our  Lord  {iiroXnat)  ordained  twelve,  Mark  iii.  14,  and  that 
was  by  choosing  them.  John  vi.  70  ;  Luke  vi.  13.  (3.)  The 
ordination  of  an  apostle  (/f"'ff^^at)  Acts  i.  22.  (4.)  The  ordina- 
tion of  deacons  {.Karaarnao^itv)  Acts  vl.  3.  (5.)  Philip  preached 
and  baptized,  having  nothing  more  than  the  ordination  of  a 
deacon.  (6.)  The  ordination  of  Paul  and  Barnabas,  Acts 
xiii.  1-4;  xiv.  23,  {xtiporovr]<javTEi)^  '  with  lifting  up  of  the  hands 
had  chosen  them  2  Cor.  viii.  19  ;  Acts  x.  41.  Under  '  Head 
V.,' he  says:  (i.)  You  see  that  ordination  is  not  a  mere 
unmeaning  thing,  but  consists  in  the  choice  of  the  people, 
which  must  be  hearty,  and  that  it  might  be  evidenced,  the 
elders  or  rulers  impose  their  hands.  (2.)  Why  do  we  con- 
tend for  uninterrupted  succession  in  ordination,  seeing  it  is 
not  the  persons  called  bishops  who  have  the  power,  but  the 
people?  (3.)  How  comes  it  that  we  contend  so  much  about 
having  persons  of  superior  authority  to  constitute,  when  in- 
feriors have  ordained  superiors?  Acts  xiii.  1-3  ;  i  Cor.  xii.  28. 
(4.)  How  many  persons  preached  and  baptized  without  ordina- 
tion? Acts  viii.  1-4.." 


384        MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXAXDER  CAMPBELL. 


The  following  observations  which  he,  at  this  time, 
wrote  down  on  the  blank  pages  of  one  of  his  manu- 
script volumes  of  juvenile  essays,  will  exhibit  his  views 
still  more  fully  in  regard  to  ordination  and  church  gov- 
ernment : 

Ge?ieral  observatiofts  o?i  Church  Gove?'?ime?it^  derived 
from  the  Scriptures. 

In  the  Church  of  Christ,  at  its  erection,  there  were  dif- 
ferent officers  or  builders  appointed,  such  as  apostles,  pro- 
phets, etc. ;  but  in  the  Church,  as  to  be  regularly  governed, 
taught  and  regulated  to  the  end  of  the  world,  there  are  but 
two  classes  of  officers,  or  two  kinds  of  offices,  viz. :  '  Bishops 
and  deacons.'  We  have  the  qualifications  of  these  given 
separately  and  distinctly,  but  for  any  other  office  of  human 
invention  or  appointment,  we  have  not  one  word  in  the  Word 
of  God  as  to  the  qualifications. 

Observe.,,  i.  That  there  are  but  two  offices  in  the  Church, 
See  Phil.  i.  i.  The  Greek  word  for  bisliop  is  episcopos; 
hence  the  word  episcopacy.  The  meaning  of  tlie  word 
*  episcopos^  is  overseer.  The  Greek  word  for  deacon  is 
^  diakonos'  which  signifies  a  serva?it.  2.  One  of  these  offi- 
cers (the  bishop)  was  to  superinteiid  the  spiritual  concerns  of 
the  people — to  rule  them,  to  teach  them,  to  feed  them.  In 
one  word,  see  liis  qualifications,  i  Tim.  iii.  1-7.  'c;  was  to 
work  in  his  office,  not  like  the  English  bishops,  wlio  oidy 
superintejid.  See  verse  i,  2.  He  must  teach  also  and  rule, 
or  take  care  of  the  Church,  verses  4  and  5.  3.  See  the  quali- 
fications of  the  deacpn,  i  Tim.  iii.  S-14.  and  also  Acts  vi.  1-7. 
rhey  were  only  to  attend  to  secular  things. 

Objections  misivered.  i.  Have  we  not  the  office  of  an 
elder  spoken  of  in  the  W^ord  of  God?  Yes;  but  it  is  usetl  in 
the  Bible  as  equivalent  to  the  word  bishop.  See  Acts  xx.  17. 
Paul  there  called  the  elders  of  the  Church  and  i^ave  them 
an  advice.  See  verse  28:  '  Take  heed  to  tlie  Hock  over  wliich 
the  Holy  Ghost  hatli  made  you  overseers^  or  bishops,  as  we 
showed  the  word  bishop  to  mean  an  overseer  ;  and  it  .'s  tlie 


CHURCH  OFFICERS. 


385 


same  word  here  that  is  elsewhere  translated  '  bishop.'  The 
apostles  called  themselves  elders.  See  John,  Second  Epistle, 
first  verse,  and  Third  Epistle,  first  verse,  but  particularly  see 
I  Pet.  V.  1-4.  The  elder's  office  here  spoken  of  is  the  same 
as  the  bishop's,  verse  2.  They  were  to  feed  the  flock  :  the\ 
were  to  take  the  oversight  or  the  episcopacy.,  as  it  is  still  the 
same  word  which  denotes  the  bishop's  office.  And,  more- 
over, tlie  apostles,  who  called  themselves  elders,  held  also  the 
office  of  bishop.  See  Acts  of  the  Apostles  i.  20,  where  theii 
office  is  said  to  be  a  bishopric.  If  need  be,  see  a  still  more 
conchisive  proof,  Tit.  i.  6,  where  the  apostle  authorizes  him 
to  ordain  elders;  and  then  verses  6,  7,  8,  9  give  Titus  the 
qualifications  of  an  elder  under  the  term  bishops  and  show 
him  tiiat  the  elder  must  have  the  qualifications  of  a  bishop. 
They  were  called  bishops  on  account  of  their  office,  and  elders 
on  account  of  the  advanced  period  of  their  lives,  they  being 
generally  old  men.  The  Greek  word  translated  elder  \s  pres- 
huteros — whence  comes  presbytery. 

'•As  to  tlie  number  of  elders  in  the  separate  churches:  It 
appears  that  there  was  a  plurality  of  elders  or  bishops  in 
every  church.  And  we  may  suppose  that  there  were  more 
or  less  on  account  of  the  largeness  of  the  church.  In  the 
Church  of  Christ  at  Philippi  we  read  of  '  bishops' — a  plurality 
of  tliem  as  well  as  of  deacons.  Acts  xx.  17,  we  read  of  a 
phiraiily  of  elders,  or,  as  they  are  called,  bishops,  verse  28,  in 
the  Church  at  Ephesus.  And  in  Acts  xiv.  23,  we  read  that 
there  were  a  plurality  of  elders  ordained  in  every  church; 
antl  James,  in  his  General  Epistle  to  the  Churches,  tells  them 
if  any  one  be  sick,  to  call  for  the  elders  of  the  Church,  v.  14. 
And  in  the  Church  at  Jerusalem,  Acts  xv.  4,  we  read  of 
elders  in  the  Church  as  well  as  the  apostles  who  resided  there  ; 
Tit.  i.  5.  Thus  do  we  prove  that  there  was  a  presbytery  or 
elders  in  every  Church. 

Respecting  Ordination.    Acts  xiv.  23,  we  read  that  two 
persons  were  employed  to  ordain,  namely,  Paul  and  l^arnabas. 
Acts  xiii.  3,  we  read  that  Paul  and  Barnabas  were  ordamed 
by  imposition  of  hands.    But  it  is  uncertain  whether  it  was 
VOL.  I. — Z  33 


386        MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL, 


by  one  or  more,  as  the  word  '  their'  is  not  in  the  original. 
Acts  ix.  17,  we  read  that  Ananias  only  laid  his  hands  on  PauL 
I  Tim.  iv.  14,  we  read  of  the  laying  of  the  hands  of  the  pres- 
bytery on  Timothy  ;  and  we  read  also,  2  Tim.  i.  6,  that  Paul 
only  had  laid  his  hands  on  him  ;  and  also  we  learn  that 
Timothy  and  Titus  were  authorized  to  ordain  elders  or 
bishops,  which  is  sufficient  for  an  example,  as  the  laying  on 
of  hands  in  the  apostles'  time  was  to  communicate  peculiar 
gifts  sometimes  to  the  person  on  whose  head  they  laid  their 
hands,  and  sometimes  for  the  purpose  of  setting  apart  to  some 
particular  office,  such  as  that  of  elder  or  bishop.  We  find  in 
the  rules  for  governing  the  Church,  given  by  the  apostle  to 
Timothy  and  Titus,  that  every  minister  of  the  gospel,  regu- 
larly ordained,  has  power  to  ordain  bishops  or  elders.  See  i 
Tim.  V.  22  ;  2  Tim.  ii.  2  ;  Tit.  i.  5,  each  of  which  show  that 
Timothy  and  Titus  had,  as  an  example  to  the  Church,  power 
to  ordain  '  faithful  men  who  should  be  able  to  teach  others 
also.'  But  we  find  many  ministers,  many  eminent  preachers, 
preaching  for  a  long  time  without  any  ordination  at  all.  See 
Acts  viii.  4,  and  xi.  19,  20,  21." 

Such,  in  brief,  were  Mr.  Campbell's  views  of  church 
government,  church  officers  and  ordination  in  the  latter 
part  of  the  year  181 1.  A  plurality  of  elders  and  dea- 
cons in  every  church  for  the  administration  of  its  affairs, 
and  preachers  of  the  gospel  or  evangelists  for  the 
spread  of  the  truth  among  men,  constituted  the  simple 
arrangement  as  to  functionaries.  Each  church  was 
independent,  and  had  the  exclusive  authority  to  select 
its  own  officials,  who  were,  when  approved,  to  be  set 
apart  by  a  formal  ordination.  These  views  he  con- 
tinued to  maintain  unchanged  through  life.  As  to  the 
form  or  ceremony  of  ordination,  he  did  not  regard  it 
as  conferring  any  authority,  but  as  a  public  testimony 
that  the  persons  ordained  possessed  the  necessary  au- 
thority.   In  other  words,  he  conceived  it  to  be  a  solemn 


KNOX  AND  CALVIN  UNORDAINED. 


mode  of  setting  persons  apart,  and  of  committing  them 
to  God  in  the  discharrje  of  the  duties  of  the  office  to 
which  they  had  already  been  chosen  or  elected  by  the 
church.  Hence  he  utterly  repudiated  the  claim  of 
apostolic  succession :  of  priestly  supremacy,  and  the 
communication  of  any  official  grace  by  superiors  to 
inferiors ;  or  that  the  clergy  had  any  inherent  power  in 
them  as  it  respects  ordination.  In  another  place,  in 
reply  to  the  question,  why  do  you  preach  without  au- 
thority, he  says,  "Who  has  authority?  Who  gave  the 
Presbytery  authority  to  license  men?  Who  gave  the 
Presbytery  authority  to  make  laws  for  the  Church? 
Who  gave  the  Presbytery  authority  to  decide  religious 
matters  by  vote?  Who  gave  the  Presbytery  authority 
to  choose  ministers?"    *    *    *  * 

For  these  views  of  authority  and  of  ordination  he 
had  abundant  support,  not  only  in  the  Scriptures,  but 
in  the  opinions  and  practice  of  the  great  Reformers. 
Calvin,  without  any  ordination,  began  to  preach  at 
Orleans,  by  the  invitation  of  some  of  the  citizens.* 
Knox  began  to  preach  in  the  Castle  of  St.  Andrews, 
where  the  conspirators  who  had  slain  Cardinal  Beatoun 
were  besieged  by  the  Scottish  Regent.  He  was  in- 
duced reluctantly  to  do  this  from  the  urgent  call  made 
upon  him  by  the  refugees  there  assembled.  This  re- 
luctance, however,  did  not  proceed  from  the  fact  that 
he  had  not  been  ordained  since  he  had  abandoned 
Popery. 

"We  must  not  imagine,"  says  his  biographer,  Dr.  McCrie, 
that  the  reluctance  which  he  discovered  to  comply  with  the 
call  which  he  had  received,  proceeded  from  consciousness  of 


*  D'Aubigne — "  Reformation  in  the  Time  of  Calvin,"  vol.  ii.  chap.  xiv. 
p.  19. 


3SS        MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


its  invalidity  througli  the  defect  of  certain  external  formalities 
which  had  been  usual  in  the  Church,  or  which,  in  ordinary 
cases,  may  be  observed  with  propriety  in  the  installation  of 
persons  into  sacred  offices.  These,  as  far  as  warranted  by 
Scripture  or  conducive  to  the  preservation  of  order,  he  did 
not  contemn ;  and  his  judgment  respecting  them  may  be 
learned  from  the  early  practice  of  the  Scottish  Reformed 
Church,  in  the  organization  of  which  he  had  so  active  a 
share.  In  common  with  all  the  original  reformers,  he  re- 
jected the  order  of  episcopal  ordination  as  totally  unauthor- 
ized b}'  the  law  of  Christ;  nor  did  he  regard  the  imposition 
of  the  hands  of  presbyters  as  a  rite  essential  to  the  validity 
of  orders,  or  of  necessary  observance  in  all  circumstances  of 
the  Church.  The  Papists,  indeed,  did  not  fail  to  declaim  on 
this  point,  representing  Knox  and  other  reformed  muiisters 
as  destitute  of  all  lawful  vocation.  In  the  same  strain  did 
many  hierarchical  writers  of  the  English  Church  afterward 
learn  to  talk,  not  scrupling,  by  their  extravagant  doctrine  of 
the  absolute  necessity  of  ordination  by  the  hands  of  a  bishop, 
who  derived  his  powers  by  uninterrupted  succession  from 
the  apostles,  to  invalidate  and  nullify  the  orders  of  all  the 
reformed  Churches  except  their  own — a  doctrine  which  has 
been  revived  in  the  jDresent  enlightened  age,  and  unblush- 
ingly  avowed  and  defended,  with  the  greater  part  of  its 
absurd,  illiberal  and  horrid  consequences.  The  fathers  of  the 
English  Reformation,  however,  were  very  far  from  entertain- 
ing such  contracted  and  unchristian  sentiments.  When  Knox 
afterward  went  to  England,  they  accepted  his  services  with- 
out the  smallest  hesitation.  They  maintained  a  constant  cor- 
respondence with  the  reformed  divines  on  the  Continent,  and 
freely  owned  them  as  brethren  and  fellow-laborers  in  the 
ministry.  And  they  were  not  so  ignorant  of  their  principles, 
nor  so  forgetful  of  their  character,  as  to  prefer  ordination  by 
Popish  prelates  to  that  which  was  conferred  by  Protestant 
presbyters.  I  will  not  say  that  our  reformer  utterly  disre- 
garded his  early  ordination  in  the  Popish  Church,  altiiough. 
if  we  mav  credit  the  testimony  of  his  adversaries,  this  was 


USURPATION  PROGRESSIVE. 


liis  sentiment :  but  I  have  little  doubt  that  he  looked  upon  the 
charge  which  he  received  at  St.  Andrews,  as  principally 
constituting  his  call  to  the  ministry."* 

That  the  authority"  in  religious  matters  rested  with 
the  congregation,  was  indeed  the  view  of  nearly  all  the 
early  relbrmers  ;  and  it  is  curious  to  notice  how  soon, 
in  the  progress  of  affairs,  this  important  truth  became 
obscured  and  lost.  Individual  assumptions  soon  be- 
came precedents  ;  precedents  soon  established  customs  ; 
and  customs  soon  resolved  themselves  into  laws,  to 
which,  in  the  different  denominations,  there  was  ex- 
acted an  obedience  more  strict  than  to  those  of  Holy 
Writ.  It  is  curious,  also,  to  see  how  even  good  men 
will,  when  occasion  serves,  avail  themselves  of  ambi- 
guities and  sophisms,  in  order  to  maintain  or  to  extend 
this  usurped  authority.  Thus  Wesley,  though  himself 
but  a  presbyter  of  the  Church  of  England,  proceeded 
to  ordain  Thomas  Coke  a  bishop,  under  the  plea  that  a 
presbyter  and  a  bishop  had  the  same  meaning  in  Scrip- 
ture. This,  indeed,  was  true,  but,  not  according  to  the 
episcopal  canon  by  which  Dr.  Coke  was  already  a 
presb^'ter,  and  could  not  receive  the  higher  rank  and 
authority  of  bishop  Irom  one  who  was  merely  a  co- 
ordinate. Yet  this  excellent  m.an,  Dr.  Coke,  so  re- 
markable for  his  zeal  and  his  abundant  labors,  assumed 
really  the  functions  exercised  by  an  Episcopal  bishop, 
in  ruling  over  many  churches,  and  in  consecrating 
Francis  Asbury  as  bishop  in  America,  through  whom 
the  official  grace  is  supposed  to  have  passed  to  others 
in  succession.  It  is  thus  in  religious  as  in  civil  affairs, 
that  assumed  power  becomes  at  length  confirmed  au- 
thority ;  that  the  rights  of  the  many  are  gradually 


*  Life  of  John  Knox,  p.  48. 
33  * 


3yO       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


usurped  by  the  few,  and  that  mankind  become  al 
length  ruled  by  priests  and  kings,  whose  authority  it  is 
made  heresy  or  treason  to  dispute.  Hence  it  was,  that 
nothing  excited  so  much  enmity  toward  Alexander 
Campbell  as  the  views  he  proposed  touching  the  au- 
thorit}'  and  the  doings  of  the  clergy.  It  was,  in  fact, 
his  continued  opposition  to  their  claims,  and  his  earnest 
effort  to  restore  the  Church  to  its  primitive  position  of 
freedom,  that  brought  upon  him,  in  his  future  life,  his 
most  bitter  persecutions.  From  the  moment,  indeed, 
that  he  presumed  to  question  their  authority  to  legislate 
for  the  Church,  they  continued  to  wage,  against  him 
and  his  principles,  a  continual  war  of  misrepresentation 
and  invective.  In  despite  of  their  efforts,  however, 
his  future  labors  in  regard  to  this  question  were  crowned 
with  remarkable  success,  so  that  no  man  probably  ever 
accomplished  more  in  emancipating  mankind  from  their 
thraldom  to  religious  leaders  and  the  assumptions  of 
priestly  power. 

After  having  thus  maturely  and  carefully  considered 
the  question  of  ordination,  as  was  his  wont  in  relation  to 
all  subjects  of  practical  importance,  he  decided  that  it 
was  his  duty  to  be  ordained,  and  he  was  accordingly 
solemnly  set  apart  to  the  office  of  the  ministry,  with  the 
usual  forms,  on  the  first  day  of  the  new  year,  1812.  Of 
this  fact  the  following  certificate  was  presented  in  court, 
when,  toward  the  close  of  the  year,  it  became  necessary 
for  him  to  apply  for  legal  authority  to  perform  the  mar- 
liage  ceremony  : 

"  We  do  hereby  certify  that  Alexander  Campbell,  after  9 
due  course  of  trials  preparatory  to  the  work  of  the  hoiy 
ministry,  was,  according  to  the  principles  of  this  Church 
regularly  chosen  and  ordained  a  minister  tliereof,  upon  the 
first  day  of  January,  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  twelve. 


INFANT  BAPTISM  RECONSIDERED.  391 


*'  Given  under  our  hands  at  our  church  meeting  held  at 
John  Dawson's,  this  ist  day  of  September,  181 2. 

"Thomas  Campbell, 
*'  Senior  minister  of  the  First  Church  oj  the  Christian 
Association  of   Washington  y  meeting  at  Cross-roads 
a7id  Brush  jRu7z^  Washington  county,  Pennsylvania. 
*'  George  Sharp,  William  Gilcrist,  James  Foster,  John 
Dawson. 

"  Deacons  of  the  said  CJiurcJi. 
"  Brooke  county,  December  Term,  181 2. 

"The  foregoing  was  produced  in  court,  and  ordered  to  be 
recorded  on  page  122  of  deed  book  F.  Teste 

"John  Connell,  Clerk  B.  C.  C.*' 

Having  acted  in  a  ministerial  capacity  heretofore  in 
entire  harmony  with  his  principles,  and  being  now  duly 
ordained,  he  continued,  during  the  winter,  to  labor  as 
usual  with  unwearied  diligence  in  the  sacred  calling  to 
which  he  had  thus  formally  and  conscientiously  devoted 
his  life. 

On  the  13th  of  March,  1812,  his  first  child  was  born, 
a  daughter,  who  was  called  Jane,  after  his  mother.  In 
recording  the  fact,  he  was  so  particular  as  to  set  down 
the  very  hour  of  her  birth,  3  o'clock  P.  M.  Soon  after 
this  event,  a  considerable  change  took  place  in  his 
views  in  regard  to  baptism.  His  wife,  with  her  father 
and  mother,  was  still  a  member  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church,  and,  as  the  child  grew,  it  is  natural  to  suppose 
that  the  question  of  infant  baptism  became  to  him  one 
of  immediate  practical  interest.  It  is  certain,  at  least, 
that  up  to  this  period  he  does  not  appear  to  have  given 
to  the  subject  of  baptism  a  sufficiently  careful  attention. 
The  unity  of  the  Church,  the  overthrow  of  sectarianism 
and  the  restoration  of  the  Bible  to  its  primitive  position ♦ 
had  been  the  leading  objects  with  him,  and  with  his 


392       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


father;  and,  regarding  the  question  of  baptism  as  one 
comparatively  of  small  importance,  they  seem  to  have 
left  it,  in  a  good  degree,  undecided  in  their  own  minds. 
On  the  3d  of  February,  1810,  and  again  on  the  19th 
May,  181 1,  as  well  as  on  the  5th  of  June  following, 
Alexander  had  delivered  a  sermon  upon  Christ's  com- 
mission to  the  apostles,  Mark  xvi.  15,  16,  in  which  his 
position  in  regard  to  baptism  at  those  periods  is  dis- 
tinctly stated,  and  in  \vhich  he  said  in  reference  to  it: 
*' As  I  am  sure  it  is  unscriptural  to  make  this  matter  a 
term  of  communion,  I  let  it  slif.  I  wish  to  think  and 
let  think  on  these  matters." 

His  failure,  thus  far,  to  recognize  the  truth  in  relation 
to  this  vexed  question,  was  another  instance  of  the  truth 
of  the  adage,  which  is  perhaps  nowhere  so  often  veri- 
fied as  in  the  affairs  of  religion,  that  "  a  man  may  look 
at  a  thing  without  seeing  it."  The  subject  had  been 
more  than  once  before  him,  and  constituted  a  part  of 
the  text  of  the  sermon  above  referred  to,  which  he  had 
preached  several  times ;  yet  owing  to  the  particulai 
stand-point  from  which  he  had  been  taught  to  regard 
baptism,  he  had  entirely  failed  to  recognize  its  actual 
importance.  As  there  is  one  angle  of  incidence  in 
which  light  is  absorbed  by  an  object,  and  another  in 
which  it  is  reflected  from  it,  and  as  an  object  assumes 
various  appearances  according  to  the  relative  position 
of  the  observer,  so  it  is  in  regard  to  things  contemplated 
by  the  mind.  Viewed  from  the  stand-point  of  his  early 
education,  infant  baptism  was  a  rite  justified,  inferen- 
tially  at  least,  and  not  to  be  neglected.  Viewed  from 
the  platform  of  the  principles  of  the  reformation  urged 
by  his  father  and  himself,  it  possessed  no  Divine  au- 
thority, yet  as  an  ancient  usage,  and  for  the  sake  of 
peace,  it  seemed  to  them  expedient  to  allow^  its  continu- 


IMPORTANCE  OF  BAPTISM. 


393 


ance  in  the  case  of  such  members  as  conscientiously 
believed  it  proper.  Most  of  the  members  of  the  Church 
furthermore,  supposed  themselves  to  have  been  in  their 
infancy  already  introduced  into  the  Church  by  its  means, 
and  even  after  Alexander  discovered  it  to  be  unau- 
thorized, he  seems  to  liave  concurred,  for  the  time,  in 
the  plausible  sophism  proposed  by  his  father  which 
begged  tb.e  very  point  at  issue,  "  that  it  was  not  now- 
necessary  for  them  to  go,  as  it  were,  out  of  the  Church 
merely  for  the  purpose  of  coming  in  again  by  the  regu- 
lar and  appointed  way." 

Under  the  influence  of  these  conflicting  and  involved 
opinions,  Alexander  Campbell  seems  to  have  suspended 
his  former  investigations,  and  to  have  tbrborne  giving  to 
this  subject  that  impartial  and  continued  attention  neces- 
sary to  the  discovery  of  truth.  From  the  embarrassing 
circumstances  of  his  position,  he,  as  he  states  in  the 
above  sermon,  concluded  to  "  let  it  slip" — to  pass  it  by 
as  a  matter  of  little  relative  importance,  and  to  allow 
the  question  to  remain  as  it  was.  From  the  occasional 
and  incidental  discussions  of  the  subject,  however,  that 
occurred  among  the  members  of  the  Brush  Run  Church, 
there  seems  to  have  been  a  gradually  increasing 
conviction,  on  the  part  of  many,  that  baptism  was 
a  matter  of  much  more  importance  than  they  had  sup- 
posed, and  Alexander  himself  began  to  share  in  this 
conviction.  He  began  to  perceive  that  an  ordinance  of 
which,  in  the  commission  to  the  apostles,  Christ  had 
deemed  it  necessary  to  speak  particularly,  and  which 
he  had  there  connected  directly  with  the  salvation  of 
the  gospel,  in  the  declaration  that  "  he  that  believetli 
and  is  baptized  shall  be  saved,"  could  not  be  one  of 
those  unimportant  matters  of  opinion  w^hich  might  be 
allowed  "  to  slip."    Admitting  that  infant  baptism  was 


394 


MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


without  warrant,  the  question  began  to  assume  quite  a 
different  aspect,  and  was  no  longer,  "  May  we  safely 
reject  infant  baptism  as  a  human  invention?"  but, 
"  May  we  omit  believei's^  haftism^  which  all  admit  to  be 
divinely  commanded?"  If  the  baptism  of  infants  be 
without  warrant,  it  is  invalid,  and  they  who  receive  it 
are,  in  point  of  fact,  still  unbaptized.  When  they  come 
to  know  this  in  after  years,  will  God  accept  the  credulity 
of  the  parent  for  the  faith  of  the  child?  Men  may  be 
pleased  to  omit  faith  on  the  part  of  the  person  baptized, 
but  will  God  sanction  the  omission  of  ba-ptism  on  the 
part  of  the  believer,  on  the  ground  that  in  his  infancy 
he  had  been  the  subject  of  a  ceremony  which  had  not 
been  enjoined?  On  the  other  hand,  if  the  practice  of 
infant  baptism  can  be  justified  by  inferential  reasoning 
or  any  sufficient  evidence,  why  should  it  not  be  adopted 
or  continued  by  common  consent,  without  further  dis- 
cussion? 

Such  were  some  of  the  reasonings  which,  at  this 
time,  pressed  upon  the  mind  of  Alexander  Campbell. 
Being  exceedingly  conscientious,  and  sensible  of  the 
responsibilities  appertaining  to  the  new  relation  in  which 
he  stood,  as  a  father,  he  was  led  to  think  much  more 
earnestly  upon  the  whole  subject,  so  that  he  might  not 
be  found  wanting  in  any  duty  that  was  really  required 
of  him.  Recalling  to  mind  the  little  discussion  with 
Preacher  Riddle  of  the  Associate  Reformed  Church,  in 
regard  to  the  principles  of  the  "  Declaration  and  Ad- 
dress," in  which  Mr.  Riddle  said  "there  was  no  direct 
authorit}^  in  the  Scriptures  for  infant  baptism,"  he  deter- 
mined that  he  would,  at  least,  make  an  effort  to  settle 
his  mind  finally  upon  the  subject.  Abandoning,  then, 
all  uninspired  authorities,  he  applied  himself  to  the 
Scriptures,  and  searching  out  critically  the  signification 


COXl^ICTIONS  OF  DUTY. 


395 


of  the  words  rendered  baptism  and  baptize  in  the 
original  Greek,  he  soon  became  satisfied  that  they  could 
mean  only  ijnviersion  and  immerse.  From  his  further 
investigations,  he  was  led  finally  to  the  clear  conviction 
that  believers,  and  believers  only,  were  the  proper  sub- 
jects of  the  ordinance.  He  now  fully  perceived  that 
the  rite  of  sprinkling  to  which  he  had  been  subjected  in 
infancy  was  wholly  unauthorized,  and  that  he  was  con- 
sequently, in  point  of  fact,  an  unbaptized  person,  and 
hence  could  not,  consistently,  preach  a  baptism  to  others 
of  which  he  had  never  been  a  subject  himself.  As 
these  points  were  for  some  time  matters  of  anxious 
inquiry,  he  frequently  conversed  upon  them  with  his 
wife,  who  also  became  much  interested  in  them,  and 
finally  came  to  the  same  conclusions  with  himself. 

As  he  was  not  one  who  could  remain  long  without 
carrying  out  his  convictions  of  duty,  he  resolved  at  once 
to  obey  what  he  now,  in  the  light  of  the  Scriptures,  found 
to  be  a  positive  Divine  command.  Having  formed 
some  acquaintance  with  a  Matthias  Luce,  a  Baptist 
preacher,  who  lived  above  Washington,  he  concluded 
to  make  application  to  him  to  perform  the  rite,  and,  on 
his  way  to  visit  him,  called  to  see  his  father  and  the 
family,  who  were  then  living  on  the  little  farm  between 
Washington  and  Mount  Pleasant.  Soon  after  aniving, 
his  sister  Dorothea  took  him  aside,  and  told  him  that 
she  had  been  in  great  trouble  for  some  time  about  her 
baptism.  She  could  find,  she  said,  no  authority  what- 
ever for  infant  baptism,  and  could  not  resist  the  convic- 
tion that  she  never  had  been  scripturally  baptized.  She 
wished  him,  therefore,  to  represent  the  case  on  her 
behalf,  to  her  father.  At  this  unexpected  announce- 
ment, Alexander  smiled,  and  told  her  that  he  was  now 
upon  his  way  to  request  the  services  of  Mr.  Luce,  as 


396        MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


he  had  himself  determined  to  be  immersed,  and  would 
lay  the  whole  case  before  their  father.  He  took  the  first 
opportunity,  accordingly,  of  presenting  the  matter,, 
stating  the  course  he  had  pursued  and  the  conclusions- 
he  had  reached.  His  father,  somewhat  to  his  surprisev 
had  but  little  to  sa}-,  and  offered  no  particular  objec- 
tions. He  spoke  of  the  position  they  had  heretofore 
occupied  in  regard  to  this  question,  but  forbore  to  urge 
it  in  opposition  to  Alexander's  conscientious  convictions. 
He  finally  remarked,  "  I  have  no  more  to  add.  You 
must  please  yourself."  It  was  suggested,  however, 
that  in  view  of  the  public  position  they  occupied  as 
reliofious  teachers  and  advocates  of  reformation,  it  would 
be  proper  that  the  matter  should  be  publicly  announced 
and  attended  to  amongst  the  people  to  whom  they  had 
been  accustomed  to  preach  ;  and  he  requested  Alex- 
ander to  get  Mr.  Luce  to  call  with  him  on  his  w^ay 
down,  at  w^hatever  time  might  be  appointed. 

Wednesday,  the  12th  day  of  June,  1812,  having  been 
selected,  Elder  Luce,  in  company  with  Elder  Henry 
Spears,  called  at  Thomas  Campbell's  on  their  way  to 
j  the  place  chosen  for  the  immersion,  which  was  the  deep 
pool  in  Buff'alo  Creek  where  three  members  of  the 
Association  had  former!}^  been  baptized.  Next  morn- 
ing, as  they  were  setting  out,  Thomas  Campbell  simply- 
remarked  that  Mrs.  Campbell  had  put  up  a  change  of 
raiment  for  herself  and  him,  which  was  the  first  intima- 
tion given  that  they  also  intended  to  be  immersed. 
Upon  arriving  at  the  place,  as  the  greater  part  of  the 
members  of  the  Brush  Run  Church,  with  a  large  con- 
course of  others,  attracted  b}^  the  novelty  of  the  occa- 
sion, were  assembled  at  David  Bryant's  house,  near  the 
place,  Thomas  Campbell  thought  it  proper  to  present, 
in  full,  the  reasons  which  had  determined  his  course. 


SCRIPTURAL  BAPTISM. 


397 


In  a  very  long  address,  he  accordingly  reviewed  the 
entire  ground  which  he  had  occupied,  and  the  struggles 
that  he  had  undergone  in  reference  to  the  particular 
subject  of  baptism,  which  he  had  earnestly  desired  to 
dispose  of,  in  such  a  manner,  that  it  might  be  no  hin« 
derance  in  the  attainment  of  that  Christian  unity  which 
he  had  labored  to  establish  upon  the  Bible  alone.  In 
endeavoring  to  do  this,  he  admitted  that  he  had  been 
led  to  overlook  its  importance,  and  the  very  many  plain 
and  obvious  teachings  of  the  Scriptures  on  the  subject  • 
but  having  at  length  attained  a  clearer  view  of  duty,. 
'  he  felt  it  incumbent  upon  him  to  submit  to  what  he  now 
plainly  saw  was  an  important  Divine  institution.  Alex- 
ander  afterward  followed  in  an  extended  defence  of 
their  proceedings,  urging  the  necessity  of  submitting 
implicitly  to  all  God's  commands,  and  showing  that  the 
baptism  of  believers  only,  was  authorized  by  the  Word 
of  God. 

In  his  remarks,  he  had  quoted,  among  other  Scrip- 
tures, the  command  of  Peter  to  the  believers  on  the  day 
of  Pentecost:  "  Repent  and  be  baptized,  ever}^  one  of 
you,  in  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ,  for  the  remission  of 
sins,  and  you  shall  receive  the  gift  of  the  Holy  Spirit ;" 
and  had  dwelt  at  length  upon  the  gracious  promises  of 
God  to  all  who  should  obey  him.  When  he  had  con- 
cluded, James  Hanen,  who,  with  his  wife,  had  also  con- 
cluded to  be  baptized,  took  his  child  from  its  mother's 
arms,  and  requesting  her  to  walk  aside,  asked  her  what 
she  thought  of  the  declaration  of  Peter,  "You  shall 
receive  the  gift  of  the  Holy  Spirit,"  and  how  she  under- 
stood it.  Mrs.  Hanen,  being  well  acquainted  with  the 
Scriptures,  soon  gave  a  satisfactory  reply,  and  both  were 
accordingly  baptized  along  with  the  rest,  consisting  of 
Alexander  Campbell  and  his  wife  ;  his  father  and  mother 

34 


39^       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


and  his  sister — in  all  seven  persons.  Alexander  had 
y  stipulated  with  Elder  Luce  that  the  ceremony  should  be 
performed  precisely  according  to  the  pattern  given  in 
the  New  Testament,  and  that,  as  there  was  no  account 
of  any  of  the  first  converts  being  called  upon  to  give 
what  is  called  a  "  religious  experience,"  this  modern 
custom  should  be  omitted,  and  that  the  candidates 
should  be  admitted  on  the  simple  confession  that  ''Jesus 
is  the  Son  of  God."  These  points  he  had  fully  dis- 
cussed with  Elder  Luce  during  the  evening  spent  at  liis 
house  when  he  first  went  up  to  request  his  attendance, 
and  they  had  been  arranged  as  he  desired.  Elder 
Luce  had,  indeed,  at  first  objected  to  these  changes,  as 
being  contrary  to  Baptist  usage,  but  finally  consented, 
remarking  that  he  believed  they  were  right,  and  he 
would  run  the  risk  of  censure.  There  were  not,  there- 
fore, upon  this  occasion,  any  of  the  usual  forms  of  receiv- 
ing persons  into  the  Church  upon  a  detailed  account  of 
religious  feelings  and  impressions.  There  was,  indeed, 
no  Baptist  church-meeting  to  which  any  such  "  experi- 
ence" could  have  been  related,  Elders  Luce  and  Spear, 
with  Elder  David  Jones  of  Eastern  Pennsylvania,  being 
the  only  Baptists  known  to  have  been  present.  All 
were,  therefore,  admitted  to  immersion  upon  making 
the  simple  confession  of  Christ  required  of  the  converts 
in  the  apostolic  times.  The  meeting,  it  is  related,  con- 
tinued about  seven  hours.  Before  it  commenced,  Joseph 
Bryant  had  to  leave,  in  order  to  attend  a  muster  of  vol- 
unteers for  the  war  against  Great  Britain,  which,  it  was 
reported.  Congress  had  declared  on  the  fourth  day  of 
the  same  month,  June,  although  the  declaration  was 
not  formall}'  made  until  the  i8th.  After  attending  the 
muster,  he  returned  home  in  time  to  hear  an  hour's 
-preaching  and  to  witness  the  baptisms.    Such  were 


MENTAL  CONFLICTS  AND  ADVANCES.  399 


the  leading  incidents  of  this  eventful  occasion,  which 
gave  to  the  reformatory  movement  an  entirely  new 
phase,  and  was  productive  of  the  most  important  con- 
sequences. 

It  will  be  easily  perceived,  that  the  conclusions  which 
were  thus  practically  carried  out,  had  been  reached 
only  through  a  series  of  severe  mental  struggles.  The 
difficulties  in  the  way  of  Thomas  Campbell,  especially, 
had  been  very  great,  not  only  from  the  predilections 
arising  from  his  early  education,  and  the  fact  that  he 
had  been  for  about  twenty-five  years  a  paedobaptist 
minister,  but  from  the  very  natural  desire  he  had  felt, 
since  he  commenced  his  efforts  to  secure  Christian 
union,  to  avoid  everything  likely  to  frustrate  this  desi- 
rable object.  He  had  no  idea,  indeed,  in  the  beginning, 
that  to  take  the  Bible  alone  would  really  lead  to  the 
abandonment  of  infant  baptism ;  and  although  this  re- 
sult was,  at  an  early  period,  plainly  predicted  by  others, 
he  constantly  cherished  the  hope  that  the  practice  might, 
consistently  with  his  principles,  be  allowed  as  a  matter 
of  forbearance.  Subsequently,  he  had  consented  to 
immerse  three  members  of  the  Association,  and  seemed 
to  have  become  satisfied  that  scriptural  baptism  implied 
the  burial  of  the  person  in  water.  But  he  still  ap- 
peared to  cling  to  the  opinion  that  the  ordinance  was  of 
far  less  importance  than  Christian  unity,  and  that  the 
various  questions  connected  with  it  might  be  left  to  the 
decision  of  each  individual,  so  that  he  hesitated  to 
adopt  positively  any  view  of  the  subject  that  would 
render  his  overture  less  acceptable  to  the  religious 
public.  Whilst  his  own  mind  remained  in  this  state  of 
incertitude,  many  of  those  connected  with  him  had 
advanced  beyond  him,  but  were  restrained  from  carry- 
ing out  their  convictions  by  the  respect  which  they  felt 


400       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 

was  due  to  his  position.  When,  however,  his  favorite 
son  and  daughter  announced  to  him  their  conclusions^ 
he  found^  it  necessary  to  come  himself  to  a  decision, 
which,  upon  his  own  principle  of  being  guided  exclu- 
sively by  Scripture,  he  felt  could  not  be  different  from 
theirs.  This  was  a  necessity  which  he  had  evidentlv 
longed  to  avoid,  since  he  was  aware  it  would  at  once 
erect  an  impassable  barrier  between  him  and  the  p^edo- 
baptist  community  in  which  he  had  labored,  and  frus- 
trate all  his  hopes  of  winning  it  over  to  his  views  of 
Christian  union.  It  was  his  love  of  truth ;  his  own 
conscientious  convictions,  and  his  desire  to  please  God 
rather  than  men,  that  could  alone  have  enabled  him 
thus  to  yield  up  his  cherished  hopes,  and  to  see  the 
road,  which  had  at  first  seemed  to  him  so  broad  that  all 
religious  parties  could  walk  therein  together,  gradually 
diminish  into  a  comparatively  narrow  path.  That  road, 
however,  had  appeared  broad  at  first  merely  because 
its  limits  were  not  as  yet  properly  defined ;  and  al- 
though he  found  it  narrowed,  when,  under  the  Divine 
instructions,  its  boundaries  were  more  distinctly  traced, 
he  had  an  increasing  assurance  that  it  was  the  way 
that  "leadeth  unto  life." 

It  is  perhaps  useless  to  speculate  as  to  what  might 
have  been  the  result  of  the  reformatory  movement 
initiated  by  Thomas  Campbell,  had  he  continued  to 
insist  upon  the  loose  views  he  had  previously  enter- 
tained upon  the  subject  of  baptism.  It  is  extremely 
doubtful  if  his  well-meant  efforts  could  ever  have  made 
any  considerable  impression  upon  tlie  religious  com- 
munity at  large,  so  completely  wedded  as  it  was,  at 
this  period,  to  sectarianism.  The  religious  denomina- 
tions could  never  ha\'e  been  persuaded  to  discard  their 
speculations,  traditions  or  ecclesiastical  usages,  and  to 


RELATIVE  CHANGE  OF  POSITION.  401 


6it  down  together  harmoniously  to  learn  the  truth  from 
the  Bible  alone.  Such  a  spectacle  as  this,  indeed,  like 
the  example  of  the  Bereans  of  old,  would  have  been 
most  cheering  and  hopeful.  But  it  is  not  upon  any 
general  principle,  or  even  by  the  adoption  of  a  few 
particular  truths,  that  a  real  Christian  union  can  he 
established.  This  demands  at  least  a  willingness  lo 
receive  the  zuhole  truth,  and  involves  a  spiritual  unity 
with  Him  who  is  the  Way,  the  Truth  and  the  Life  ;  for 
that  alone  which  unites  the  human  soul  to  Christ  can 
unite  Christians  to  each  other.  A  mere  conglomera- 
tion, then,  of  the  religious  parties  upon  the  admitted 
principle  that  the  Bible  is  the  only  rule  of  faith  and 
practice,  would  by  no  means  have  secured  a  religious 
peace.  It  could  have  been,  at  best,  but  a  temporary 
truce  amidst  permanent  hostilities,  unless  the  spirit  of 
partyism  could  have  been  replaced  by  the  spirit  of 
Christ,  and  there  existed  a  sincere  determination  to 
follow  the  truth  whithersoever  it  would  lead.  It  is 
probable,  therefore,  that,  in  the  existing  state  of  things, 
the  mild  and  gentle  overtures  of  Thomas  Campbell 
would  have  been  disregarded  in  the  future,  as  they  had 
been  thus  far  in  the  past ;  and  that  the  little  band 
which  had  rallied  round  the  standard  of  peace,  would 
have  been,  after  a  time,  dispersed  or  blended  with  the 
existing  parties.  There  needed,  at  this  crisis,  one  to 
take  the  lead,  who  was  of  a  more  adventurous  spirits 
and  who,  realizing  better  the  real  posture  of  affairs, 
could  recognize  the  truth  that  peace  could  be  reached 
only  through  victory. 

From  the  moment  that  Thomas  Campbell  concluded- 
to  follow  the  example  of  his  son  in  relation  to  baptism, 
he  conceded  to  him  in  effect  the  guidance  of  the  whole 
religious  movement.    As  for  himself,  it  was  evident 
VOL.  I.— 2  A  34  * 


402       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


that  he  had  previously  accompHshed  his  special  mis- 
sion in  propounding  and  developing  the  true  basis  of 
Christian  union.  Considering  his  antecedents,  he  had 
made  an  astonishing  progress  in  this  noble  work,  not 
only  unaided,  but  in  the  midst  of  hinderances  and  ob- 
stacles which,  to  thousands  in  similar  circumstances, 
would  ha^e  proved  wholly  insurmountable.  But  it  was 
difficult  foi  him  to  advance  beyond  the  general  princi- 
ples laid  down  in  the  "Declaration  and  Address"  to 
the  practical  and  unforeseen  results  which  those  princi- 
ples involved.  Had  it  not  been  for  the  decision  and 
the  untrammeled  views  of  his  son  at  this  juncture,  and 
especially  for  that  marked  quality  of  conscientious 
mental  mdependence  which  he  seems  to  have  largely 
inherited  from  his  mother,  the  reformation  would  not 
probably,  as  already  intimated,  have  advanced  a  single 
step  beyond  the  general  results  attained  in  vindicating 
the  claims  of  the  Bible  as  the  only  rule  of  faith  and 
.  practice.  Hence  it  was,  that  Thomas  Campbell's  long 
discourse  at  the  baptism,  w^hile  it  was  a  rehearsal  of 
his  own  anxious  struggles,  and  a  faithful  testimony  to 
his  steady  adherence  to  the  Divine  light  by  which  he 
had  been  led,  and  by  which  he  had  thus  far  success- 
fully led  others,  was,  at  the  same  time,  virtually  the 
surrender  of  that  guiding  light  into  the  hands  of  a 
successor.  From  this  hour,  therefore,  the  positions  of 
father  and  son  were  reversed,  and  each  tacitly  occupied 
the  position  allotted  to  him.  Alexander  became  the 
master-spirit,  and  to  him  the  eyes  of  all  were  now  di- 
rected. He  felt  that  Providence  had  placed  liim  in  the 
advance.  He  must  lead  the  way,  for  conscience,  enlight- 
ened by  the  Word  of  God,  impelled  him  irresistibly 
forward.  On  neither  side,  however,  was  there  the 
slightest  feeling  of  rivalry  or  ambition.    On  the  con- 


ACCESS/OA'^S  AND  DEFECTIONS. 


trary?  as  before,  it  was  still  a  constant  and  affectionate 
co-operation.  Alexander's  habitual  deference  for  his 
father's  extensive  and  accurate  knowledge  of  the  Bible, 
and  his  unalterable  lilial  regard,  led  him  constantly  to 
confer  with  him  in  respect  to  Divine  things  ;  while  his 
father,  apparently  conscious  that  his  chief  mission  had 
been  accomplished,  gladly  recognized,  in  his  admired 
and  greatly  beloved  son,  a  superior  ability  to  appre- 
ciate, grasp,  promulgate  and  defend  the  cause  which 
he  had  so  long  labored  to  promote.  He  delighted, 
accordingly,  to  hold  council  with  his  son,  and  to  discuss 
with  him  the  momentous  matters  in  which  they  were 
engaged,  so  that  no  new  truth  was  ever  adopted  or  dis- 
seminated without  having  undergone  the  careful  scrutiny' 
of  the  minds  of  both,  and  frequently  of  those  of  others 
also  who  formed  part  of  tlie  household  or  of  the  social 
circle. 

At  the  next  meeting  of  the  church  of  Brush  Run. 
which  was  on  the  Lord's  day  succeeding  the  baptism 
of  the  seven,  thirteen  other  members,  and  among  them 
James  Foster,  requested  immersion;  which  was  accord- 
ingly administered  by  Thomas  Campbell,  each  one 
making  the  simple  confession  of  Christ  as  the  Son  of 
God.  On  subsequent  occasions,  some  others  came  for- 
ward in  like  manner,  so  that  the  great  majority  of  the 
church  speedily  consisted  of  immersed  believers,  upon 
which,  the  other  individuals  who  had  been  in  the  Asso- 
ciation abandoned  the  cause,  being  unwilling  to  follow 
the  reformatory  movement  any  further.  Among  the 
latter  was  General  Acheson,  who,  indeed,  for  some  time 
previously,  seemed  to  have  lost  his  interest  in  the  move- 
ment he  had  at  first  so  warmly  espoused.  Thus  it  was 
with  these  reformers  as  it  had  been  with  the  Haldanes 
and  their  coadjutors.     The  truth  respecting  baptism 


404       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


forced  itself  at  length  upon  the  convictions  of  most  of 
those  who  were  active  in  these  respective  reformations, 
in  spite  of  educational  prejudices  and  the  difficulties  of 
their  position.  And  thus  it  was  also  with  the  church 
at  Brush  Run,  as  it  had  been  with  the  Halclaneaii 
church  at  Edinburgh — immersion,  apt  emblem  of  sepa- 
ration from  the  world,  occasioned  a  separation  among 
those  who  had  been  previously  united  in  religious 
fellowship. 

Upon  the  whole,  then,  it  will  be  seen  that  a  ver}' 
great  progress  had  now  been  made,  and  that  a  verv 
great  change  had  been  effected,  at  least  in  the  external 
aspect  of  this  little  community  of  reformers.  Immer- 
sion had  been  unanimously  adopted  as  the  onh'  true 
scriptural  baptism ;  infant  baptism  had  been  hnally 
and  absolutely  rejected  as  a  human  invention,  and  the 
simple  confession  of  Christ,  made  by  the  early  converts 
to  Christ,  was  acknowledged  as  the  only  requirement 
which  could  be  scripturally  demanded  of  those  who  de- 
sired to  become  members  of  the  Church.  As  all  these 
matters  were  determined  by  the  plain  authority  of  Scrip- 
ture, they  have  ever  since  continued  to  be  prominent 
features  of  this  religious  movement.  During  their 
course,  thus  far,  this  band  of  reformers  had  recognized 
themselves  to  be,  not  a  sect,  with  its  truths  and  errors 
equally  stereotyped  and  equally  immutable,  but  2i  farty 
l/  ■p7'ogress — as  lea?'ners  in  the  school  of  Christ. 
*'  Whereto  they  had  already  attained,"  they  endeavored 
'*to  walk  by  the  same  rule  and  to  mind  the  same 
things,"  In  seeking  for  the  old  paths"  they  had,  thus 
far,  found  each  new  truth  to  lead  them  to  another  still 
more  obvious,  as  a  single  track  often  guides  the  tra- 
veler, lost  in  the  forest,  to  a  pathwa}',  which  in  turn 
conducts  him  to  one  still  wider  and  more  easily  pursued. 


FULL  IMPORT  OF  BAPTISM  UNKNOWN.  405 

The  necessity  felt  for  unity  brought  them  to  the  Bible 
alone  ;  this  led  them  to  the  simple  primitive  faith  in 
Christ;  and  this,  in  turn,  had  now  guided  them  to  the 
primitive  baptism  as  the  public  profession  of  that  faith. 
The  full  import  and  meaning  of  the  institution  of  bap- 
tism was,  however,  still  reserved  for  future  discovery. 


CHAPTER  XIX. 


Faith — Primitive  Confession  of  Faith — Nature  of  the  Christian  Faith — 


HE  best  and  highest  reason  that  can  be  given  for 


any  action  is,  that  God  commands  it.  Whatever 
it  may  have  in  itself  of  manifest  suitableness  or  of 
probable  utility,  will,  if  it  become  a  motive  to  its  per- 
formance, but  detract  to  that  extent  from  the  obedience 
of  faith.  This  seeks  to  be  assured  only  that  it  is  God's 
will,  and  shines  forth  in  a  purer  and  holier  light 
when  the  command  seems  strange,  incomprehensible 
and  even  most  unreasonable,  as  w^hen  Abraham  laid 
Isaac  his  son  upon  the  altar  of  sacrifice.  The  blood  of 
the  paschal  lamb  upon  the  Hebrew  lintels ;  the  mercy- 
seat  covering  the  law  of  human  duty  ;  the  ashes  of  a 
red  heifer  sprinkling  the  unclean,  nay,  the  whole  rigid 
ceremonial  of  the  Mosaic  law,  may  be  given  as  exem- 
plifications of  ordinances  and  commandments,  as  unex- 
plained as  they  were  imperative,  and  as  adequate  to 
secure  prosperity  and  life  and  pardon,  as  the  obedience 
they  demanded  w^as  simple  and  unquestioning. 

As  the  child  who  refuses  to  obey  his  father  until  the 
latter  first  explains  to  him  the  particular  reasons  for  his 
C(.mmands,  shows  that  he  acts  not  from  love  and  trust, 
but  that  he  disbelieves  and  doubts,  and  prefers  the  con- 
clusions of  his  own  feeble  understanding  to  reliance  upon 
superior  wisdom,  so  the  individual  who  must  know  the 


Conversion. 


JNSTITUTIOyS  OF  THE  GOSPEL. 


philosophy  of  God's  commandments,  and  satisfy  himself 
as  to  their  propriety  before  he  will  obey  them,  believes 
not  in  God,  but  in  himself.  As  it  would  have  been 
beneath  the  dignity  of  the  Divine  Lawgiver  to  make 
obedience  to  his  laws  contingent  upon  man's  approba- 
tion of  their  fitness,  so  has  he  ever,  in  perfect  harmony 
with  his  own  character  and  the  truest  interests  of  man- 
kind, simply  delivered  his  commands  and  prohibitions, 
with  their  rewards  and  penalties.  In  all  cases,  it  was 
sufficient  for  the  true  believer,  in  abstaining  from  any 
act,  to  know  that  God  had  forbidden  it,  and  in  keep- 
ing a  Divine  command  to  feel  that  "obedience"'  was 
"better  than  sacrifice,"  and  "  to  hearken  than  the  fat  of 
rams." 

Even  under  the  New  Institution,  where  the  veil  that 
concealed  the  meaning  of  the  Jewish  ritual  is  taken 
away,  and  the  worshiper  can  look  understandingly 
to  Christ  as  the  end  and  antitype  of  that  w^hich  was 
abolished,  it  is  not  permitted  that  Reason  should  take 
the  place  of  Faith,  or  that  human  views  of  expediency 
should  usurp  the  province  of  Divine  wisdom.  An  in- 
stitution under  which  the  just  can  live  only  by  faith 
must  render  conspicuous  that  simple  and  confiding  trust 
without  which  it  is  impossible  to  please  God.  Hence  it 
is,  that  in  abolishing  the  worldly  sanctuary  and  the 
ordinances  of  the  Mosaic  economy,  adumbrative  of  the 
future,  the  New  Institution  confines  itself,  in  its  severe 
simplicity,  to  three  institutions  commemorative  of  the 
past.  The  Lord's  day,  the  Lord's  Supper  and  Baptism 
have  indeed  of  themselves  a  fitness  to  indicate  or  pic- 
ture forth  the  facts  which  they  commemorate,  or  the 
new  relations  into  which  the  believer  enters ;  but  they 
are  so  divinely  adapted  to  the  purposes  intended  that, 
while  they  trench  as  little  as  possible  upon  the  domain 


408       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


of  sense,  they  guide  the  thoughts  of  the  believer  to  the 
gospel  facts,  and  tix  his  faith  upon  the  person  and  work 
of  Christ.  Unlike  corrupt  systems,  such  as  Romanism, 
which  usurp  the  name  and  place  of  Christianity,  and 
seek,  by  imposing  ceremonies  and  sensuous  imagery, 
to  captivate  the  imaginative  and  awe  the  superstitious, 
the  gospel,  in  its  simple  administration,  repudiates  all 
dramatic  effect  and  all  subordinate  mediation,  in  order 
to  bring  by  faith  the  penitent  sinner  into  spiritual 
fellowship  with  the  Father  and  with  his  Son  Jesus 
Christ. 

The  same  simplicity  which  belongs  to  the  institutions 
of  the  gospel  appertains  to  the  gospel  faith  itself,  which 
is  far  from  being  what  scholastic  theology  or  vain 
enthusiasm  would  make  it — a  mysterious  and  undefined 
spiritual  operation,  or  an  instantaneous  and  miraculous 
illumination  ;  but  which  is  simply  a  trusting  in  Christy 
a  sincere  belief  in  the  testimony  and  truth  of  God. 
This  faith,  again,  with  that  appropriate  directness  which 
marks  the  entire  gospel,  reveals  itself  in  a  willingness 
to  keep  God's  commandments,  and  a  readiness  to  make 
before  the  world  the  acknowledgment  of  the  Messiah- 
ship  of  Jesus,  not  only  orally  in  the  "  good  confession" 
of  the  primitive  Church,  but  in  the  entire  subsequent 
devotion  of  the  life. 

That  the  simple  avowal  that  Jesus  is  the  Son  of 
God  constituted  the  confession  of  faith  of  the  primidve 
Church,  is  abundantly  evident  both  from  Scripture  and 
ecclesiastical  histor}^  Neander,  in  his  "  Plantifig  of 
the  Christian  Church^''  vol.  i.,  p.  i6i,  says: 

111  baptism,  entrance  into  communion  with  Christ  seems 
to  have  been  the  essential  point:  thus  persons  were  united  to 
the  spiritual  body  of  Christ,  and  received  into  the  communion 
of  the  redeemed,  the  Church  of  Christ.  Gal.  iii.  27  ;  i  Cor. 


THE  PRIMITIVE  CONFESSION.  4O9 


xii.  13.  Hence,  baptism,  according  to  its  characteristic  marks, 
was  designated  '  into  the  name  of  Christ,'  as  the  acknow- 
ledgment of  Jesus  as  the  Messiah,  was  tlie  original  article  of 
faith  in  the  apostolic  Church,  and  this  was  perhaps  the  most 
ancient  formula  of  baptism,  which  was  still  made  use  of  in 
the  third  century.  The  usual  form  of  submersion  at  baptism, 
practised  by  the  Jews,  was  transferred  to  the  Gentile  Chris- 
tians. Indeed  this  form  was  the  most  suitable  to  signify  that 
which  Christ  intended  to  render  an  object  of  contemplation 
by  such  a  symbol — the  immersion  of  the  whole  man  in  the 
spirit  of  a  new  life." 

"In  primitive  times,"  says  Gavin  Struther,  D.  D.,  of  the 
Relief  Church,  Glasgow,  in  his  admirable  essay  on  the  preva- 
lence and  insidiousness  of  party  spirit,  "  the  confession  of 
faith  in  use  was  very  short.  '  If  thou  believest  with  all  thy 
heart,'  said  Philip  to  the  Ethiopian  eunuch,  '  there  is  nothing 
to  hinder  thee  to  be  baptized.'  And  he  replied,  '  I  believe 
that  Jesus  Christ  is  the  Son  of  God.'  On  this  confession  of 
his  faith  he  was  baptized.  The  first  uninspired  compends 
of  Christian  doctrine  were  short,  plain  and  comprehensive. 
The  early  Christians  recognized  a  few  leading  principles  as 
essential  to  vital  religion,  and  on  other  matters  allowed  every 
member  to  think  for  himself ;  but  the  Church  of  Rome  heaped 
up  article  upon  article,  till  her  creed  became  long  and  full  of 
wire-drawn  distinctions.  The  Churches  of  the  reformation 
having  to  testify  against  many  corruptions,  were  led,  in  the 
first  instance,  to  give  a  lengthened  enumeration  of  the  articles 
of  their  faith  :  and  then,  after  they  were  attacked,  to  defend 
those  articles  by  a  regular  process  of  Scripture  reasoning  and 
logical  argumentation.  As  their  '  Confessions'  swelled  in 
size,  they  did  not  improve  as  '  helps  to  the  weak,'  which  was 
at  first  their  main  intention.  Covering,  as  thev  soon  did,  the 
whole  ground  of  '  didactic  and  polemic  theologv,'  unlettered 
men  could  with  difficulty  fathom  the  meaning  of  their  numer- 
ous propositions.  Like  modern  acts  of  Parliament,  thev 
became  abstruse  from  their  very  minuteness  of  detail,  and 
thus  geneiated  endless  controversies,   and   produced  manv 

35 


410       MEMOIRS   OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL, 


divisions  by  a  labored  attempt  at  shutting  out  every  possible 
mistake  and  error." — Essays  on  Christian  Unio7i^  p.  426. 

In  view  of  existing  circumstances  and  subsequent 
results,  it  was,  indeed,  a  memorable  occurrence  when, 
on  the  1 2th  day  of  June,  181 2,  in  presence  of  the  assem- 
bled multitude,  Alexander  Campbell  first  stood  forth  to 
make  the  primitive  confession  of  the  Christian  faith. 
The  day  was  beautiful,  and  the  clear  heavens  shone 
beneath  in  the  bright  waters  of  the  swift-flowing  Buffalo 
as  it  wound  through  the  secluded  valley,  and  bathed  the 
massive  roots  of  leafy  elms  or  of  the  majestic  Western 
plane,  which,  with  marbled  trunk,  lifted  its  cream-white 
branches  toward  the  skies.  There,  in  the  conscious- 
ness of  emancipation  from  civil  and  religious  thraldom 
and  amidst  the  freedom  of  nature,  yet  in  the  very  heart 
of  a  sectarian  community,  the  yet  youthful  reformer 
uttered  the  simple  acknowledgment  of  the  Messiahship 
of  Jesus  as  the  divinely-required  prerequisite  to  bap- 
tism— a'  confession  now  for  the  first  time  heard  since 
the  earlier  ages  of  the  Church.  It  was  upon  this  con- 
fession alone,  as  he  had  informed  Elder  Luce,  that  he 
would  consent  to  be  baptized.  "  I  have  set  out,"  said 
he,  "  to  follow  the  apostles  of  Christ  and  their  Master, 
and  I  will  be  baptized  only  into  the  primitive  Christian 
faith."  This  was,  truly,  a  remarkable  stipulation,  and 
its  practical  and  public  fulfillment  gave  an  interest  and 
an  importance  to  the  occasion  which  can  hardly  be  too 
highly  estimated.  It  was  not  only  a  formal  and  open 
condemnation  of  the  elaborate  doctrinal  creeds  and  false 
theories  of  conversion  so  popular  amongst  the  religious 
parties,  but  it  was  the  restoration  of  the  Christian  faith 
to  its  original  simplicity  and  to  its  proper  object.  This 
feature,  thus  first  introduced,  and  which,  in  fact,  became 
at  once  the  great  characteristic  of  the  reformation,  de- 


FAIT II  PERSONAL,  NOT  DOCTRINAL.  411 


serves  to  be  carefully  considered,  along  with  the  circum- 
stances which  led  to  its  adoption. 

The  primitive  confession  is,  indeed,  the  exponent  ol 
the  nature  of  the  primitive  faith.  From  the  Scriptures 
nothing  can  be  plainer  than  that  faith  rests  upon  Christ 
himself  as  its  proper  object.  The  faith  that  saves  is  a 
believing  on  or  into  Christ  (e^c  Xptaroi^)  ;  a  receiving 
Christ  himself — a  trusting  in  Christ,  in  all  the  grandeur 
of  his  personal  character,  and  in  all  the  glory  of  his 
official  relations,  as  prophet,  priest  and  king.  The 
question,  therefore,  in  regard  to  faith,  w^as  not,  in  the 
beginning,  "  What  do  you  believe?"  the  eager  and  sole 
inquiry  of  modern  religious  parties;  but  "/;/  whom  do 
you  believe?"  It  was  the  question  addressed  by  Christ 
himself  to  one  who  sought  to  know  the  truth:  "Dost 
thou  believe  on  the  Son  of  God?"  And  the  answer 
was  "Who  is  he.  Lord,  that  I  may  believe  on  him?" 
For  this  direct  personal  reliance,  indicated  in  the  primi- 
tive confession,  and  exhibited  as  true  faith  everywhere 
in  Scripture,  men  have  unhappily  substituted  a  trust  in 
the  accuracy  of  their  doctrinal  knowledge — a  confidence 
in  the  orthodoxy  of  particular  tenets  ;  as  if  correctness 
of  religious  opinion  could  secure  the  Divine  favor,  or 
had  in  itself  a  mysterious  saving  efficacy.  Doubtless, 
when  it  was  asked,  "Who  is  he,  that  I  may  believe  on 
him?"  it  was  implied  that  some  instruction  was  to  be 
given  ;  as  also,  when  the  inquiry  was  made,  "  What  think 
ye  of  Christ?"  that  a  correct  apprehension  w^as  demand- 
ed. But  it  is  to  be  remembered  that  the  knowledge  thus 
required  had  still  reference  to  a  -person;  to  the  character 
and  relations  of  Christ  himself  as  the  Son  of  God  and 
the  appointed  Saviour  of  the  world.  Hence  the  gospel 
was  to  be  preached  among  all  nations  for  the  obedience 
01  faith.    Hence  the  gospel  was  the  power  of  God  to 


412       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


salvation  to  the  believer,  for  this  gospel  was  simply 
glad  tidings  conceriiing  Christ — the  accredited  and  joy- 
ful news  of  salvation  through  a  once  crucitied  but  now 
gloriously  exalted  Redeemer,  to  whom  all  authority  on 
earth  and  in  heaven  had  been  committed.  The  simple 
facts  which  that  gospel  embodies,  and  the  prophecies 
and  miracles  to  which  it  refers,  in  attestation  of  the 
claims  of  the  Messiah  and  the  completeness  of  the 
redemption  he  has  achieved  for  men,  are  comprehensi- 
ble by  the  humblest  capacity,  so  that  such  a  gospel  is 
indeed  titted  to  be  preached  to  every  creature  however 
illiterate  or  humble,  and  constitutes  a  ground  of  faith, 
totally  different  in  character  and  results  from  those 
recondite  speculations  about  the  Divine  essence,  and 
those  abstract  theories  of  the  plan  of  salvation.  Divine 
sovereignty,  human  inability,  etc,  etc.,  which  form  the 
burden  of  modern  religious  creeds. 

The  distinction  here  referred  to  had  been,  to  some 
extent,  recognized  in  the  very  beginning  of  the  re- 
formatory movement.  It  was  substantially  implied  in 
the  Declaration  and  Address,"  when  it  was  said  that 
* 'inferences  and  deductions  from  Scripture  premises," 
usuallv  called  doctrines,"  were  not  to  be  made  ''terms 
of  communion" — that  such  deductions  properly  be- 
longed, not  to  the  Christian  faith,  *'but  to  the  after  and 
progressive  edification  of  the  Church,  and  ought  not 
therefore  to  have  any  place  in  the  Church's  confession.* 
Again,  in  the  Sth  Proposition  it  was  affirmed, 

''That  as  it  is  not  necessary  that  persons  should  have  a 
particular  knowledge  or  distinct  apprehension  of^all  divinely- 
revealed  truths  to  entitle  them  to  a  place  in  the  Cliurch  ; 
neither  siiould  thev,  tor  this  purpose,  be  required  to  make  a 
confession  more  extensive  tlian  their  knowledije  ;  l>ut  that,  on 
the  contrary,  their  having-  a  due  measure  of  scriptural  self- 


RELIGIOUS  CORRESPONDENCE.  413 


knowledge  respecting  their  lost  and  perishing  condition  by 
nature  and  practice,  and  of  the  way  of  salvation  through 
Jesus  Christ,  accompanied  by  a  profession  of  their  faith  in, 
and  obedience  to,  him,  in  all  things,  according  to  his  word,  is 
all  that  is  absolutely  necessary  to  qualify  them  for  admission 
into  his  Church." 

The  distinction  thua,  at  this  early  period,  implied  in 
the  principles  adopted  by  Mr.  Campbell  and  his  father,  " 
does  not  seem,  however,  to  have  been  fully  apprehended 
by  either  for  a  considerable  time  afterward.  Alexan- 
der, it  is  true,  as  appears  from  one  of  his  discourses 
already  referred  to  (page  376),  seems  in  the  spring  of 
181 1  to  have  taken  a  simple  and  just  view  of  faith  as  a 
^'trusting  in  Christ,"  a  ''hearty  reliance  upon  him  for 
salvation."  Subsequendy,  he  read  and  reflected  much 
upon  faith,  and  occupied  himself  in  considering  the 
various  conflicting  theories  upon  the  subject,  both  as  it 
regards  the  nature  of  faith  itself,  and  the  manner  in 
which  it  is  produced.  During  the  fall  of  181 1,  and  the 
winter  of  181 2,  he  carried  on  an  interesting  correspon- 
dence with  his  fatlier  upon  various  religious  topics, 
among  which  a  large  space  is  allotted  to  this  particular 
subject.  This  correspondence  he  carefully  transcribed, 
giving  to  his  father  the  pseudonym  of  Philologus,  and 
assuming  himself  that  of  Philomathes.  A  few  extracts 
from  this  correspondence  will  serve  to  exliibit  their 
views  of  this  important  matter  at  that  time. 

In  the  first  letter,  dated  October  17,  181 1,  Thilo- 
mathes  speaks  of  a  work  by  Thomas  Ta\  lor,  published 
in  1661,  upon  "The  Necessity  and  Efficacy  of  Faith  in 
Prayer,"  and  quotes  him  as  saying,  ''True  saving  faith 
may  exist  in  the  minds  of  persons  apt  to  doubt,  or,  in 
other  words,  true  faith  is  not  always  accompanied  by 
certainty  in  the  mind  that  the  things  we  desire  by 

35  * 


414       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


prayer  shall  be  obtained,  but  the  prayer  of  faith  is 
sometimes  accompanied  with  doubting."  The  letter  is^ 
then  devoted  to  the  discussion  of  the  correctness  of 
this  position,  that  saving  faith  may  coexist  with  doubt, 
and  also  of  a  distinction  which  is  made  between  the 
"faith  of  reliance"  and  the  "faith  of  assurance,''  during 
which  a  number  of  cases  are  cited  from  the  Scriptures. 
To  this  Philologus,  the  father,  replies  at  considerable 
length,  in  part  as  follows  : 

"The  subject  you  have  introduced  must,  on  all  hands,  be 
acknowledged  to  be  one  of  leading  importance.  Next  to  the 
revelation  of  salvation  for  guiltv  men,  that  by  which  we  are 
made  partakers  of  it,  and  by  which  alone  we  must  live,  and 
be  actuated  while  in  this  world,  as  legitimate  expectants  of 
the  heavenly  felicity,  is  to  us  of  all  things  most  important, 
for  it  is  written,  '  The  just  by  faith  shall  live.' " 

With  characteristic  caution,  he  then  first  considers 
the  source  from  which  true  knowledge  must  be  obtained 
and  the  spirit  in  which  it  must  be  sought : 

"Allow  me.  then,  on  entering  upon  this  subject,  to  defer 
an  immediate  reply  to  your  quotation  and  statements  respect- 
ing your  author's  views  of  the  subject,  reserving  this  for  the 
sequel.  Whatever  respect  we  may  have  for  our  own  or 
others'  opinions  upon  Divine  subjects,  yet  in  every  com- 
mencement to  consider  or  discuss  these  things,  on  set  pur- 
pose, for  our  own  or  others'  advantage  in  the  knowledge  and 
belief  of  the  truth,  it  behooves  us  to  have  immediate  recourse 
to  the  Sacred  Oracles,  that  we  may  stand  upon  sure  ground  ; 
be  the  better  educated  in  the  truth ;  have  its  impression 
deepened  in  our  minds,  and  behold  it  with  still  greater  ad- 
vantage. Thus  shall  our  certainty  of  the  truth  and  attach- 
ment to  it  increase  with  our  labors  ;  and  thus  shall  we  be 
delivered  from  being  ser\'ile  followers  and  copyists  either  of 
ourselves  or  others.    Having  '  The  Truth'  for  our  motto,  and 


DEFINITION  OF  FAITH. 


4^5 


*  What  is  truth?'  for  our  simple,  single  and  upright  inquiry, 
let  it  not  be  apprehended  that  such  a  procedure  can  justly 
implicate  the  lovers  and  students  of  sacred  truth  in  the  charge 
of  ignorance  or  instability.  It  will  rather  evince  the  sim- 
plicity and  purity  of  their  hearts  from  the  noxious  inmates  of 
pride,  self-confidence  and  vain  presumption  of  infallibility,, 
to  which  the  contrary  practice  may,  with  too  great  an  appear- 
ance of  justice,  be  imputed.  The  apostle's  maxim,  however, 
fully  justifies  what  I  plead  for:  'If  any  man  thinketh  that  he  * 
knoweth  anything,  he  knoweth  nothing  yet  as  he  ought  to 
know.'  Besides,  what  does  such  a  practice  amount  to,  but 
what  in  similar  cases  is  just  and  natural,  namely,  to  behold 
or  contemplate' things  in  the  light?  'In  Thy  light  shall  we 
see  light,'  and  he  that  doeth  truth,  cometh  to  the  light,  that 
his  deeds  may  be  made  manifest  that  they  are  wrought  in 
God.'  Of  course,  he  that  speaketh  truth  in  like  manner — 
that  his  words  may  be  made  manifest  that  they  are  of  truth.' 

He  now  goes  on  to  dwell  upon  faith  as  being  "  the 
belief  of  the  truth,"  and  gives  a  general  definition  of 
*'  the  truth"  as  comprehending  everything  that  God  has  ^ 
revealed  of  himself  concerning  his  being  and  perfec- 
tions, his  works  and  will,  and  the  present  and  future 
state  of  his  creatures.  Taking  thus,  in  the  first  instance, 
the  whole  Divine  Testimony  as  the  subject-matter  of 
faith,  he  further  remarks  that  the  Divine  veracity  is  the 
ground,  foundation  or  reason  of  our  faith,  and  ''God  in^ 
Christ  the  only  proper  and  qualified  object  of  it." 

"  For  as  such,"  he  adds,  "  he  revealed  himself  from  the 
beginning,  and  as  such  only  is  he  the  subject  of  supernatural 
revelation,  and  as  such  only  can  he  be  justly  considered  by 
all  them  that  truly  believe  it ;  for,  as  such,  is  he  held  forth  to 
have  been  '  from  everlasting,'  from  the  "  beginning  or  ever 
earth  was,'  though  not  so  revealed  till  after  the  fall,  and  then,, 
at  first,  but  obscurely.  But  no  sooner  did  he  reveal  himself 
in  relation  to  the  redemption  and  recovery  of  fallen  man,  than 


41 6        MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


he  did  so  by  the  means  or  mediation  of  Jesus  Christ.  And, 
since  then,  in  the  process  of  the  revelation  with  which  he 
hath  favored  the  Church,  he  hath  declared  himself  acting  or 
proceeding  in  and  by  Jesus  Christ,  in  the  creation  of  all 
things  and  in  all  his  managements.  See  Prov.  viii.  22  :  '  The 
Lord  possessed  me  in  the  beginning  of  his  wav  before  his 
works  of  old  ;'  and  30  :  *  Then  I  was  by  him  as  one  bt'ought 
up  ivith  /iif?i ;  and  I  was  daily  ki's  delight,  rejoicing  always 
before  him.'  See  also  John  xvii.  5  :  '  And  now,  O  Father, 
glorifv  thou  me  with  thine  own  self,  with  the  glory  which  I 
had  with  thee  before  the  world  was.'  2  Tim.  i.  9  :  '  His  own 
purpose  and  grace  which  was  given  us  in  Christ  Jesus  before 
the  world  began  and  again,  '  He  hath  created  all  things  by 
Jesus  Christ ;'  and  again,  '  He  is  the  brightness  of  his  glorv, 
and  the  express  image  of  his  person,  upholding  all  things  by 
the  word  of  his  power  ;  by  whom  also  he  made  the  worlds.' 
-  By  whom  he  will  judge  the  world.'  Acts  xvii.  31.  So  that 
in  no  instance  is  God  revealed  to  us  but  as  in  Christ.  *  * 
*  *  But,  God  in  Christ,  or  God,  laying  and  executing  all 
his  purposes  of  creation,  sustentation,  gubernation,  redemp- 
tion and  judgment,  in  and  by  Jesus  Christ,  is  the  adequate, 
comprehensive  and  adorable  object  of  the  Christian  faith.  *  * 
The  full  and  firm  persuasion,  then,  or  hearty  belief  of 
the  Divine  testimony  concerning  Jesus,  comprehensively 
considered  as  above  defined,  is  that  faith,  in  its  proper  and 
primary  acceptation,  to  which  the  promises  and  privileges"  of 
salvation  are  annexed.  See  Peter's  confession  and  the  re- 
cognitions of  John  in  his  First  Epistle  :  '  Thou  art  Christ,  the 
Son  of  the  living  God  ;'  '  Blessed  art  thou,  Simon  Barjona,' 
etc.,  etc.  ;  '  Whosoever  believeth  that  Jesus  is  the  Christ,  is 
born  of  God  ;'  '  Who  is  he  that  overcometh  the  world  but 
he  that  believeth  that  Jesus  is  the  Son  of  God?'    *    *-    *  * 

'  PlIILOLOGUS." 

Continuing  the  subject  in  a  second  letter,  he  enters 
minutely  and  somewhat  philosophically  into  the  con- 
sideration of  some  of  the  eflects  of  faith  ;  but,  correct- 


SOURCE  OF  TRUE  FAITH. 


ing  himself  and  expressing  his  dislike  of  metaphysical 
distinctions  and  definitions,  he  concludes  with  some 
deductions  from  the  whole  premises,  among  which  arc 
the  following  : 

"  I.  That  he  who  would  harmonize  as  a  teacher  or  prcachei 
with  the  intention  and  scope  of  tlie  Divine  economy,  should 
be  careful  to  exhibit  in  a  distinct  and  faitliful  manner  the 
whole  testimony  of  God  concerning  himself,  his  works  and 
will,  and  the  present  and  future  conditions  of  his  creatures. 
\  Especially,  a  pure  simple  gospel  view  of  God  as  in  Christ, 
reconciling  the  world  unto  himself;  of  Christ  in  his  person, 
offices  and  performance  ;  of  the  Holy  Spirit  in  his  oflices  and 
works,  and  of  the  absolute  unconditionality  of  salvation,  in 
respect  to  anv  entitling  or  previous  recommendator^■  qualifica- 
tions whatsoever,  as  requisite  to  qualify  the  sinner  for  par- 
taking of  the  offered  salvation,  or  to  lay  a  foundation  for  his 
confidence  toward  God  through  Jesus  Christ;  even  to  the 
exclusion  of  faith  itself  in  its  secondary  import,  that  is,  con- 
sidering it  as  an  act  or  exercise  of  confidence  in  Christ,  his 
office  and  work  ;  such  confidence  being  the  native  and  proper 
result  of  a  true  knowledge  and  belief  of  the  truth  or  truths 
exhibited  in  the  Divine  testimony. 

2.  That  he  that  would  be  saved  should  hearken  diligently 
to  the  testimony  of  God,  by  the  knowledge  and  belief  of 
which  alone,  testified  to  all  who  hear  it  for  their  salvation, 
he  may  be  delivered  from  the  wrath  to  come,  the  guilt  and 
bondage  of  corruption,  and  have  access  into  the  glorious 
liberty  of  the  children  of  God,  in  the  possession  of  that 
confidence  which  casts  out  all  fear.  An  eflect  this,  which  no 
systematic  theory  can  either  produce  or  promote,  and  of 
course  makes  no  part  of  the  preacher's  busitiess.  See  i* 
Cor.  ii.  12. 

5.  From  the  aforesaid  investigation,  T  further  infer  tliat  all 
the  distinctions,  directions  and  cautions  about  kinds  un<i  acts 
of  faith,  thrust  upon  the  public  attention  by  preachings  and 
vou  I. — 2  W 


41 8       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


writings,  polemical  and  practical,  are  little,  if  anything,  better 
than  fallacies  and  amusive  speculations,  tending  to  divert  and 
distract  the  mind  from  the  ti'uth — the  great  subject  of  salva- 
tion— turning  many  aside  after  vain  jangling,  and  greatly 
deceiving  others.  For  what  other  end  serve  the  distinctions 
about  '  historical  faith  '  miraculous,'  '  temporary'  and  '  saving 
faith  ;'  '  the  faith  of  reliance,'  '  assurance,'  '  an  act  of  faith 
the  '  direct'  and  '  reflex'  acts  of  faith  ;  '  appropriating  faith,* 
'the  faith  of  adherence,'  etc.,  etc.,  if  not  to  perplex  or  amuse .'^ 
Have  we  anything  like  this  in  the  Scriptures?  '  So  we  preach 
and  so  ye  believed,'  say  the  apostles,  and  so  the  matter  ends. 
The  Scripture,  it  is  true,  lays  a  great  stress  upon  faith,  and  in 
many  places  reproves  hypocritical  pretensions  to  faith,  and 
also  exhibits  evidences  of  genuine  faith,  and  also  exhorts  to 
self-examination  on  that  subject,  but  how  Is  it  by  the 
intervention  of  those  metaphysical,  I  might  say  barbarous, 
distinctions  of  modern  times.?  No  such  thing.  The  Scrip- 
tures exhibit  no  such  theory.  They  consider  the  subject 
through  a  diflerent  medium.  "  Show  me  thy  faith  by  thy 
works'  is  the  Scripture  test,  to  distinguish  the  true  from  the 
false,  the  genuine  from  the  counterfeit  professor,  and  not  the 
light,  airy,  cheap  way  of  metaphysical  distinction.  It  is  true, 
the  ground  that  we  have  assumed  and  the  plan  we  have  pre- 
scribed to  ourselves,  which  is  simply  returning  to  the  original 
standard,  and  taking  up  and  treating  all  religious  matters  as 
we  find  them  there,  would,  if  strictly  adhered  to,  for  ever 
extricate  us  from  all  the  labyrinths  of  later  inventions  and 
practices  ;  but  it  will  take  some  pains,  and  much  watchfulness 
and  caution,  to  bring  ourselves  to  this.  We  are  children  of 
yesterday,  moderns  in  the  newest  sense  of  the  word,  and, 
therefore,  will  find  it  no  easy  matter  to  look  back  over  t  ie 
heads  of  eighteen  hundred  ages,  and  to  think,  speak  and  act, 
in  matters  of  religion,  as  if  contemporaries  with  the  apostles 
and  members  of  the  primitive  Church.  Lastly,  I  infer,  from 
the  whole  premises,  that  the  great  reason  why  the  doctrine 
of  faith  has  been  so  perplexed  and  obscured,  is  the  legal  ten- 
dencv  of  the  human  heart,  that  constant  self-flattering  bia» 


THE  POWER  OF  TRUTH.  ,  419 


which  leads  us  to  look  for  something  in  ourselves  to  distin- 
guish us  in  the  sight  of  God  from  others,  were  it  but  a  sin- 
gle act  of  faith — some  felt  formal  confidence,  or  '  appropriat- 
ing act,*  as  they  caL  it;  something  in  ourselves  as  entitling  or 
interesting.  Whereas  no  one  does,  nor  indeed  can,  take  any 
merit  to  himself  for  believing  a  testimony  where  the  truth  is 
conspicuous  from  the  strength  of  the  evidence.  To  withhold 
belief  in  such  a  case  is  utterly  impossible  to  rational  nature. 
Therefore,  no  thanks  to  the  believing  subject,  except  for  being 
rational,  or  for  hearing  a  testimony,  which,  when  brought  to 
his  ears  unsought,  he  could  not  avoid  hearing — if  these  things 
merit  thanks.  But,  methinks,  I  hear  it  queried  by  the  proud, 
self-preferring  heart,  can  such  an  involuntary,  unavoidable 
faith,  such  a  bare  belief  of  the  naked  truth,  save  me?  Yes, 
surely,  if  the  truth  thus  believed  be  sufficiently  interesting  to 
influence  the  conduct  of  the  believer.  If  otherwise,  let  him 
know  assuredly  that  the  merit  of  believing  it  will  not  save 
him.  Moreover,  if  it  be  sufficiently  influential  to  aflect  his 
conduct,  no  thanks  to  him  for  that ;  for,  who,  in  his  senses, 
having  drunk  a  poisoned  bowl,  would  not,  when  duly  certified 
of  h.'s  fatal  mistake,  gladly  receive  an  antidote.?  Where  is 
boasting,  then.?  It  is  excluded.  By  what  law .?  Of  works.? 
Nay,  but  by  the  law  of  faith.  We  see,  then,  upon  the  closest 
investigation  of  the  subject,  that  every  kind  and  degree  of 
boasting  is,  and  must  be,  for  ever  excluded  by  the  law  or  tenor 
of  the  New  Covenant,  which  communicates  its  special  and 
saving  blessings  only  and  wholly  by  faith.  I  conclude  this 
subject  by  observing  that  the  forbidding,  discouraging  sense 
of  our  deep  unworthiness,  which  we  are  prone  to  entertain 
in  reference  to  God,  is  not  to  be  regarded  as  interfering  with 
our  confidence  toward  him  through  Jesus  Christ,  as  if  we 
were  at  any  time,  or  in  any  case,  ever  to  be  conscious  of  any- 
thing else,  or  better  than  the  deepest  unworthiness  in  refer- 
ence to  God  and  his  salvation.    *    *    *  * 

"Upon  the  whole,  it  is  not  theory,  but  a  believing  experi- 
ence of  the  power  of  truth  upon  our  own  hearts,  that  will 
qualify  us  either  to  live  or  preach  the  gospel  of  a  free,  uncon- 


i.20       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


ditional  salvation  through  faith,  and  we  may  as  well  look  to 
the  north  in  December,  for  the  warming  breeze  to  dissolve 
the  wintrv  ice.  as  to  extract  this  believing  experience  of  the 
power  of  the  truth  out  of  the  most  refined  and  exquisite 
thi^ory  about  the  nature  and  properties  of  faith,  or  of  justifi- 
cation, or  of  any  other  point  of  the  Divine  testimonv,  ab- 
stracted from  the  testimony  itself,  as  exhibited  and  addressed 
to  us  in  the  Scriptures.  Let  us,  once  for  all,  be  convinced  of 
this,  that  we  may  addict  ourselves  to  study,  believe  and 
preach  our  Bibles,  and  then  shall  we  study,  live  and  preach 
to  profit.  *  *  *  *  And  may  the  Lord  direct  you  in  all 
things,  and  make  you  one  of  his  own  preachers,  and  then, 
like  his  renowned  apostle,  you  will  pour  contempt  upon  the 
wisdom  of  this  world  in  all  its  most  imposing  forms,  which 
comes  to  naught;  then  will  your  maxim  be,  'Not  in  the 
words  which  man's  wisdom  teacheth,  but  in  the  w^ords  which 
the  Holy  Ghost  teacheth.' 

"  Farewell. 

"November  29,  181 1.  Philologus." 

Such  were  the  views  of  faith  entertained  by  Thomas 
Campbell,  and  in  which  his  son  Alexander  always 
substantially  agreed.  Thus  the  whole  Divine  testimony 
was  to  be  received  as  the  only  source  of  spiritual  light 
and  truth.  But  that  testimony  was  essentially  a  revela- 
^  tion  of  God  in  Christ  reconciling  a  guilty  world.  Christ 
being  the  way,  the  truth,  and  the  life,  to  believt;  on 
him,  to  trust  in  him,  was  to  attain  the  great  purpose  of 
all  the  Divine  communications.  A  complete  acquaint- 
ance with  the  Bible,  however,  though  necessary  to  a 
full  understanding^  of  the  Divine  character  and  will, 
was  not  required  in  order  to  produce  faith  in  Christ ; 
this  being  more  immediately  dependent  upon  the  gospel 
as  preached  by  the  apostles  and  exhibited  in  the  New 
Testament.  As  all  the  promises  and  types  of  preced- 
ino-  institutions  were  verified  in  Christ,  who  was  the 


VIEW  OF  FAITH  MODIFIED. 


end  of  the  law  for  righteousness  to  the  behever,  and  as 
the  great  work  of  salvation  \>'hich  he  accomplished 
was  embraced  in  a  few  grand,  comprehensive  facts, 
adapted  to  the  humblest  understanding,  a  knowledge  of 
these  was  sufficient  in  the  first  instance  as  the  basis  of 
faith,  however  this  might  be  subsequently  evolved  and 
enlarged  by  an  increased  knowledge  and  experience. 
Thus,  as  in  every  seed  there  is  a  germ  of  the  future 
plant,  so  in  the  simple  gospel  there  was  contained 
essentially  the  entire  plan  of  redemption.  And,  as  in 
the  germ  of  every  seed  there  are  two  points,  one  of 
which  always  develops  itself  downward  to  form  the 
root,  while  the  other  as  invariably  extends  itself  up- 
ward to  form  the  stem  ;  so  t'ne  revelation  of  Christ  in 
the  gospel  spreads  its  rootlets  throughout  the  entire 
Old  Testament,  reaching  to  the  first  promise  in  the 
garden  of  Eden  ;  while,  in  the  New^  it  rises,  in  all  the 
excellency  and  glory  of  the  work  of  redemption,  until 
it  reaches  the  very  heavens.  Hence  it  was,  that  the 
priniitive  faith,  a  simple  trust  in  Christ,  embodied  in  it 
all  the  power  of  the  Christian  life,  and  that  a  simple 
confession  of  this  faith  was  all  that  was  demanded  in 
the  apostolic  age  in  order  to  discipleship.  Such  in  sub- 
stance was  the  view  of  faith  which  Mr.  Campbell  had 
now  adopted  ;  and  such  was  the  primitive  confession  of 
that  faith  which  he  now,  by  his  example,  first  restored 
^o  the  world. 

With  regard  to  this  simple  trust  in  Christ,  embracing 
both  the  understanding  and  the  heart,  it  will  be  seen  by 
the  minutes  of  his  discourse  (p.  376)  that  he  at  least, 
up  to  the  spring  of  iSii,  retained  the  opinion  that  this 
"trusting"  was  a  special  result  of  "Divine  power  and 
regenerating  grace."  This  view,  during  the  reflections 
and  readings  of  the  following  year,  was  somewhat 

36 


422       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


modified,  and  he  came  to  regard  the  Divine  testimony 
l/  itself  as  the  only  means  through  which  faith  was  com- 
municated. The  false  reasonings  and  unscriptural  dis- 
tinctions of  the  theological  w^orks  he  had  been  reading 
upon  the  subject,  seem  to  have  engendered  in  his  mriid 
a  fixed  dislike  to  the  notions  popularly  entertained, 
and  to  have  led  him  to  prefer  the  simpler  view  that  faith 
WetS  the  direct  result  of  the  Divine  testimony — a  view 
which  is  expressly  given  in  that  testimony  itself,  w^hen 
it  declares  that  '-^ faith  comes  by  hearings  mid  hearing 
by  the  word  of  God.'' 

It  will  not  appear  strange  that,  with  the  Scriptures 
before  him,  Mr.  Campbell  should  come  to  such  a  con- 
clusion, nor  that,  from  his  stand-point,  the  metaphysical 
distinctions  made  by  popular  theological  writers  in  re- 
gard to  faith  should  seem  to  him  utterly  groundless,  if 
not  absurd.  During  the  correspondence  with  his  father, 
above  referred  to,  he  thus  writes  to  him  under  date  of 
March  28,  181 2,  about  two  and  one  half  months  before 
his  baptism  : 

"My  attention  for  some  time  past  has  been  directed  to  that 
grand  controversy,  not  yet  decided,  betwixt  Messrs.  Hervey, 
Sandeman,  Cudworth  and  Bellamy,  concerning  the  apostolic 
gospel.  An  old  and  a  most  important  controversy.  As  the 
performance  of  Mr.  Bellamy  in  this  dispute  has  been  much 
extolled  by  one  numerous  party  of  the  contenders,  I  have 
given  it  a  tolerably  close  and  somewhat  critical  reading.  In 
this  letter,  then,  I  propose  giving  you  a  brief  review  of  the 
sentiments  advanced  by  this  champion  in  his  Dialogues  and 
Essays.* 

♦  Joseph  Bellamy,  D.  D.,  was  a  native  of  Connecticut,  born  in  17 19,  and 
graduated  at  Yale  College  in  1735.  He  was  a  man  of  eminent  abilities, 
ardent  piety  and  great  power  as  a  preacher.  He  became,  also,  a  theological 
teacher  and  writer,  and  died  March  6,  1790,  in  the  fiftieth  year  of  his  min- 
istry, aged  sevent)'-one.  As  a  theologian  he  stands  next  in  reputation  to 
President  Edwards.— R. 


REGENERATION  BEFORE  FAITH.  423 


"It  appears  to  have  fared  with  Mr.  Bellamy  as  with  many 
other  polemics  ;  while  endeavoring  to  abolish  the  sentiments 
of  his  opponents,  he  establishes  another  scheme  more  absurd 
in  its  nature  and  not  less  destructive  in  its  consequences.  If 
I  were  to  make  any  remarks  on  the  style  and  method  of  Mr. 
Bellamy,  I  would  say  that  his  method  of  treating  the  matter 
in  debate  is  puerile.  His  style  is  extremely  uncouth,  abound- 
ing with  barbarisms  and  tautology.  You  can  hardly  conceive 
a  more  visible  and  impressive  contrast  than  that  which  sub- 
sists between  the  diction  and  style  of  Mr.  Hervey  and  his 
respondent.  It  is  not,  however,  with  his  style,  but  with  his 
sentiments,  I  have  to  do  according  to  my  expressed  intention. 
To  proceed  then  :  the  outline  of  Mr.  Bellamy's  gospel  which 
he  opposes  to  Messrs.  Hervey,  Sandeman  and  Cudworth,  is 
obviously  such  as  the  following,  when  reduced  to  its  simplest 
parts : 

"i.  A  man  must  be  regenerated  previous  to  the  first  act  of 
faith.  2.  He  must,  before  he  believes  the  gospel  to  be  true, 
approve  of  the  law  as  holy,  just  and  good,  and  love  it  on  this 
account.  3.  Then  through  the  law  as  a  glass  he  must  dis- 
cover the  glory  of  God,  and  love  him  on  account  of  his  own 
glorious  excellences.  4.  Afterward,  he  must  discover  the 
wisdom  of  God  in  the  gospel  way  of  salvation,  and,  with  all 
these  qualifications,  he  then  believes  the  gospel  to  be  true  ; 
all  this  previous  to  the  first  act  of  faith,  which  he  says  is  a 
'  holy  act,'  for  his  faith  implies  holiness,  repentance,  conver- 
sion and  reconciliation  ;  and  yet  he  maintains  that  repentance 
is  before  forgiveness.  That  you  may  read  his  sentiments 
with  your  own  eyes,  please  consult  pages  14,  16,  17,  19,  58, 
79,  81-103:  Essays,  122,  125,  147. 

"  Respecting  his  first  prerequisite,  Regeneration,  page  17  : 
'  Regeneration  must  be  before  faith,'  John  (i.  12,  13).  I  would 
inquire  what  is  the  meaning  of  regeneration.?  Is  it  not  the 
communication  of  spiritual  life  to  the  soul,  wliich  principle 
of  spiritual  life  is  the  beginning  of  eternal  life.?  'If  any  be 
•n  Christ,  he  is  a  new  creature  all  '  old  things  are  passed 
away.*    'All  things  are  become  new'  when  a  man  is  regene- 


424        MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


rated,  he  is  then  possessed  of  a  new  life,  he  is  now  aHve  and 
shall  never  die.  I  think  this  proposition  would  sound  some- 
what stiange  in  the  ears  of  a  Christian.  '  That  a  man  may  be 
possessed  of  eternal  life  and  yet  disbelieve  the  gospel.'  Mr 
Bellamy  virtually  maintains  this;  for  if  regeneration  be  the 
commimication  of  spiritual  and  eternal  life,  and  if  this  be 
previous  to  faith,  then  a  man  may  live  and  die  and  enjoy 
eternal  life  without  faith.  But,  according  to  Mr.  Bellamy's 
idea,  regeneration  is  one  of  the  most  unaccountable  thing^s  in 
the  world.  It  is  an  effect  produced  without  any  cause.  But 
we  are  assured,  from  the  New  Testament,  that  the  Word  of 
God  is  the  means  of  regeneration — not  a  means  which  man 
uses  in  order  to  salvation,  but  a  means  which  God  uses.  'Of 
his  own  will  begat  he  us  ivith  the  word  of  truth.' James  i.  18. 
*  Being  born  again  not  of  corruptible  seed,'  but  by  '  incor- 
ruptible' seed,  by  '  the  Word  of  God.'  i  Peter  i.  23.  '  Who- 
soever is  born  of  God  doth  not  commit  sin,  for  his  seed 
remaineth  in  him.'  i  John  iii.  9.  2  John  2  :  *  For  the  truth's 
sake  which  abideth  in  us.'  From  these  Scriptures  we  learn, 
in  this  figurative  style,  that  God  begets  us  of  his  ozvn  -will — 
with  incorruptible  seed,  the  word  of  truth,  and  the  effect  is  a 
new  creature.  One  question  determines  this  point.  Is  it  the 
Word  of  God,  believed  or  disbelieved,  that  regenerates  us.'  If 
disbelieved,  all  unbelievers  are  regenerate  ;  if  believed,  then 
Mr.  Bellamy's  scheme  falls  to  the  ground.  Mr.  Bellamy  lays 
a  great  stress  on  John  i.  12,  13;  ''Them  that  believe  on  his 
name  which  were  born,'  etc.  He  supposes  that  John  is 
describing  religion  as  he  does,  in  order^  which  is  first,  second 
and  third ;  but  I  apprehend  that  this  passage  is  descriptive  of 
character — not  of  the  order  of  salvation. 

''Mr.  Bellamy's  second  prerequisite,  page  17.  You  and  I 
must  approve  the  law  as  just,  holy  and  good,  glorious  and 
amiable,  with  application  to  ourselves,  before  we  can  with 
all  our  hearts  believe  the  gospel  to  be  true.  As  Mr.  Bellamy 
is  very  verbose  and  his  performance  most  tautological,  I 
might  refer  you  to  a  hundred  places  where  the  sentiments  I 
animadvert  on  are  stated  and  confirmed  in  his  own  way. 


THEORIES  UNPROFITABLE. 


Si'e  the  above  references.  This  sentiment  is  unfounded  in 
Divine  revelation,  nay.  the  contrary  is  obviously  inculcated, 
lo  the  man  who  disbelieves  the  gospel,  *  the  law  worketh 
wrath.*  The  carnal  mind  is  enmity  against  it  and  is  not  sub- 
ject to  it,  'neither  indeed  can  be.'  Paul  only  had  attained  to 
approve  and  love  the  law  through  the  gospel.  The  law  is  not 
that  which  reconciles  us  to  God.  but  God  in  Christ  reconciles 
us  to  himself.  Those  enemies  whom  he  hath  reconciled  were 
reconciled  through  the  death  of  Christ.  Surely  it  is  only  the 
man  who  believes  the  Divine  Record  and  trusts  in  the  death 
of  Jesus  Christ,  that  can  be  considered  as  having  been  recon- 
ciled throuo^h  the  infinite  g^oodness  of  God.    *    *    *  * 

"  What  must  the  orthodoxy  of  those  be  who  hold  Mr.  B. 
as  a  model  defender  of  the  Christian  faith?  I  should  not 
have  wearied  your  patience  reading,  or  tired  myself  transcrib- 
ing, these  extracts,  were  it  not  to  give  you  an  idea  of  the  state 
of  that  Church  which  receives,  admires,  recommends  and 
contends  for  this  performance  as  almost  canonical.  I  have 
only  mentioned  some  of  the  most  exceptionable  parts  of  Bel 
lamy's  performance,  but  those  I  have  mentioned  give  an  idea 
of  his  system,  which,  at  least,  is  semi-Arminian.  I  have  read 
about  one  half  of  Cudworth  this  week.  Will  give  you  my 
sentiments  respecting  his  performance  in  my  next.  I  am 
weary  of  controversy.  I  reap  some  advantages,  but  not 
enough  to  counterbalance  the  disadvantages.  The  simple 
truth  is  the  best  defence  of  the  truth,  which,  while  it  enlightens 
the  understanding,  sanctifies  the  heart.  Philomathes." 

Thus  it  was  that  Mr.  Campbell  came  to  regard  the 
extravagant  notions  of  conversion  popularly  enter- 
tained, and  the  perplexing  definitions  of  faith  given  by 
theological  writers,  as  wholly  unscriptural  and  unwor- 
thy of  regard.  Disposed  to  rely  only  upon  the  Scrip- 
ture, and  to  limit  his  convictions  by  its  express  lan- 
guage, he  could  not  perceive  much  utility  in  mere 
theories  on  any  religious  subject.  The  inquiry,  with 
him,  was  always,  What  say  the  Scriptures?  and  to 

36  * 


42b        MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXAXDER  CAMPBELL. 


their  teachincrs  his  understandincr  and  his  heart  ever 
responded,  as  the  chords  of  a  well-tuned  harp  to  the 
touch  of  a  musician.  He  saw  clearly  that  faith  was  the 
belief  of  the  truth,  that  it  rested  upon  the  Divine  testi- 
mony, and  that,  whatever  theologv  might  say  or  theorists 
pretend,  its  quality  was  to  be  determined,  not  by  theo- 
logical definitions  or  by  frames  and  feelings,  but  bv  the 
Scripture  test,  a  willingness  to  keep  God's  command- 
ments. His  view  of  converting  faith  came  to  be, 
therefore,  substantially  that  entertained  by  J.  A.  Hal- 
dane  and  John  Campbell,  mentioned  on  pp.  155-157- 
It  taught  him  to  look  off  to  Jesus  rather  than  to  trust  to 
the  var}'ing  moods  and  emotions  of  the  mind,  and  to 
rest  his  hope  upon  the  merits  and  faithfulness  of  Him 
who  is  unchangeabh'  the  same,  rather  than  upon  any 
inward  impressions  or  transient  feelings.  As  matters 
of  fact,  he  was  not  disposed  to  deny  that  in  many  cases 
a  peculiar  vividness  of  conviction  and  excitement  of 
feeling  accompanied  belief,  and,  under  certain  circum- 
stances, became  unusually  striking.  Both  he  and  his 
father  had  formerly  had  such  "  experiences,"  as  they 
were  called,  and  he  always  felt  an  interest  in  the  recital 
of  such  matters  by  others,  as  evidences  of  their  earnest- 
ness and  sincerity,  but  he  objected  that  men  were  dis- 
posed to  rely  on  these  rather  than  on  the  Word  and 
Testimony  of  God.  and  to  neglect  and  disparage  assur- 
ances derived  from  the  belief  and  obedience  of  the 
truth,  while  seeking  in  themselves,  often  in  vain,  for 
those  evidences  which  modern  systems  demanded. 
The  more  he  read  and  examined  these  systems,  the 
more  he  became  convinced  that  they  had  departed  from 
the  simplicity  of  the  gospel,  and  had  substituted  human 
speculations  and  theories  for  the  plain  teachings  of  the 
Bible.     It  became  therefore  largely  the  labor  of  liis 


CONVERTING  INFLUENCES.  4^7 

future  life  to  dethrone  these  theories  from  the  power 
they  had  usurped  over  men's  minds,  and  to  restore  the 
Word  of  God  to  its  proper  authority.  Whatever  might 
be  urged  in  favor  of  "  appropriating  faith,"  or  of  the 
commonly-received  theories  upon  the  subject,  he  came 
to  regard  such  definitions  and  speculations  as  of  no 
practical  utility.  Whatever  harm  they  could  do,  he  fell 
assured  they  could  do  no  good,  inasmuch  as  it  was 
admitted  by  all  that  a  cordial  reception  of  them  in  their 
most  orthodox  form  tended,  in  no  degree,  to  procure 
those  special  spiritual  operations  which  men  were  taught 
to  expect. 

There  were,  indeed,  some  difficult  questions  con- 
nected with  the  subjects  of  conversion  and  faith,  which 
he  does  not,  at  this  period,  seem  to  have  considered, 
except  in  a  very  general  way.  One  of  these  was : 
Why,  if  faith  comes  by  the  word  of  God,  is  it  not 
produced  in  all  who  hear  that  word?  Why  is  it  that, 
when  the  gospel  is  preached,  a  few  particular  individ- 
uals only  believe  and  obey  it?  And  again.  Why  is  it 
that  it  is  proper  to  fray  for  the  conversion  of  individ- 
uals or  of  the  world  at  large,  unless  it  be  agreed  that 
some  special  influence  or  interposition  is  to  be  expected 
in  answer  to  prayer?*  No  one  admitted  the  propriety 
of  such  petitions  or  offered  them  more  sincerely  than 
Mr.  Campbell,  and  to  deny  that  there  was  an  influence 
of  any  kind  to  be  expected  and  exerted  in  any  case  in 
aid  of  the  gospel,  would  have  involved  a  practical  in- 
consistency. He  did  not,  therefore,  deny  the  import- 
ance or  existence  of  such  aid,  but  its  nature  he  appears 
to  have  left  undetermined  in  his  mind,  preferring  to 
leave  all  such  matters  with  God.    He  did  not  conceive 


*  These  questions  will  be  found  elucidated  in  a  subsequent  part  of  these 
Memoirs. 


42i>       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 

it  to  be  the  duty  of  an  evangelist  to  preach  a  theory  of 
conversion,  but  to  "preach  the  Word,"  and  to  leave  the 
event  entirely  with  God.  Of  this  he  remained  abso- 
lutely certain,  that  it  was  right  and  safe  always  to 
adhere  closely  to  the  Scriptures,  and  to  teach  and  ob- 
serve sucli  things  only  as  matters  of  faith  and  dut}^  for 
which  there  could  be  produced  a  Divine  warrant.  It 
was  therefore  perfectly  in  harmony  with  his  principles 
that,  at  his  baptism,  he  refused  to  sanction,  by  relating 
an  experience,  any  of  the  popular  theories  of  faith,  and 
that  he  determined  to  adhere  closely  to  Scripture  prece- 
dent and  the  admitted  practice  of  the  primitive  Church, 
by  making  only  the  simple,  but  all-comprehendin-g 
confession  of  the  Messiahship  of  Jesus. 


CHAPTZR  XX.. 


Spirit   Of    Persecution — Sabbath-keeping — Union   \\nth    Baptists — Home- 
labors — Discussion  on  Religious  Felicwsriip. 


HE  conversion  of  the  church  at  Brush  Run  into  a 


J-  society  of  immersed  behevers  was  quite  a  marvel 
and  an  offence  to  the  relifjious  communities  of  the 
neighborhood.  Displeased  as  most  of  them  already 
were  by  Mr.  Campbell's  previous  opposition  to  existing 
usages,  this  decisive  step,  which  separated  him  at  once 
from  all  paedobaptist  sympathy,  greatly  intensified  the 
prejudices  which  the  clergy  had  succeeded  in  exciting 
against  him.  That  a  party  of  individuals  who  had 
been  nearly  all  members  of  orthodox  churches  should, 
without  extrinsic  influence,  but  simply  from  their  own 
investigations,  take  upon  themselves  to  repudiate  pub- 
licly and  finally  infant  baptism,  and  to  adopt  immersion 
as  the  primitive  institution,  and  this,  too,  in  the  very 
heart  of  a  paedobaptist  community,  under  the  control 
of  a  watchful  and  active  ministry,  was  regarded  as  a 
most  presumptuous  proceeding,  and  one  well  calculated 
to  subvert  the  entire  order  of  religious  society.  There 
were  no  heresies  so  flagrant  which  such  a  party  might 
not  embrace.  There  were  no  extremes  so  wild  to  which 
they  might  not  run,  as  they  refused  to  be  guided  or 
restrained  by  those  who  were  the  chosen  leaders  of  the 
people.  Hence  the  '-drum  ecclesiastic"  of  each  difl^er- 
ent  party  was  beaten,  with  more  than  usual  vigor,  in 


430       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


vehement  efforts  to  demonstrate  to  the  awestruck  audi- 
tory the  terrible  consequences  of  such  departures  from 
the  views  and  practices  of  "great  and  good  men," 
and  from  the  standards  of  the  estabHshed  Churches. 
Throughout  this  region  of  country,  the  power  of  the 
clergy  was,  at  this  time,  almost  supreme,  and  those 
who  questioned  it  were  at  once  put  under  the  ban  of 
religious  society,  being  regarded  as  disorganizers,  and 
even  treated  as  outlaws  in  the  spiritual  kingdom.  It 
may  readily  be  supposed  that  under  these  circumstances 
the  members  of  the  Brush  Run  Church  were  blessed 
with  no  small  amount  of  persecution,  and  that  this  was 
carried  as  far  as  the  law  s  and  social  regulations  would 
permit.  As  an  illustration  of  the  state  of  feeling  which 
then  existed,  the  following  incident  may  be  related. 
As  Alexander  Campbell  was  one  evening  returning 
from  an  appointment,  he  perceived  a  violent  storm 
likely  to  overtake  him,  and  called  at  the  house  of  a 
Seceder  lady  to  request  shelter.  The  lady,  who  came 
to  the  door,  desired,  in  the  first  instance,  to  know  his 
name,  and  being  informed  that  it  was  Alexander  Camp- 
bell, she  at  once  informed  him  that  she  could  not  admit 
him  into  her  house.  He  was,  therefore,  obliged  to  '^ass 
on  homeward,  and  to  brave  the  fury  of  the  tempest 
and  the  dangers  from  the  timber  falling  across  his 
way,  which  was  chiefly  a  mere  bridle-path  througn  tlie 
woods.  He  did  net,  however,  c'- crish  the  slightest 
unkind  feeling  toward  the  lady  who  had  acted  thus 
inhospitably.  On  the  contrary,  he  used  to  say  in  after 
years,  when  relating  the  circumstance,  that  he  had 
always  entertained  the  highest  respect  for  her,  as  he 
was  confident  she  had  acted  from  a  sense  of  religious 
duty,  and  that  she  must  have  been  a  pious  and  very 
conscientious  woman,  to  have  been  able  thus  to  repress 


TRIALS  AND  PERSECUTIONS. 


her  natural  feelings  of  kindness,  lest  she  should  sin  by 
receiving  into  her  house  one  whom  she  was  taught  to 
regard  as  a  false  religious  teacher. 

The  bitter  prejudice  thus  excited  by  clerical  influ- 
ence continued  to  manifest  itself  in  various  ways  and 
for  a  number  of  years.  Misrepresentations  of  all  kinds 
were  freely  circulated  amongst  the  people  ;  friendships 
were  broken  off ;  the  ties  of  family  relationship  were 
w^eakened,  and  the  discord  of  religious  controversy 
invaded  the  quietude  of  the  most  secluded  habitations. 
Christ  had  declared  in  the  beginning  that  he  came  not 
to  send  peace  on  earth,  but  a  sword — "to  set  a  man  at 
variance  against  his  father,  and  the  daughter  against 
her  mother,  and  the  daughter-in-law  against  her  mother- 
in-law."  The  members  of  the  Brush  Run  Church  now 
fully  experienced  the  truth  of  this  declaration,  as  they 
found  that  obedience  to  the  Divine  word  raised  up  foes 
in  a  man's  own  household,  and  that,  in  order  to  be 
worthy  of  Christ,  each  one  must  take  his  cross  and 
follow  him.  The  opposition,  however,  by  no  means 
confined  itself  to  private  intercourse,  or  ev^n  to  the 
pulpit,  but  manifested  itself  in  business  relations,  in  the 
withdrawal  of  custom  from  members  w^hose  callings 
were  dependent  upon  public  patronage,  and  in  slights 
at  public  gatherings  whenever  it  was  supposed  an  in- 
dignity might  be  safely  offered  to  any  member  present. 
Such  opportunities  were  sometimes  afforded  at  appoint- 
ments for  preaching,  and  particularly  on  baptismal 
occasions.  It  happened,  more  than  once,  that  while 
Thomas  Campbell  was  baptizing  individuals  who  came 
forward  from  time  to  time  to  unite  with  the  church, 
sticks  and  stones  were  thrown  into  the  water  from 
amidst  the  crowed  assembled  ;  imprecations  also  would 
sometimes  be  heard,  and  even  threats  of  personal  vio- 


43^       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


leACc*.  The  administrator,  however,  always  remained 
perfectly  calm,  and  performed  his  office  with  a  dignity 
and  a  solemnity  which  secured  the  respect  of,  at  least, 
the  better  portion  of  the  audience.  Such  demonstra- 
tions of  enmity  are  not  known  to  have  occurred  at  anv 
of  Alexander's  appointments.  There  was  something 
so  commanding  in  his  appearance,  in  the  clear  em- 
phatic tones  of  his  voice,  and  something  so  expressive 
of  powder  and  determined  will  in  the  eagle  glances  of 
his  eye,  that  he  seemed  to  hold  his  audience,  prejudiced 
as  they  were,  under  a  sort  of  spell,  and  no  one  was 
ever  found  bold  enough  to  venture  upon  any  annoy- 
ances. 

One  of  the  chief  things  circulated  about  the  reformers 
at  this  time  was,  that  they  paid  no  respect  to  the  Sabbath 
day.  This,  if  believed  to  be  true,  could  not  fail  to  ap- 
pear a  heinous  offence  in  the  eyes  of  the  Presbyterians, 
who  composed  almost  the  entire  population  of  this  part 
of  the  country,  and  who  regarded  it  as  one  of  the  most 
important  duties  to  keep,  in  a  very  solemn  manner,  the 
first  day  of  the  week,  which  they  conceived  to  be  a  sort 
of  Jewish  Sabbath,  asserting  that  the  Sabbath  day  w^as 
changed  from  the  seventh  day  to  the  first.  As  the 
Scripture  contained  no  record  of  such  a  change,  and 
gave  no  authority  for  it,  the  reformers,  of  course,  could 
not  admit  i-t ;  and  the  simple  denial  of  this  fact  at  once 
exposed  them  to  the  charge  of  paying  no  respect  to  the 
Sabbath,  while,  in  point  of  fact,  they  paid  as  much 
respect  to  the  first  day  of  the  week  as  their  neighbors. 
Because,  however,  they  w^ould  not  call  it  the  Sab- 
bath," nor  regard  the  Jewish  law  in  relation  to  the 
Sabbath,  or  seventh  day,  as  applicable  to  the  first  day 
of  the  week,  a  prodigious  clamor  was  raised  against 
them,  as  violating  one  of  the  most  sacred  of  the  com- 


OBSERVANCE  OF  THE  SABBATH. 


433 


mandments.  It  is  true,  that  they  who  thus  judged,  did 
not  themselves  keep  the  first  day  of  the  week  according 
to  the  Jewish  law  regulating  the  Sabbath,  which  de- 
clared that  whosoever  should  "  do  any  work  on  that  day 
should  surely  be  put  to  death."  (Ex.  xxxi.  15),  in 
harmony  with  which  precept,  when  a  man  was  found 
gathering  sticks  upon  that  day,  he  was  taken  out  of  the 
camp  and  stoned  to  death.  Num.  xv.  36.  On  the  con- 
trary, they  assumed  the  privilege  not  only  of  changing 
the  day,  but  of  performing  then  also  whatever  they 
might  choose  to  regard  as  *'  works  of  necessity  or 
mercy."  Thus  they  thought  it  right  to  travel  more  than 
a  "Sabbath-day's  journey"  to  meeting  ;  to  grind  grain  in 
a  very  dry  time  for  the  community  on  "  Sabbath"  after  a 
shower ;  to  take  special  care  of  their  flocks  and  their 
herds  on  that  sacred  day,  etc.,  etc.* 

*  Among  those  who  stood  very  high  in  the  Presbyterian  Church,  some 
curious  cases  are  recorded,  which  illustrate  the  diversity  of  opinion  and 
practice  which  arises,  when  every  man  is  allowed  to  interpret  the  law  accord- 
ing to  his  own  views. 

It  is  related  that  James  A.  Haldane,  when  a  lad,  made  a  tour,  along  with 
one  of  his  school-fellows,  George  Ramsey,  through  the  North  of  England, 
accompanied  by  his  teacher,  Dr.  Adam,  rector  of  the  High  School  of  Edin- 
burgh, and  author  of  the  Roman  Antiquities"  and  other  valuable  works. 
They  traveled  on  horseback,  and  were  also  accompanied  by  the  Rev.  Dr. 
Macknight,  the  well-known  commentator,  whose  practical  disregard  of  the 
Lord's  day  made  a  deep  impression  on  his  fellow-travelers.  In  speaking  of 
this,  the  author  of  the  "  Memoirs  of  the  NaldaJtes"  says  :  "  Although  Dr. 
Adam  was  not  an  enlightened  man  in  spiritual  things,  and  then  attended  the 
very  moderate  teaching  of  the  minister  of  St.  Cuthbert's  Chapel-of-Ease,  yet 
he  had  been  accustomed  to  reverence  the  outward  symbols  of  religion.  But 
when  they  had  crossed  the  border  and  arrived  in  an  Episcopalian  country, 
Dr.  Macknight  persuaded  his  learned  friend  that,  being  now  out  of  th© 
bounds  of  Presbytery,  and  under  ntD  obligation  to  countenance  prelatical  wor- 
ship, it  would  be  very  absurd  to  allow  their  journeying  plans  to  be  deranged 
by  the  intervention  of  the  Sabbath.  This  convenient  doctrine  at  first  sur- 
prised, but  at  last  proved  very  palatable  to  the  young  travelers.  For  a  time, 
Dr.  Adam  felt  very  much  ashamed  when  they  entered  a  town  or  village  when 
the  church-going  bells  were  calling  the  people  to  the  services  of  the  sane- 
VOL.  I. — 2  C  37 


434       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


No  one,  however,  more  approved  or  admired  the 
quietude  and  becoming  solemnity  with  which  this  day 
was  generally  observed  in  Presbyterian  communities, 
nor  did  any  one  render  a  more  sincere  respect  to  it  than 
Mr.  Campbell,  for  this  term,  in  order  to  avoid  confusion, 
will  be  hereafter,  in  these  Memoirs,  appropriated  to  the 
son,  his  father  being  designated  as  such,  or  by  his 
name,  Thomas  Campbell.  He  made  it  a  rule  through 
life  not  to  travel  on  the  Lord's  day,  except  to  an  ap- 
pointment for  a  religious  meeting,  and  constantly  held 
the  day  as  one  to  be  sacredly  appropriated  to  religious 
duties.  He  entirely  discountenanced  the  practice  of 
Sunday  visiting,  and  urged  everywhere  the  importance 
of  keeping  the  day  in  joyful  memory  of  the  resurrec- 
tion of  Christ,  and  with  such  services  as  tended  to 
promote  Christian  edification  and  enjoyment.  About 
this  period,  he  thus  wrote  to  a  person  who  had  been 
circulating  the  report  that  the  Brush  Run  Church  did 
not  observe  the  first  day  of  the  week  sacred  to  the 
Lord.  This,"  said  he,  is  a  misrepresentation,  for 
there  is  no  sect  known  to  us,  and  especially  amongst  our 
neighbors,  that  pay  a  more  sacred  regard  to  this  im- 
portant day  than  we,  though  we  do  not  convert  it  into  a 

tuary.  But  these  scruples  were  soon  overcome  by  the  doughty  commentator." 
It  must  not  be  understood,  however,  that  Presbyterians  in  general  sanctioned 
Dr.  Macknight's  views  in  regard  to  Jewish  observances,  or  that  such  cases 
as  those  referred  to,  would  at  all  fairly  represent  the  opinions  they  held  with 
regard  to  the  first  day  of  the  week,  or  Sabbath,  as  they  made  it  a  point  to 
call  it  And  such  cases  were  just  as  far  from  representi^ig  the  sentime  nts  oi 
the  practice  of  Alexander  Campbell  and  those  associated  with  him.  For. 
although  he  regarded  the  positive  and  ceremonial  institutions  of  the  Jewish 
law  to  have  been  fulfilled  in  Christ,  and  that  the  antitype  of  the  Sabbath  was 
found  in  the  heavenly  sabbatism  of  the  New  Institution  in  which  men  cease 
from  their  own  works,  having  found  rest  and  righteousness  in  Chnst,  he,  on 
that  very  account,  felt  but  the  more  disposed  to  reverence  and  honor  the 
day  which  was  commemorative  of  the  fact  that  Christ  rose  again  for  our 
justification. 


RELIGIOUS  ENJOTMENT. 


435 


Jewish  Sabbath.  The  morning  of  the  day  we  freely 
consecrate  to  the  Lord  in  reading,  meditation,  prayer, 
with  other  necessary  duties.  During  the  day  we  as- 
semble to  commemorate  the  death,  resurrection  and 
works  of  Christ — to  pray,  to  praise,  to  comfort  and 
edify  one  another,  and  to  converse  only  on  such  things 
as  stand  connected  with  our  Church  relations  and  rela- 
tive duties,  and  if  ever  anything  of  a  worldly  nature  is 
introduced,  it  is  not  of  choice,  but  of  necessity,  as  aris- 
ing out  of  our  circumstances  and  mutual  relations,  and 
all  alluding  to  our  existence  as  a  Church.  In  the  even- 
ing of  the  day  we  conclude  as  we  began.  So  that 
there  are  no  professing  Christians  of  any  denomination, 
even  those  who  call  the  Lord's  day  a  Sabbath,  who  pa\- 
a  more  rational,  scriptural  and  sacred  regard  to  the 
Lord's  day  than  we.'" 

The  misrepresentations  and  petty  persecutions,  how- 
ever, to  which  the  members  of  the  church  at  Brush 
Run  were  subjected,  only  served,  as  is  usually  the  case,  ^ 
to  convince  them  more  fully  of  the  correctness  of  their 
course,  and  to  attach  them  more  strongly  to  one  another. 
They  had  "  obeyed  the  truth  through  the  Spirit,  unto 
unfeigned  brotherly  love,"  and  felt  that  they  had  been 
"  regenerated  by  the  Word  of  God,  which  liveth  and 
abideth  for  ever."  The  doubts  that  had  previously  dis- 
turbed their  minds  on  the  subject  of  baptism  were  now 
dispelled,  and  they  enjoyed  the  peculiar  gladness  wliich 
belongs  to  the  bright  hours  of  the  earlier  period  of  both 
the  natural  and  the  spiritual  life.  Having  been  unable, 
for  want  of  means,  to  finish  the  interior  of  the  meeting- 
house, they  were,  nevertheless,  accustomed  to  meet  in 
it  regularly,  and  continued  to  do  so,  even  without 
fircy  during  the  inclemency  of  winter.  They  visited 
olten  at  each  other's  houses,  often  spending  a  consider- 


43^       MEMOIRS  OF  ALE^^ANDER  CAMPBELL. 


able  portion  of  the  night  in  social  prayer,  in  searching 
the  Scriptures  and  singing  hymns  of  praise.  Their 
affections  seemed  to  be  elevated  above  the  love  of  the 
woild  by  the  love  of  Christ,  and  the  deeply  implanted 
prejudices  of  a  sectarian  education  and  training,  ap- 
peared to  have  died  away  beneath  the  overshadowing 
influence  of  Divine  truth. 

As  was  naturally  to  be  expected,  the  adoption  of 
immersion  which  had  brought  the  church  of  Brush 
Run  into  so  much  disfavor  with  the  Psedobaptist  com- 
munit3^  only  served  to  give  to  it  more  acceptance  with 
the  Baptists.  Of  these,  indeed,  there  were  but  few  in 
the  particular  region  of  country  between  Washington 
and  the  Ohio  river.  East  of  Washington,  however, 
along  the  Monongahela  river,  and  throughout  the  rich 
valleys  at  the  western  base  of  the  Alleghany  mountains, 
they  were  tolerabl}'  numerous,  and  had  formed  an 
association  of  churches,  called  "Redstone,"  from  an 
old  Indian  fort  of  tliat  name  on  the  Monongahela, 
about  sixty  miles  above  Pittsburg,  where  the  town  of 
Brownsville  is  now  situated.  In  addition  to  his  ac- 
quaintance with  Messrs.  Luce  and  Spears,  Mr.  Camp- 
bell had,  from  time  to  time,  formed  that  of  other  mem- 
bers belonging  to  the  Association,  who  often  urged  that 
the  Brush  Run  Church  should  connect  itself  with  this 
religious  body.  Determined,  however,  to  preserve  its 
independence  as  a  church,  and  knowing  that,  notwith- 
standing the  claim  of  independenc}'  put  forth  in  theory 
by  the  Baptist  churches,  they  were  very  mucli  under 
the  control  of  the  clergy,  who  constituted  the  ruling 
element  in  the  Associations,  the  proposed  measure  was 
regarded  for  some  time  as  one  of  doubtful  expediency. 
Another  obstacle  was,  that  the  churches  composing- the 
Association  had  adopted  the  Confession  of  Faith  set 


IMPORT  OF  BAPTISM. 


437 


forth  by  a  Baptist  Association  at  Philadelphia,  Sep- 
tember 25,  1747,  and  which  contained  a  fair  proportion 
of  the  unscriptural  theories  and  speculations  usually 
found  in  such  standards.  The  practice  of  immersion 
indeed,  instead  of  sprinkling,  seemed  to  constitute  al- 
most the  only  important  difference  between  the  Baptists 
and  other  sects  :  and  although  the  Brush  Run  members 
had  adopted  immersion,  and  were  hence  reputed  to  be 
Baptists,  they  felt  that  there  was  a  wide  difference 
between  them  and  the  Baptist  communities  in  regard  to 
the  great  principles  of  religious  liberty  and  progress, 
as  well  as  to  the  necessity  of  returning  to  the  faith  and 
practice  of  the  primitive  Churches.  In  their  conformity 
to  these,  they  had  advanced  far  beyond  the  Baptist 
stand-point,  even  before  the  adoption  of  immersion, 
which,  with  the  simple  baptismal  confession  thev  had 
chosen,  did  not  bring  them  to  the  position  held  bv  the 
Baptists,  but,  in  reality,  had  placed  them  still  farther  in 
advance.  It  was  after  a  long  and  difficult  progress, 
that  the  Bible  had  guided  them  to  the  primitive  baptism, 
and  they  would  have  been  obliged  to  retrace  almost  all 
their  steps  in  order  to  place  themselves  on  Baptist 
ground,  as  it  was  then  measured  and  staked  out  by  the 
masters  of  assemblies.  Besides,  immersion  itself  was 
not  to  the  church  of  Brush  Run  precisely  what  it  was 
to  the  Baptist  Church.  To  the  latter,  it  was  merely  a 
commandinent — a  sort  of  front  door  by  which  regularity 
and  good  order  required  people  to  enter  the  Church. 
With  the  former,  it  was  a  discovery  which  had  the 
effect  of  readjusting  all  their  ideas  of  the  Christian 
institution.  It  was  to  them  the  primitive  confession  of 
Christ,  and  a  gracious  token  of  salvation,  and  although 
they  did  not  fully,  as  yet,  comprehend,  as  afterward, 
its  entire  purport,  its  relations  were  so  far  understood 

37* 


MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


as  greatly  to  enlarge  and  simplify  their  conceptions  of 
the  entire  gospel.  Upon  these  points,  however,  and 
upon  the  circumstances  which  led  to  a  conditional 
union  w'ith  the  Redstone  Association  during  the  fall  of 
1813,  it  is  proper  to  hear  Mr.  Campbell  himself,  who 
gives  the  following  account.  Harbinger  for  1848,  p.  344  : 

''After  my  baptism,  and  the  consequent  new  constitution 
of  our  church  of  Brush  Run,  it  became  my  duty  to  set  forth 
the  causes  of  this  change  in  our  position  to  the  professing 
world,  and  also  to  justify  them  by  an  appeal  to  the  Oracles 
of  God.  But  this  was  not  all ;  the  position  of  baptism  itself 
to  the  Qther  institutions  of  Christ  became  a  new  subject  of 
examination,  and  a  very  absorbing  one.  A  change  of  one's 
views  on  any  radical  matter,  in  all  its  practical  bearings  and 
eflects  upon  all  his  views,  not  only  in  reference  to  that  simple 
result,  but  also  in  reference  to  all  its  connections  with  the 
whole  system  of  which  it  is  a  part,  is  not  to  be  computed, 
a  priori^  by  himself  or  by  any  one  else.  The  whole  Chris- 
tian doctrine  is  exhibited  in  three  symbols — baptism,  the 
Lord's  supper,  and  the  Lord's  day  institution.  Some,  nay, 
very  many,  change  their  views  in  regard  to  some  one  of  these, 
without  ever  allowing  themselves  to  trace  its  connections  with 
the  whole  institution  of  whicli  it  is  either  a  part  or  a  symbol. 
My  mind,  neither  by  nature  nor  by  education,  was  one  of 
that  order.  I  must  know  now  two  things  about  even  thing — 
its  cause  and  its  relations.  Hence  my  mind  was,  for  a  time, 
set  loose  from  all  its  former  moorings.  It  was  not  a  simple 
change  of  views  on  baptism,  which  happens  a  thousand 
times  without  anything  more,  but  a  new  commencement.  I 
was  placed  on  a  new  eminence — a  new  peak  of  the  moun- 
tain of  God,  from  which  the  whole' landscape  of  Christianity 
presented  itself  to  my  mind  in  a  new  attitude  and  position. 

"  I  had  no  idea  of  uniting  with  the  Baptists,  more  than 
with  the  Moravians  or  the  mere  Independents.  I  had  unfor- 
tunately formed  a  very  unfavorable  opinion  of  the  Baptist 
preachers  as  then  introduced  to  my  acquaintance,  as  narrow. 


SECTARIAN  MINISTRY. 


439 


contracted,  illLberal  and  uneducated  men.  This,  indeed,  I 
am  sorry  to  say,  is  still  my  opinion  of  the  ministry  of  that 
Association  at  that  day ;  and  whether  they  are  yet  mucn 
improved  I  am  without  satisfactory  evidence. 

"The  people,  however,  called  Baptists,  w^ere  much  more 
highly  appreciated  by  me  than  their  ministry.  Indeed,  the 
ministry  of  some  sects  is  generally  in  the  aggregate  the  worse 
portion  of  them.  It  was  certainly  so  in  the  Redstone  Asso- 
ciation, thirty  years  ago.  They  were  little  men  in  a  big 
office.  The  office  did  not  fit  them.  They  had  a  wrong  idea, 
too,  of  what  was  wanting.  They  seemed  to  think  that  a 
change  of  apparel — a  black  coat  instead  of  a  drab — a  broad 
1  im  on  their  hat  instead  of  a  narrow  one — a  prolongation  of 
the  face  and  a  fictitious  gravity — a  longer  and  more  emphatic 
pronunciation  of  certain  words,  rather  than  scriptural  know- 
ledge, humility,  spirituality,  zeal  and  Christian  aftection, 
with  great  devotion  and  great  philanthropy,  were  the  grand 
desiderata. 

^'Along  with  these  drawbacks,  they  had  as  few  means  of 
acquiring  Christian  knowledge  as  they  had  either  taste  or 
leisure  for  it.  They  had  but  one,  two,  or,  at  the  most,  three 
sermons,  and  these  were  either  delivered  in  one  uniform  style 
and  order,  or  minced  down  into  one  medley  by  way  of  variety. 
Of  course,  then,  unless  they  had  an  exuberant  zeal  for  the 
truth  as  they  understood  it,  they  were  not  of  the  calibre, 
temper  or  attainments  to  relish  or  seek  after  mental  enlarge- 
ment or  independence.  I,  therefore,  could  not  esteem  them, 
nor  court  their  favor  by  offering  any  incense  at  their  shrine. 
I  resolved  to  have  nothing  especially  to  do  with  them  more 
thaj  with  other  preachers  and  teachers.  The  clergy  of  my 
acquaintance  in  other  parties  of  that  day  were,  as  they  be- 
lieved, educated  men,  and  called  the  Baptists  illiterate  and 
uncouth  men,  without  either  learning  or  academic  accom 
plishments  or  polish.  They  trusted  to  a  moderate  portion  of 
Latin,  Greek  and  metaphysics,  together  with  a  syn3psis  of 
divinity,  ready  made  in  suits  for  every  man's  stature,  at  a 
reasonable  price.    They  were  as  proud  of  their  classic  lore 


440       MEMOTRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


and  the  i-parrovv  of  modern  divinity,  as  the  Baptist  was  of  his 
*  motle  oi  oaptism,'  and  his  *  proper  subject' with  sovereign 
grace,  total  depravity  and  final  perseverance. 

"  1  confess,  however,  that  I  was  better  pleased  with  the 
Baptist  people  than  with  any  other  community.  They  read 
the  Bible,  and  seemed  to  care  for  little  else  in  rel  ^ion  thau 
'  conversion'  and  '  Bible  doctrine.'  They  often  sent  for  us 
and  pressed  us  to  preach  for  them.  We  visited  some  of  their 
churches,  and,  on  acquaintance,  liked  the  people  more  and 
the  preachers  less.  Still  1  feared  that  I  might  be  inireason- 
able,  and  by  education  prejudiced  against  them,  and  thought 
that  I  must  visit  their  Association  at  Uniontown.  Pennsyl- 
vania, in  the  autumn  of  1S12.  I  went  there  as  an  auditor 
and  spectator,  and  returned  more  disgusted  than  I  went. 
They  invited  me  '  to  preach,'  but  I  declined  it  altogether,  ex- 
cept one  evening  in  a  private  family,  to  some  dozen  preachers 
and  twice  as  many  laymen.  I  returned  home,  not  intending 
ever  to  visit  another  Association. 

On  my  return  home,  however,  I  learned  that  the  Baptists 
themselves  did  not  appreciate  the  preaching  or  the  preachers 
of  that  meeting.  They  regarded  the  speakers  as  worse  than 
usual,  and  their  discourses  as  not  edifying — as  too  much  after 
the  style  of  John  Gill  and  Tucker's  theory  of  predestination. 
They  pressed  me  from  every  quarter  to  visit  their  churches, 
and,  though  not  a  member,  to  preach  for  them.  I  often  spoke 
to  the  Baptist  congregations  for  sixty  miles  around.  They 
all  pressed  us  to  join  their  Redstone  Association.  We  laid 
the  matter  before  the  Church  in  the  fall  of  1S13.  We  dis- 
cussed the  propriety  of  tlie  measure.  After  much  discussion 
and  earnest  desire  to  be  directed  by  the  wisdom  which  cometh 
from  above,  we  tinally  concluded  to  make  an  overture  to  that 
efl'ect,  and  to  write  out  a  full  view  of  our  sentiments,  wishes 
and  determinations  on  that  subject.  We  did  so  in  some  eight 
or  ten  pages  of  large  dimensions,  exhibiting  our  remonstrance 
against  all  human  creeds  as  bonds  of  communion  or  union 
amongst  Christian  Churches,  and  expressing  a  willingness* 
upon  certain  conditions,  to  co-operate  or  to  unite  with  tii:i< 


HOME  STUDIES  AND  LABORS. 


441 


Association,  provided  always  that  we  should  he  allowed  to 
teach  and  preach  whatever  we  learned  from  the  Ho'y  vScrip- 
tnres.  regardless  of  any  creed  or  formula  in  Christendom  A 
copy  of  this  document,  we  regret  to  say,  was  not  preservtd  ; 
and,  when  solicited  from  the  clerk  of  the  Association,  was 
refused. 

"The  proposition  was  discussed  at  the  Association,  and, 
after  much  debate,  was  decided  by  a  considerable  majoiity  in 
favor  of  our  being  received.  Thus  a  union  was  formed. 
But  the  party  opposed,  though  small,  began  early  to  work, 
and  continued  with  a  perseverance  worthy  of  a  better  cause. 
There  was  an  Elder  Pritchard  of  Cross  Creek,  Virginia  ;  an 
Elder  Brownfield  of  Uniontown,  Pennsylvania :  an  Elder 
Stone  of  Ohio,  and  his  son  Elder  Stone  of  the  Monongahela 
region,  that  seemed  to  have  confederated  to  oppose  our  influ- 
ence. But  they,  for  three  years,  could  do  nothing.  We 
boldly  argued  for  the  Bible,  for  the  New  Testament  Chris- 
tianity, vex,  harass,  discompose  whom  it  might.  We  felt  the 
strength  of  our  cause  of  reform  on  every  indication  of  oppo- 
sition, and  constantly  grew  in  favor  with  the  people.  Things 
passed  along  without  any  very  prominent  interest  for  some 
two  or  three  years." 

A  very  imperfect  idea  would  be  formed  of  the  energy 
and  activity  of  Mr.  Campbell  during  these  years,  if 
his  public  religious  and  ministerial  labors  were  alone 
considered.    From  the  time  that  he  came  to  reside  at 
Mr.  Brown's,  he  had  continued  to  render  much  assist 
ance  in  the  labors  of  the  farm.    This  physical  exercise 
however,  whicli  he  greatly^  enjoyed,  did  not  materially 
interfere  with  the  regular  course  of  study  which  he  w;i^ 
accustomed  to  prescribe  for  himself.    When  his  horses, 
weary  with  the  plough,  were  resting  for  a  little  in  th*^ 
shade,  he  would  take  from  his  pocket  the  New  Testa 
ment  he  always  carried,  and  spend  the  time  in  commit- 
ting i  portion  of  it  to  memory,  or  in  tracing  out  thr 


442        MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


order  and  method  of  a  discourse  upon  some  important 
theme.  Being  always  a  very  early  riser,  many  quiet 
hours  were  appropriated  to  important  studies  before  the 
household  was  astir:  and  when,  at  meal-times,  coming 
in  warm  and  somewhat  fatigued,  he  would  recline  care- 
lessly upon  the  little  settee  with  rockers,  which  served 
as  a  cradle  for  his  children,  he  was  almost  certain  to 
have  a  book  in  his  hand  and  occupy  himself  in  reading 
aloud  to  his  wife  or  others  present,  or  in  conversing 
with  them  respecting  the  author  and  the  subject  of 
which  he  treated. 

His  selection  was  such  that  the  subject  was  never 
a  trivial  one,  but  always  something  improving,  some 
elevating  theme  connected  with  human  duty  or  human 
happiness,  upon  which  he  would  himself  at  intervals 
interestingly  descant.  So  particular  was  he,  that  in 
one  of  his  MS.  books  he  entered  down  a  list  of  the 
w^orks  he  read  from  the  time  he  came  to  Mr.  Brown's, 
March  25,  1811,  up  to  the  15th  of  August,  1812.  As 
the  reader  may  wish  to  know  the  range  of  his  reading 
during  this  time,  the  list  is  given  below.*    The  number 

•  Owen  on  the  Holy  Spirit.    3  vols.    1218  pp. 
Owen  on  the  Death  of  Death,    i  vol.    320  pp. 
Walker's  Address  to  the  Methodists.    40  pp. 
Walker's  Charity  Sermon,    i  vol.    112  pp. 
Walker's  Letters  to  Knox,    ist  vol.    300  pp. 

do.  do.  do.    2d  vol.    300  pp. 

Quolquhun's  Address,    i  vol.    124  pp. 
Law  on  Christian  Perfection.    472  pp. 
Address  on  the  Christian  Name.    30  pp. 
Lany's  Philemon  to  Onesimus.    i  vol.    432  pp. 
Hervey's  Meditations,    i  vol.    400  pp. 
Paul  Wright's  "Biography.    I  vol.    200  pp. 

Michaelis'  Introductory  Lectures  to  the  New  Testament    326  pp. 
Mason  on  Self-Knowledge.    90  pp. 

Sandeman's  Letters  on  Theron  and  Aspasio.    2  vols.    300  pp. 
Sandeman  on  Marriage.    52  pp. 


RESPECT  FOR  GOOD  MEN. 


H3 


of  pages  in  all  these  volumes  thus  read,  he  also  noted 
down  as  amounting  to  eight  thousand  three  hundred 
and  fifty-four.  Nor  is  it  to  be  supposed  that  this  read- 
ing was  cursory  or  superficial,  for  he  not  only  read  these 
works  with  care,  as  is  evinced  by  various  notes  and 
references,  but  made  extensive  extracts  of  such  portions 
as  he  desired  particularly  to  remember.  Thus,  from 
''Owen  on  the  Holy  Spirit,"  there  are  copied  no  less  than 
thirty-eight  foolscap  pages,  very  closely  written  in 
the  small  but  clear  handwriting  peculiar  to  him,  for  he 
had  been  well  drilled  in  the  art  of  penmanship  by  his 
father,  who  was  an  accomplished  penman,  and  who 
wrote  a  hand  so  elegant  that  at  a  very  short  distance 
the  eye  could  not  distinguish  it  from  copper-plate  en- 
graving. For  Dr.  Owen  he  had  the  highest  admiration, 
and  speaks  of  him,  in  introducing  the  extracts,  as  "  that 
eminent  servant  of  God."  He  entertained  the  same 
sentiments  in  reference  to  John  Newton,  and  through 

Booth's  Essay  on  the  Kingdom  of  Christ.    120  pp. 
Bellamy's  Dialogues  and  Essays.    320  pp. 
Cudworth  against  Sandeman  and  Bellamy.    300  pp. 
Haldane  on  Baptism.    100  pp. 

McClean's  pamphlets — A  reply  to  Mr.  Fuller's  Appendix  to  his  book  on 
"The  Gospel  Worthy  of  Acceptance."    154  pp. 
Wardlaw's  Lectures  on  the  Abrahamic  Covenant,  revised.    132  pp. 
Belief  of  the  Gospel,  Saving  Faith.    36  pp. 
Sermons  on  Public  Fasts.    48  pp. 
Defence  of  Believer's  Baptism.    93  pp. 
Haldane's  Tour  through  the  Highlands.    100  pp. 
Branagon's  Concise  View  of  Religious  Sects.    324  pp. 
Booth  Against  Free  Communion.    70  pp.' 

Prophetic  Conjectures  on  the  French  Revolution  by  various  authors,  with 
other  events.    96  pp. 

Bechens  on  the  Signs  of  the  Times,  or  the  Overthrow  of  the  Papal 
Tyranny  in  France.    40  pp. 

Anonymous  Dialogues  on  Duty.    50  pp. 

The  Pioneer.    312  pp. 

Kelly's  Sermon  on  Perseverance.    20  pp. 

Kelly's  Defence  of  his  book  "  Union."    80  pp. 


444       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


life  could  never  hear  the  name  of  either  mentioned 
without  expressing  his  high  appreciation  of  him.  He 
also  thought  much  of  some  things  in  the  writings  of 
John  Walker,  from  whose  ''Address  to  the  Methodists 
in  Ireland"  he  extracts  the  following  passages  as  worthy 
of  special  attention  : 

*'  I.  The  writer  who  takes  the  sacred  Scriptures  alone  foi 
the  standard  of  his  faith,  and  takes  the  whole  of  them,  must 
expect  opposition  and  dislike  more  or  less  from  all  sects  and 
parlies. 

'*  2.  The  more  clearly  we  maintain  and  exhibit  tlie  sim- 
plicity of  the  real  Gospel  of  Christ,  the  more  we  shall  be 
dishked  and  despised  by  the  world. 

"  3.  The  gospel  which  proposes  a  foundation  for  the  sin- 
ner's hope  altogether  out  of  himself^  and  calls  him  to  li/e  a 
life  which  he  is  to  live  not  by  himself,  but  '  by  the  faith  of 
the  Son  of  God,'  is  on  this  account  peculiarly  oflensive  to  the 
world. 

''4.  It  is  no  part  of  the  work  of  grace  to  mend  the  corrupt 
natiue.  That  nature  is  as  bad,  as  wlioUy  evil,  in  a  believer 
as  in  an  unbeliever;  as  bad  in  the  most  established  believer 
as  in  the  wickedest;  as  bad  in  Paul  the  apostle,  just  finishing 
his  course  and  ready  to  receive  the  crown  of  righteousness,  as 
in  Saul  of  Tarsus,  a  blasphemer  and  a  persecutor  of  the 
Church  of  Christ. 

"5.  What  are  we  to  understand  by  being  sa?tct/fed  or 
made  holy?  I  answer  in  a  word — separated  unto  God,  so 
as  to  be  brought  into  a  particular  relation  unto  him,  appro- 
priated to  his  use  antl  service.  This  is  the  literal  meaning  of 
lynp.  For  this  reason,  persons,  pi. tees  and  thitigs  have  been 
said  to  be  sanctified,  in  the  Hible.  See  Lev.  xx.  24,  26; 
De'it.  vii.  6;  xiv.  2  :  believers  are  '  chosen'  out  of  the  world, 
his  peculiar  people,  a  holv  nation,  from  the  babe  in  Christ  to 
the  Father,  i  Pet.  i.  2;  ii.  9.  Consider  I  Cor.  i.  30:  'Of 
him,'  etc.  '  Uclievers  are  in  a  nczv  state  in  Christ  yesus 
Not  of  themselves  but  '  of  hiui — of  God.    Then  Christ  is 


WALKER  ON  PARTY  NAMES. 


443 


made  unto  them  wisdom,  righteousness,  sanctification,  re 
demptiou.  Their  sanctiHcation  and  justirication  equally  result 
from  being  in  Christ. 

In-  consequence  of  this  miion.  the  Spirit  of  holiness,  the 
Spirit  of  life  and  power,  descends  and  dwells  in  them,  pro- 
ducing in  them  the  fruits  of  holiness,  even  tiiat  cluster  of 
heavenly  afiections,  Gal.  v.  22,  23.  And  these  fruits  are  pro- 
duced because  they  are  kept  abiding  in  Christ'  walking  /?a 
him.  Col.  ii.  6.  And  they  are  kept  thus  continually  in  Christ, 
by  the  Spirit  keeping  them  under  a  continual  conviction  of 
their  need  of  him  as  poor  sinners,  who  have  in  t/ienisclves 
neither  righteousness  nor  strength,  and  testifying  to  theii 
hearts  that  in  hifn  they  have  righteousness  and  strengtii  in 
whom  alone  all  the  seed  of  Israel  is  justifed  and  shall  glory, 
saved  in  the  Lord  with  an  everhisting  salvation  (see  Isa.  xlv. 
17,  24,  25),  testifying  of  his  ofHces  and  character.  They 
are  kept  \iy  '' poiver  of  God  through  faitJi  unto  salva- 
tion:   *    *    *  * 

"  I.  The  doctrine  of  a  sinner's  justification  as  the  free 
gift  of  God  in  Christ  fesus  to  every  one  that  believeth,  is 
the  essential  diflerence  between  the  gospel  and  all  human 
systems. 

2.  This  doctrine,  Luther  sai<i,  is  the  turning-jwint  of  a 
falling  or  a  standing  Church  ;  and  it  m.iy  be  truly  said  to  be 
the  turning-point  of  true  religion  or  faUe  religion.    ♦    ♦  * 

"4.  On  Repentance. 

•'That  repentance  which  is  unto  life  is  not  anvtldng  preced- 
ing faith  or  unconnected  with  it,  l>ut  it  is  tliat  ncju  mind  of 
which  we  are  made  partakers  when  we  are  given  to  believe 
with  the  heart  in  Jesus. 

'*  There  may  be  a  pregnant  sorrow  for  sin,  when  there  is 
no  true  repentance." 

On  Party  Names. 
I.  I  obsei-ve  that  the  Scriptures  positively  testify  aq^ainst 
the  practice  of  Christians  calling  themselves  by  their  earthly 
leaders.    If  I  were  to  choose  any  man  by  whose  name  I  would 

38 


44^       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


call  myself,  I  would  be  apt  to  select  Paul  and  caM  \r\\  self  a 
Pauliie.  But  against  this  Paul  himself  would  pro'-e.'=i  •  and 
shal'.  I  call  myself  a  Calvinist,  or  a  disciple  of  Calvin  ^  Nor 
would  I  ever  wish  to  descend  from  the  high  character  of  a 
servant  of  Jesus  Christ,  to  that  of  a  champion  for  the  opinions 
of  any  man." 

''''Against  Arminianis7n. 
2.  I  am  persuaded  that  all  that  are  saved^  are  saved  from 
a  proud  rebelliousness  of  heart,  and  subdued  to  a  thankful 
acquiescence  in  the  revealed  way  of  salvation  ;  glad  to  be 
saved  by  mere  mercy ^  and  convinced  that  if  it  were  not  mere 
mercy,  they  could  not  be  saved  at  all. 

"  3.  I  would  observe  that  to  charge  God  with  cruelty  for 
not  extending  the  same  grace  and  saving  mercy  to  others,  is 
in  effect  to  deny  the  existence  of  his  mercy  altogether.  The 
very  idea  of  mercy  is  that  it  is  gratuitous — that  is  not  the 
gift  of  mercy  which  may  not  be  justly  withheld  ;  and  that 
cannot  justly  be  withheld,  which  it  would  be  cruelty  to  vi'ith- 
hold. 

"  4.  Alas  !  What  a  different  book  would  the  Bible,  be  if 
systematic  divines,  if  uninspired  men  of  any  sect  or  party, 
had  the  compilation  of  it !" 

For  the  learning,  sincerity  and  talents  of  John 
Walker,  Mr.  Campbell  entertained  a  very  high  respect, 
but  it  was  a  respect  somewhat  mingled  with  pity  that 
his  labors  should  have  resulted  in  so  little  real  benefit 
to  religious  society.  He  had  heard  him  preach  at  Rich- 
Hill,  as  related  (page  60),  and  was  greatly  impressed 
ly  his  acquirements  and  his  acuteness,  and  used  often, 
in  conversation,  to  speak  of  the  facts  in  his  history  ;  of 
the  trouble  he  gave  the  Episcopalians,  while  among 
them,  by  inveighing  against  their  worldly  conformity  ; 
of  his  subsequent  union  with  the  Methodists  on  account 
of  their  plainness  of  dress  and  manners,  and  of  his 
speedy  abandonment  of  this  connection  from  his  dis- 


FELLOWSHIP  WITH  UNBELIEVERi>.  44/ 


satisfaction  with  their  Arminian  doctrines,  upon  which 
he  wrote  his  celebrated  "  Letters  to  Alexander  Knox, 
which  many  regarded  as  the  finest  exposition  of  the 
gospel  plan  of  justification  which  had  appeared  since 
Paul's  Epistle  to  the  Romans.  For  a  time,  Mr.  Walkei 
had  3ympathized  with  the  Haldanean  movement ;  but, 
adopting  peculiar  notions  of  separatism,  and  refusing 
to  hold  religious  fellowship  even  in  appearance  with 
those  who  differed  from  him,  he  established  an  impassa- 
ble barrier  between  the  few  followers  he  here  and  there 
obtained,  and  all  the  surrounding  religious  bodies.* 

Mr.  Campbell  himself  seems,  during  the  winter  of 
181 2,  to  have  given  some  consideration  to  this  question 
of  religious  fellowship,  and  as  he  was  then  carrying  on 
the  correspondence,  already  spoken  of,  with  hi^  father 
upon  various  topics,  he  took  occasion  to  introduce  for 
discussion  the  position  which  believers  occupy  in  rela- 
tion to  unbelievers  in  social  or  public  religious  exer- 
cises. Under  date  of  February  26,  181 2,  he  submits 
to  his  father  the  following  queries  : 

I.  What  is  prayer,  and  how  many  kinds  are  there.'* 
2  Is  it  scriptural  and  lawful  for  believers  and  unbelievers 
formally  to  join  in  prayer  and  praise  as  acts  of  religious- 
wvuship?  The  matter  to  be  ascertained  is,"  he  remarks, 
"the  propriety  of  social  acts  of  religious  worship  in  promis- 
cuon.'i  assemblies  or  in  families  where  some  are  unbelievers. 

*  Oi'  those  who  adopted  Mr.  W'^alker's  views,  there  were  a  few  in  the 
neighbiiihood  of  Newry,  who,  in  after  years,  used  to  meet  occasionally  in 
that  place.  Mr.  Ross  of  Rosstrevor,  successor  of  General  Ross,  was  one  of 
them,  ana,  being  a  public  man,  was  accustomed  on  such  occasions  to  deliver 
a  religious  address  to  the  people.  But  at  these  meetings  there  were  no 
public  exercises,  such  as  prayer  or  singing,  by  uniting  in  which  any  of  the 
audience  could  assume  even  the  appearance  of  religious  fellowship.  It  may 
readily  be  supposed,  that  a  course  of  this  kind,  to  which  the  divided  and 
distraaed  state  of  religious  society  could  alone  have  given  origin,  had  the- 
effect  of  gicatly  limiting  the  progress  of  Mr.  Walker's  opinions. 


44^^        MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXAXDER  CAMPBELL. 


After  expressing  his  desire  that  this  matter  should  be  ex- 
amined impartially,  and  without  paying  anv  respect  to  such 
*•  advantages  or  disadvantages  in  a  temporal  sense  as  might 
accrue  from  this  or  that  practice."  he  savs  :  "  When  I  sur\-ev 
the  religious  world  and  read  the  New  Testament,  the  more 
clearly  I  am  convinced  that  superstition,  enthusiasm,  for- 
mality and  will-worship,  prevail  to  the  ruin  aiid  disgrace  of 
scriptural  and  ancient  Christianity.  And  as  truth  can  never 
be  injured  by  being  examined,  to  call  all  doctrines  and  re- 
ligious practices,  in  this  generation,  in  question,  appears  an 
immediate  and  indispensable  duty."  After  speaking  then  of 
the  corruptions  of  Christianity  in  the  perversion  of  the  ordi- 
nances of  baptism,  the  Lord's  Supper,  the  Lord's  day,  preach- 
ing, etc.,  he  inquires  if  it  is  not  probable  that  the  ordinances 
of  prayer  and  praise  liave  likewise  been  pen'erted.  How 
manv  disciples  of  Moses,"  he  exclaims,  "  are  vet  to  be  found 
in  the  professed  scliool  of  Jesus  Christ  I  and  how  few  among 
the  teachers  of  the  New  Testajncnt  seem  to  know  that 
Christ's  ministers  are  not  able  ministers  of  the  Old  Testa- 
i72ent^hw\  of  tlie  Xe-jcl  Do  they  not,  like  scholars  to  their 
teacher,  run  to  Moses  to  prove  forms  of  worship,  ordinances, 
discipline,  and  government  in  the  Christian  Church,  when 
asked  to  account  for  their  practice:  On  this  subject,  I  think 
we  may  rest  satisried.  that  since  tlie  great  Prophet  has  come, 
wliom  to  refuse  or  chsobev  is  death,  who  is  a  faitliful  son 
over  his  own  house,  that  all  worship  and  forms  of  worship, 
ordinances,  discipline,  and  government  belonging  to  the 
Chri>tian  Church,  must  be  learned  exclusively  from  the  New 
Testament.  And  every  appeal  made  to  Moses  or  the  pro- 
phets to  confirm  any  form  of  worship,  ordinance,  or  any  part 
of  Christian  discipline  or  government  is  sending  Ciirist  the 
Sop  to  Moses  the  servant  to  be  instructed.  It  is  a  pen  erse 
impeachment  of  the  wisdom,  goodness  and  care  of  the 
Clunch's  head." 

Passing,  afterward,  to  the  subject  of  family-worship, 
he  submits  to  his  father  the  question  whether  there  is 


COMMUNION  OF  BELIEVERS  ON  .T, 


449 


scriptural  authority  for  making  this  observance,  as  some 
had  done,  a  term  of  communion,  and  whether  it  is 
proper  in  a  family  composed  in  part  of  unbelievers? 
To  these  inquiries  his  father  replies  at  considerable 
length  in  two  letters,  dated  the  2d  and  I2th  of  March, 
in  which  he  considers  particularly  this  question  of 
religious  fellowship  : 

That  Christianity,"  he  remarks,  in  the  present  pro- 
fession and  practice,  is  greatly  corrupted,  is  a  plain  matter  of 
fact.  Whoever  will  seriously  consider  the  present  state  of 
things  in  the  professing  world  and  compare  it  with  tlie  spirit 
and  tenor  of  the  apostolic  writings,  and  witii  the  state  of 
tilings  there  exhibited,  will  plainly  perceive,  nay,  will  sensi- 
bly feel,  a  remarkable  and  striking  ditierence."  Dwelling  then 
upon  the  gospel  as  it  was  first  introduced,  and  as  designed  to 
replace  all  other  religions,  he  continues:  ''As  the  object  of 
this  new  religion,  if  I  may  so  call  it,  which  superseded  all 
others,  and  made  them  null  and  void  upon  its  appearance, 
was  the  one  God  and  Father  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  who 
was  thus  distinguished  (see  i  Cor.  viii.  5,  6),  and  only 
rightly  worshiped  in  and  through  him  who  was  indeed  one 
with  him  and  with  the  Holy  Spirit  in  Divinitv,  but  distinct 
from  him  and  Lorded  by  him  as  to  his  relation  to  humanity, 
or  as  the  Word  made  flesh.  Acts  ii.  36;  so  with  respect  to 
religious  fellowship  or  relationship,  the  subjects  of  tiiis  riciv 
religion  had  their  respects  or  religious  regards  entirel\  turned 
to  and  solely  confined  to  each  other,  considering  none  but 
themselves  as  fellow-subjects  of  the  grace  of  God,  or  as 
brethren  in  religion.  Hence  their  religious  esteem  and  inter- 
course in  all  religious  acts  anil  exercises  were  preciseK*  and 
.lecessarily  limited  to  each  other,  and  of  course  must  of 
necessity  still  be  the  same,  for  there  is  still  but  one  bodw  one 
Spirit,  one  Lord,  one  faith,  one  baptism,  one  God  and  Father 
of  all,  and  of  course  but  one  law  f)f  love  pervading  and 
uniting  all  within  the  manifold  limits  of  tliis  unilv  and  under 
its  manifest  influences.  Now  c\  ery  pretence  to  extent!  coni- 
voL.  I.— 2  D  3J>  * 


450        MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


munion  in  the  acts  and  exercises  of  religion  beyond  the  limits 
of  this  special  unity,  as  well  as  every  attempt  to  set  it  aside, 
wheresoever  manifest,  by  separating  or  causing  to  separate 
those  whom  God  has  thus  united  in  himself  by  his  Son  Jesus 
Christ  through  the  Spirit,  in  the  one  baptismal  profession  of 
faith  and  holiness,  is  no  less  absurd  than  anti-sci  ipturaL 
These,  and  these  alone,  constitute  the  one  visible  professing 
body  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  upon  earth,  and  are  the  spe- 
cial subjects  of  all-saving  grace  and  of  fellowship  in  all 
gospel  ordinances,  in  and  by  which  that  grace  is  7nanifestedy 
maintained  and  promoted. 

Now  all  are,  in  the  first  instance,  manifested  and  dis- 
tinguished by  the  one  faith,  of  which  the  one  baptism  or 
submersion  in  water  in  the  name  of  the  Father,  the  Son^ 
and  the  Holy  Ghost,  is  the  proper,  instituted  and  expressive 
symbol,  and  also  the  first  formal  and  comprehensive  act  of 
the  obedience  of  faith.  But  this  faith  may  be  manifested 
without  this  baptism,  and  where  it  is  received  must  always 
be  manifested  (I  mean  by  a  scriptural  and  intelligent  pro- 
fession) before  it.  And  now  that  the  world  has  for  a  long 
time  been  misled  about  this  baptism,  and  in  the  way  of 
administering  it  to  children,  which  are  utterly  incapable  and 
always  unqualified  subjects — the  one  faith,  manifested  by  an 
intelligent  and  consistent  profession,  is  the  immediate,  proper, 
and  formal  reason  of  religious  communion  in  all  the  instituted 
ordinances  of  gospel  worship,  beyond  which  it  cannot  be 
lawfully  or  profitably  extended  ;  and  this  instituted  worship 
can  be  nowhere  performed  upon  the  Lord's  day,  where  the 
Lord's  Supper  is  not  administered.  Wherever  this  is  ne- 
glected, there  New  Testament  Church-worship  ceases.  *  * 
"  Now  as  all  private  and  particular  meetings  of  Christians 
for  particular  purposes,  naturally  and  properly  include  only 
such  as  are  concerned  in  the  proper  and  specified  cause  of 
such  meetings,  therefore  none  but  they  can  have  any  proper 
or  assignable  cause  of  access  to  such  meetings,  and  as  the 
public  meetings  of  the  Church  for  edification  are  open  to  all 
(see  I  Cor.  xiv.  23,  24,  25),  there  can  be,  therefore,  no  prosti- 


RELIGIOUS  FELLOWSHIP.  451 

tiition  of  religious  exercises  by  the  accidental  presence  of 
■  iinbel  evers,  seeing  they  are  not  intentionally  as  members,  or 
as  the  proper  and  qualified  subjects  of  such  exercises,  al- 
though they  may  happen  to  be  present,  and  also  to  be  con- 
vinced and  converted  by  the  appointed  means  of  public  edifi- 
cation. And,  as  for  the  Lord's  Supper,  which  only  respects 
disciples,  and  to  which  none  else  have  right  of  access  but 
only  such,  it  belongs  so  peculiarly  to  the  church  and  to  it 
alone,  that  it  would  appear  that  none  else  but  disciples  had 
access  to  the  meetings  which  were  held  for  this  particular 
purpose  ;  so  that  there  was  no  need  for  tokens  to  distinguish 
church  members  from  strangers  who  belong  not  to  the 
church ;  and,  indeed,  it  would  be  hard  to  conceive  under 
what  pretence  such  could  be  admitted.    *    *    *  * 

"  Upon  the  whole,  it  appears  that  the  Christians  had  their 
, public,  their  special  and  their  private  or  particular  meetings 
— their  public  meetings  for  public  edification,  their  special 
meetings  for  special  edification,  and  their  more  private  or 
particular  meetings  p7'o  re  nata.  *  *  *  *  But  all  the 
while,  it  is  as  obvious  as  the  light  that  shines,  that  professed 
believers,  acknowledged  Christians,  and  none  but  they,  are 
the  proper,  intended  and  specified  subjects  of  all  religious 
communion  and  fellowship  in  all  the  ordinances  of  gospel 
worship,  nor  can  they  scripturally  intend,  much  less  extend^ 
that  communion  beyond  themselves  or  those  of  their  own 
number.  See  2  Cor.  vi.  14-1S.  Though  they  may  and  will 
consult  and  intend  the  conversion  and  salvation  of  their  per- 
ishing fellow-creatures  by  the  means  appointed  for  that  pur- 
pose in  their  public  meetings.  See  i  Cor.  xiv.  23-25.  Thus 
far  concerns  the  order,  intention  and  proper  subjects  of  the 
ordinances  of  gospel  worship,  public,  special  and  particular. 

"  The  next  question  that  occurs  upon  this  interesting  and 
important  subject,  is  like  that  of  the  Pharisee  of  old:  ^  \\'ho 
is  my  neighbor,  my  brother  in  religion,  the  qualified  object 
of  my  regard,  my  fellow-Christian.^' 

*'  In  attempting  to  answer  this,  I  would  cautiously  avoid  the 
Pharisaic  self-preferring  disposition',  and  therefore  would  reply, 


452       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


in  the  first  instance,  any  fellow-sinner  of  the  human  race,  how 
vile  soever  he  rnay  have  been,  who  makes  an  intelligent  pro- 
fession of  the  truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus,  as  comprehensively 
specified  in  the  eighth  proposition  of  the  overture  in  our 
Address;  and  so  long  as  he  continues  to  manifest  the  reality 
of  his  profession  by  his  temper  and  conduct,  still  to  consider 
him  in  the  same  light.  Than  the  above,  I  know  no  otiier 
distinction  between  mankind  with  respect  to  salvation,  and 
this,  while  I  believe  the  Scriptures,  I  must  believe  to  be  the 
only  and  all-sufticient  ground  for  Christian  love,  and  there- 
fore I  must  heartily  acquiesce  in  what  is  declared  in  the  ninth 
proposition.  This,  however,  may  be  thought  at  first  view  to 
be  a  very  generalizing  principle  ;  I  could  wish  with  all  my 
heart  that  it  was,  that  it  would  embrace  the  whole  Christian 
— I  mean  professing — world  ;  but  upon  a  close  inspection 
and  strict  application,  I  fear  it  will  be  found  to  embrace  but 
comparatively  few — yea,  very  few — of  the  great  majority  of 
the  religious  professors.  Do  they,  or  can  they  all,  indeed, 
ujDon  a  close  examination,  manifest  a  conviction  by  the  word 
and  truth  of  God  that  they  are  originally  and  actually  in  the 
awful,  woeful,  lost  and  perishing  condition  in  which  the  word 
and  truth  of  God  declares  them  to  be.'*  And  in  connection 
with  this,  such  a  scriptural  view  of  the  person  and  mediation 
of  Jesus  Christ  as  both  satisfies  God  and  the  convinced  con- 
science, gives  rest  and  peace  to  the  heart  from  the  just  appre- 
hension of  impending  wrath,  and  disposes  the  soul  to  the 
holy  obedience  of  faith  and  love.^*  Do  they  or  can  they 
profess  such  faith,  such  hope  and  such  love  upon  the  good^ 
assignable  scriptural  reasons  with  which  a  true  knowledge 
and  belief  of  the  Divine  testimony  furnishes  every  mind  that 
truly  understands  and  believes  it.'*  I  fear  not;  and  I  would 
say  that,  without  this  clearly  and  scripturally  ascertained  in 
connection  with  a  corresponding  practice  (in  so  far  as  prac- 
tice can  be  taken  into  consideration  under  the  various  circum- 
stances in  which  the  various  applicants  may  be  founch),  there 
is  no  just  scriptural  ground  of  religious  fellowship.  *  *  * 
"  In  order,  then,  to  direct  and  determine  our  practice  ia 


CHRISTIAN  RECOGNITION. 


453 


existing  circumstances,  when  all  the  world  are  called  Chris- 
tians, and  the  great  majo-ity  seerfi  to  persuade  themselves 
that  they  are  so  in  some  sense,  and  therefore  are  in  a  condi- 
tion with  respect  to  Christ  and  salvation  vastly  different  from 
the  heathen  world,  both  as  to  persons  and  circumstances, 
/nq  believe,  as  we  have  a  right  to  hope,  that  there  are  Chris 
tiars  \\\  all  the  denominations  of  professors  where  the  great 
fundamental  truths  of  the  gospel  are  acknowledged,  altiiougli 
we  have  no  reason  to  believe  that  the  majority  of  professors 
are  such.  Therefore,  when  any  number  of  persons  assemble 
on  the  Lord's  da}-  for  the  avowed  purpose  of  public  worship, 
there  we  may  reasonably  hope  that  there  are  some  believers, 
and  however  this  be,  the  persons  thus  assembling,  in  so  far  avow 
themselves  to  be  voluntary  subjects  of  the  gospel  dispensation  ; 
nor  is  it  our  place  to  determine,  what  in  many  cases  we  can- 
not, who  of  them  are  or  are  not  Christians,  or  whether  or  not 
they  may  not  be  all  so,  seeing  that  in  the  point  of  view  in 
which  they  present  themselves  to  our  considerations,  as  also 
in  the  course  of  the  service,  they  manifest  themselves  to  par- 
take with  us  in  the  acts  of  religious  worship.  There  can  be 
no  doubt,  then,  in  such  a  case,  but  we  are  to  consider  and 
address  them  as  the  professed  worshipers  of  the  true  God 
through  Jesus  Christ.  I  do  not  say  as  unfeigned  and  believ- 
ing worshipers,  for,  even  in  the  most  perfect  Church,  we 
would  scarcely  be  justifiable  in  considering  all  as  such.  This 
conclusion  proceeds  upon  the  supposition  that  Christ  has  a 
people  amongst  the  visible  professors  of  his  name,  and  that 
these  may  be  expected  to  be  found  where  the  great  funda- 
mental truths  of  the  gospel  are  publicly  professed  ;  nay,  that 
wheresoever  this  is  the  case,  there  the  professors,  if  sincere, 
of  c  jurse  must  be  his  people.  But  this,  as  I  said  above,  is 
scarcely  to  be  expected  in  the  most  perfect  Church  that  ever 
did  or  shall  exist.  See  the  seven  Epistles  to  the  seven  Asiatic 
Churches.  Moreover,  every  irregularity,  error  or  mistake 
does  not  unpeople  a  professing  people.  Therefore  I  conclude 
that  where  we  bear  an  open  faithful  testimony  against  the 
existing  evils  of  a  professing  people  who  acknowledge  the 


454       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


great  fundamental  truths  of  the  gospel,  we  are  warranted  to 
joHi  in  all  public  acts  of  religious  worship  with  such  of 
them  as  voluntarily  attend  upon  our  ministrations,  and  thus 
countenance  our  instructions  both  by  their  voluntary  attend- 
ance and  manifest  concurrence  with  us  in  those  religious 
acts."    *    *    *  * 

Such  were  the  sentiments  of  Thomas  Campbell  upon 
the  subject  of  religious  fellowship  in  March,  1811, 
and  in  these  his  son  Alexander  substantially  agreed. 
When,  about  three  months  after  the  above  correspond- 
ence, the  church  at  Brush  Run  became  a  body  of  im- 
mersed believers,  these  views  became  more  clearly  and 
sharpl}^  defined,  no  one  being  afterward  recognized  as 
duly  prepared  to  partake  in  religious  services,  except 
those  who  had  professed  to  put  on  Christ  in  baptism. 
From  his  lively  sense  of  the  prevalent  corruptions  of 
the  gospel  and  its  institutions,  and  his  conscientious 
scruples  in  regard  to  yielding  to  these  any  countenance 
or  toleration,  Mr.  Campbell,  even  down  to  his  later 
years,  would  occasionally,  amongst  private  friends, 
contend  strenuously  for  principles  almost  as  exclusive 
and  rigid  as  those  of  Walker.  His  benevolent  feelings, 
however ;  his  Christian  courtesy  and  his  sympathy  for 
those  whom  he  regarded  as  sincere  but  mistaken,  did 
not  permit  him  to  carry  out  such,  principles.  Both  he 
and  his  father  had  great  consideration  for  the  uninten- 
tional mistakes  and  errors  in  which  religious  society 
had  become  involved,  and  in  this  feeling,  the  members 
of  the  church  at  Brush  Run,  for  the  most  part,  partici- 
pated. However  clear  their  convictions  had  become  as 
to  the  primitive  method  of  confessing  Christ,  and  the 
primitive  faith  and  order  of  the  Church,  they  had  too 
fresh  a  recollection  of  their  own  struggles  and  difficul- 
ties m  attaining  to  the  views  they  held,  and  too  deep  a 


BAPTIZED  BELIEVERS  INVITED.  455 


sympathy  w/.h  the  pious  but  priest-ridden  members  of 
other  communities,  to  refuse  to  recognize  them  as  being 
intentionally  at  least,  followers  of  Christ.  As  they 
could  not,  however,  make  any  compromise  with  the 
corrupt  systems  and  practices  of  the  day,  and  were 
prevented  by  their  principles  from  recognizing  frater- 
nally any  one  who  had  not  publicly  complied  with  the 
requisitions  of  the  gospel,  they  were  necessarily  inhib- 
ited from  inviting  any  except  the  actual  members  of 
the  church  to  take  a  part  in  religious  exercises.  This 
was  specially  true  with  regard  to  the  Lord's  Supper, 
which  they  continued  to  celebrate  weekly,  and  of  which 
none  but  baptized  believers  were  invited  to  partake. 
It  was  not,  however,  the  custom  of  the  church,  nor  has 
it  ever  been  that  of  any  of 'the  Churches  of  the  Re- 
formation, to  "  fence  the  tables,"  as  sectarians  express 
and  practice  it ;  or  to  withhold  the  symbols  from  any 
pious  person  who  might  be  present  and  feel  disposed  to 
unite  in  commemorating  the  death  of  Christ. 


CHAPTER  XXI. 


DiflfusioT  of  Truth — Agricultural  Pursuits — Sectarian  Jealousies — Redstone 
Association — Sermon  on  the  Law — Letter  on  the  Trinity. 

IN  some  communities,  the  diffusion  of  either  truth 
or  error  is  extremely  slow.  The  local  circum- 
stances ;  the  character  of  the  original  settlers  ;  the  chief 
occupations;  above  all,  the  religious  views  and  habits 
of  thought  at  first  prevailing,  and  the  sympathies  which 
belong  to  the  people  of  every  district  mutually  asso- 
ciated and  allied,  often  give  to  it  a  certain  unity  of 
sentiment  which  resists  innovation  and  is  opposed  to 
change.  Such  was  the  case,  in  a  marked  degree,  in 
regard  to  the  region  to  which  Mr.  Campbell  and  his 
father  had  hitherto  devoted  their  reformatory  labors,  so 
that  these,  however  earnest  and  disinterested,  seemed 
as  yet  to  produce  comparatively  but  little  visible  effect. 
Individuals,  indeed,  occasionally,  became  impressed  by 
the  truth,  and  in  defiance  of  the  opposition  of  relatives 
and  acquaintances,  and  sometimes  under  peculiarly 
touching  circumstances,  would  present  themselves  for 
baptism.  Most  of  the  accessions,  however,  for  some 
time,  were  from  among  newly-arrived  immigrants,  who, 
while  the  impression  of  change  was  yet  fresh  upon 
them,  and  they  were  yet  uncommitted  to  any  religious 
party  in  the  neighborhood,  were  more  disposed  to  hear 
and  to  consider  the  plea  for  primitive  Christianity. 
Among  these  m  ly  be  mentioned  Joseph  and  William 
456 


■s 

CASE  OF  AUTOBAPTISM. 


457 


Mathews,  brothers  of  Mrs.  Hanen,  who,  arriving  about 
this  period,  soon  became  members,  and  continued  ever 
after  active  and  intelHgent  advocates  of  the  cause. 

During  the  progress  of  affairs,  there  were  not  want- 
ing some  curious  cases  showing  to  what  measures  men 
will  sometimes  resort  in  order  to  stifle  their  convictions, 
or  to  make  a  compromise  between  their. wishes  or.  pre- 
judices and  their  consciences. 

Among  instances  of  the  latter,  there  was  a  certain 
John  Moore,  a  Seceder,  who,  in  spite  of  a  violent 
opposition  from  his  wife,  had  become  a  member  of  the 
Christian  Association,  but  withdrew  about  the  time  im- 
mersion was  adopted,  and  became  a  bitter  enemy  of 
the  Brush  Run  Church.  His  secret  misgivings,  how- 
ever, would  not  allow  him  to  rest  satisfied  with  his 
position.  Being,  after  a  time,  convinced  that  infant  bap- 
tism was  invalid,  he  was  ashamed  to  apply  for  immer- 
sion to  those  he  had  forsaken,  or  even  to  acknowledge 
publicly  his  adoption  of  views  he  had  so  recently 
decried.  Amidst  his  mental  conflict,  he  was  finally 
brought  to  the  strange  conclusion  that  he  could  be  him- 
self the  administrator ;  so  that,  repairing  one  day  to  a 
stream  of  water  in  a  secluded  place,  where  he  thought 
no  human  eye  could  see  him,  he  w^ent  through  the 
usual  forms  and  immersed  himself.  This,  indeed,  is 
not,  even  in  the  United  States,  the  only  instance  of  an 
individual  becoming,  both  religiously  and  etymologi- 
cally,  a  self-bafiist ;  and  though  such  cases  yield  a 
strong,  because  unwilling,  testimony  to  the  force  of 
truth  in  regard  to  the  action  termed  baptism,  they  at 
the  same  time  betray  the  sad  weakness  of  the  human 
understanding,  that  can  suppose  a  thing  which  is  not 
possible  in  fact  to  be  nevertheless  true  in  fgtt7'c,  and 
that,  in  the  expressii  e  symbolism  of  this  ordinance, 

39 


45S        MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


one  who  is  dead  can  bury  himself,  and  raise  himself 
again  by  his  own  powder,  to  live  in  newness  of  life. 
This  latter  result  certainly  did  not  follow  in  the  case  of 
]\Ir.  Moore,  whose  conduct  becoming  known,  as  he 
could  not  keep  his  own  secret,  rendered  him,  by  the 
pubHc  discredit  it  brought  upon  him,  only  the  more  dis- 
satisfied with  himself  and  the  more  embittered  against 
the  reformation  and  his  former  associates. 

Not  long  after  the  Brush  Run  Church  had  united 
with  the  Redstone  Association,  Thomas  Cam'pbell,  who 
w^armly  approved  this  union,  as  it  took  away  from  the 
church  the  odium  of  forming  a  new  religious  body, 
became  convinced  that  but  little  more  good  could  be 
effected  by  his  labors  in  Western  Pennsylvania.  As 
his  attachment  to  places,  never  very  strong,  was  not 
permitted  to  interfere,  for  a  moment,  wdth  the  higher 
claims  of  religious  usefulness,  he  began  to  think  of 
changing  his  place  of  residence.  Having  formed  some 
acquaintance  with  the  young  and  rapidly  growing  State 
of  Ohio,*  and  hearing  favorable  accounts  of  the  region 
around  Cambridge,  in  Guernsey  county,  about  ninety 
miles  distant,  he  visited  it  in  the  spring  of  1813,  and 
finally  concluded  to  sell  his  little  property  in  Washing- 
ton county,  and  to  purchase  another  near  Cambridge. 
As  his  eldest  daughter,  Dorothea,  had  become  the  wife 
of  Joseph  Bryant,  January  13,  1813,  and,  in  the  fol- 
lowing November,  his  daughter  Nancy,  next  in  age, 
married  a  young  man  by  the  name  of  Andrew  Chap- 
man, it  was  arranged  that  his  sons-in-law^  would  ac- 
compan}'  him,  and  assist  in  the  management  of  the 

*  The  State  of  Ohio  had  been  admitted  into  the  Union  only  about  ten  years 
before  (in  1802),  \\\t\\  a  population  of  forty  thousand.  According  to  the 
census  of  1860,.  the  number  of  inhabitants  had  increased  to  more  than  two 
millions  and  a  quarter. 


PROPOSED   h' EM  OVAL. 


459 


farm  and  of  the  seminary  he  proposed  to  establish  in 
Cambridge.  He  removed  his  family,  accordingly,  at 
the  close  of  the  year,  soon  after  the  church  of  Brush 
Run  had  been  received  into  the  Redstone  Association, 
and  succeeded  in  establishing  a  flourishing  school  at 
Cambridge.  Alexander,  meanwhile,  remained  at  Mr. 
Brown's,  and  to  him  and  James  Foster  the  care  of 
Brush  Run  Church  was  now  committed  ;  James  Foster 
having  been  ordained  elder,  with  imposition  of  hands 
by  Thomas  Campbell,  Alexander  Campbell,  Mathias 
Luce,  and  Charles  Wheeler. 

On  the  13th  of  September  of  this  year  (1813), 
another  daughter  had  been  born  to  Mr.  Campbell,  and' 
called  Eliza  Ann.  He  himself  continued  occupied  as 
usual  in  the  labors  of  the  farm,  and  in  filling  his  ap- 
pointments for  preaching  in  the  neighborhood,  and 
occasionally  at  considerable  distances  from  home.  A 
knowledge  of  the  principles  of  the  reformation  became 
thus  more  widely  extended,  especially  among  the  Bap- 
tist churches  of  the  Redstone  Association  and  the  Still- 
water Association  in  Ohio,  and  a  number  of  the  more 
intelligent  members  became  favorable  to  them.  Indi- 
viduals, too,  during  his  labors  at  home,  occasionally 
presented  themselves  for  baptism.  Among  these,  were 
his  wife's  father  and  mother,  who  had  come  forward 
after  considerable  investigation  and  reflection.  A  few 
in  Charlestown,  also,  chiefly  females,  had  become  obe- 
dient to  the  faith,  and  others  here  and  there  through 
the  country.  Most  of  these  were  too  widely  scattered 
to  take  membership  in  Brush  Run  Church,  which, 
owing  to  removals,  scarcely  preserved  its  original  num- 
ber. Seeing  the  difficulty  of  making  a  decided  im- 
pression upon  the  community  around  them,  and  mfected 
somewhat  with  the  prevailing  spirit  of  migration,  many 


460       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL, 


of  the  members  of  the  chuixh  began  to  take  into  serious 
consideration  the  question  of  removing  in  a  body  to  a 
more  suitable  place.  On  the  13th  of  April,  1814,  a 
meeting  was  called  for  the  purpose  of  considering  the 
matter.  The  scattered  condition  of  the  membership, 
by  which  many  were  prevented  from  attending  meeting 
regularly  ;  the  opposition  they  encountered  on  account 
of  their  religious  views ;  the  difficulty  of  obtaining 
sch®ols  and  suitable  teachers  for  their  children  ;  the 
oppressive  labors  required  in  order  to  obtain  support  for 
themselves  and  families,  were  all  found  to  be  weighty 
reasons  for  seeking  to  better  their  condition.  After  due 
consideration,  a  removal  was  deemed  desirable,  and  it 
was  concluded  that  the  most  eligible  situation  would  be 
the  neighborhood  of  some  flourishing  town,  not  more 
than  two  hundred  miles  west,  so  as  not  to  get  too  near 
the  Indian  border.  It  was  thought  that  such  a  town 
would  not  only  afford  better  opportunities  for  public 
usefulness,  but  furnish  employment  for  such  as  were 
artisans,  while  the  remainder,  who  were  farmers,  could 
follow  their  vocation  in  the  vicinity,  while  all  could 
have  the  benefit  of  a  school  for  their  children  under 
their  own  direction.  A  committee  was  accordingly 
appointed  to  explore  the  country  in  order  to  find,  if 
possible,  a  suitable  situation.  This  committee  con- 
sisted of  George  Archer,  Richard  McConnel,  Abraham 
Altars,  John  Cockens,  and  Alexander  Campbell,  vvho 
immediately  visited  a  considerable  portion  of  Ohio  ;  and 
having  found  Zanesville  and  its  vicinity  to  be  possessed 
•of  the  greatest  advantages,  all  of  which  were  minutely 
detailed  in  the  wri  ten  report  presented  to  the  chun  h 
upon  their  return,  it  was  unanimously  resolved,  at  a 
meeting  held  June  8,  1814.  that  the  report  be  accepted, 
and  that  the  removal  should  take  place  as  soon  as. 


AGRICULTURAL  LABORS. 


461 


they  could  individually  make  the  necessar}-  arrange- 
ments. 

It  happened,  however,  that  John  Brown,  for  whose 
judgment  Mr.  Campbell  had  great  deference,  was  not 
much  in  favor  of  the  project,  and  did  not  like  to  have 
his  daughter  and  son-in-law  remove  to  so  great  a  dis- 
tance. Having  also  a  desire  himself  to  adopt  some 
mode  of  life  less  laborious  than  farmincr.  he  determined 
to  make  Mr.  Campbell  a  present  of  the  fine  farm  on 
which  he  lived.  He  therefore  frankly  gave  him  a  deed, 
in  fee  simple,  of  the  entire  premises,  and  removing 
at  once  with  his  wife  to  Charlestown,  engaged  there  in 
the  grocery  business,  becoming  a  member  in  the  Bap- 
tist church  on  Cross  Creek,  three  miles  above.  This 
generous  conduct  on  the  part  of  Mr.  Brown,  and  re- 
spect for  his  wishes,  occasioned,  as  a  matter  of  course,, 
an  entire  change  in  the  proposed  arrangementij  so  far 
as  respected  Mr.  Campbell,  who  was  now  compelled  to 
remain  where  he  was.  The  other  members  of  the 
church  then,  being  unwilling  to  remove  without  him, 
relinquished,  for  the  present,  their  purpose  of  going  to 
the  West.  Meanwhile,  Mr.  Campbell  being  thus  provi- 
dentially furnished  with  the  means  of  carrying  out  his 
cherished  wishes  as  to  public  usefulness,  immediately 
set  to  work  with  his  accustomed  energy,  to  put  the  farm 
into  good  repair,  and  to  make  such  changes  as  would 
enable  him  to  be  more  abroad.  These  necessar}-  duties 
occupied  much  of  his  time  during  the  remainder  of 
1814  and  the  greater  part  of  the  year  1815,  but  were 
never  allowed  to  interfere  with  his  regular  appointments 
for  preaching.  During  this  period,  he  was  exceedingly 
laborious  ;  and  on  one  occasion  is  said  to  have  put  up 
in  one  day,  with  his  own  hands,  one  hundred  panels  of 
rail-fence.    His  being  thus  personally  engaged  in  the 

^9  ♦ 


462        MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


labors  of  the  farm  did  not  fail  to  commend  him  very 
highly  to  the  good  feelings  of  the  neighboring  farmers, 
who  might  otherwise  hav^e  been  disposed  to  regard  with 
that  jealousy  which  the  leveling  spirit  of  republicanism 
engenders,  one  who  had  been  brought  up  to  a  different 
vocation,  and  who,  from  his  abilities  and  acquirements, 
occupied  necessarily  a  higher  sphere.  They  were 
surprised,  however,  if  not  gratified,  to  find  themselves 
surpassed  at  their  own  business  by  the  scholar  and 
preacher,  whose  plainness  and  simplicity  charmed  them, 
while  his  urbanity  and  hospitality  placed  him  upon  the 
most  familiar  and  friendly  terms  with  them  all.  No 
one  could  be  more  observant  of  the  duties  of  social  life, 
or  more  careful  to  maintain  the  most  agreeable  relations 
with  all  his  neighbors,  than  Mr.  Campbell.  For  this 
purpose,  as  well  as  from  his  naturally  companionable 
disposition,  it  was  customary  for  him  to  make,  in  com- 
pany with  Mrs.  Campbell,  frequent  friendly  visits  to 
them,  to  take  a  lively  interest  in  their  welfare,  and  to 
render  to  them  all  the  services  in  his  power.  Full  of 
the  vivacity  and  wit  belonging  to  the  Irish  character, 
and  ever  cheerful  as  the  morning  light,  his  presence 
diffused  an  agreeable  charm  over  the  social  life  of  the 
neighborhood,  and  seemed  to  arouse  the  isolated  house- 
holds, scattered  amongst  the  hills,  to  an  unusual  degree 
of  hospitality  and  friendly  intercourse.  Even  the  relig- 
ious prejudices  with  which  some  had  been  imbued  in 
the  surrounding  community,  consisting  chiefly  of  Pres- 
byterians and  Methodists,  melted  away  under  the  genial 
influence  of  personal  acquaintance  ;  for,  notwithstanding 
the  diversity  of  their  religious  sentiments,  they  were 
unable  to  withhold  from  Mr.  Campbell  the  honor  and 
regard  which  his  piety,  his  commanding  abilities  and 
his  agreeable  manners  inspired  in  all  around  him. 


T.  CAMPBELL  AT  PITTSBURG. 


463 


While  Mr.  Campbell  was  thus  actively  engaged,  his 
father  was  closely  confined  to  the  duties  of  his  seminary 
at  Cambridge.  In  the  midst  of  these  labors  he  received, 
toward  the  close  of  1815,  a  letter  from  General  Acheson 
of  Washington,  informing  him  that  his  brother,  David 
Acheson,  had  been  seized  with  a  serious  illness,  attended 
with  a  mental  disturbance  which  rendered  the  patient 
difficult  to  manage  ;  and  as  it  was  thought  that  the  pre- 
sence of  an  old  and  valued  friend  like  Thomas  Camp- 
bell would  have  a  salutary  effect,  he  entreated  him  to 
come,  if  possible,  to  Washington.  In  obedience  to  this 
summons  and  to  the  dictates  of  his  affectionate  feelings, 
he  at  once  left  his  school  in  charge  of  his  assistants  and 
came  to  Washington,  where  he  remained  a  number  of 
weeks,  rendering  all  the  assistance  in  his  power  until 
Mr.  Acheson's  disease  finally  proved  fatal.  While 
here,  he  happened  to  hear  of  a  favorable  opening  for  a 
school  in  Pittsburg,  and,  what  was  to  him  of  far  more 
importance,  of  a  favorable  prospect  of  greater  reHgious 
usefulness  than  he  had  found  at  Cambridge,  where  the 
prejudices  of  some,  and  the  worldliness  and  gayety  of 
the  majority  of  the  people,  seemed  to  have  complete!}' 
closed  their  minds  against  his  overtures  for  reformation. 
Having  visited  Pittsburg,  therefore,  and  made  the  ne- 
cessary arrangements,  he  removed  his  family  to  that 
place,  where  a  flourishing  school  was  soon  obtained 
through  the  assistance  of  James  Irwin,  N.  Richardson 
and  other  w^arm  personal  friends,  who  w^ere  happy  to 
secure  for  their  children  the  advantage  of  the  strict 
European  method  of  instruction  pursued  by  Mr.  Camp- 
bell. Joseph  Bryant  assisted  for  some  time  in  the 
school,  while  Mr.  Chapman  opened  another  in  the 
suburbs,  but  soon  after  returned  to  Washington  county, 
wliere  a  farm  had  fallen  to  him  by  inheritance. 


4^4       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


On  the  20th  of  November  of  this  year  (1815),  Alex- 
ander CampbelTs  family  was  increased  by  the  addition 
of  another  daughter,  who  was  named  Maria  Louisa. 
About  this  time  he  proposed  to  the  few  members  of  the 
church  residin({  in  Charlestown  that  a  meetincr-house 
should  be  erected  in  the  town,  which  was  entirely  with- 
out any  public  place  of  worship,  all  meetings  having 
been  heretofore  held  in  the  court-house.  He,  further- 
more, \'olunteered  his  services  for  three  or  four  months 
in  soliciting  a  portion  of  the  necessary*  means.  The 
matter  being  agreed  to,  he  left  home  on  Tuesday  morn- 
ing, 1 2th  of  December,  1815,  and,  arriving  at  Pittsburg 
on  the  14th,  spent  the  evening  socially  in  company  with 
his  father,  at  the  house  of  Mr.  Richardson,  who  gave 
twenty  dollars  to  the  building  of  the  house,  being  the 
tirst  contributor.  Next  morning,  he  set  out  in  the  stage 
for  Philadelphia,  where  he  arrived  on  the  following 
Saturday. 

Passing  over  nearly  the  same  region  of  countrv  which 
he  had  traversed  upon  first  arriving  in  the  United  States, 
six  years  before,  he  now  viewed  the  mountains  and 
valleys  of  Pennsylvania  with  less  of  the  ardor  of  youth- 
ful feeling,  and  with  more  of  the  vision  of  the  political 
economist.  The  quality  of  the  lands,  the  character  of 
the  farm  improvements,  the  dwelling-houses,  barns  and 
fencing,  the  vast  mineral  riches  of  the  State,  now  occu- 
pied a  prominent  place  in  his  journal,  although  the 
beauty  of  the  country,  the  magnificent  prospects  from 
the  mountains,  and  the  handsome,  flourishing  villages 
along  the  route  were  not  unnoticed.  He  was  especially 
delighted  with  the  fine  farms  and  farm-buildings,  the 
rich  groves  of  locust  and  the  fertility  of  the  land  in 
Lancaster  county,  and  formed  still  higher  conceptions 
of  the  immense  resources  of  the  country  of  his  adop- 


LOVE  FOR  REPUBLICANISM. 


tion.  Upon  first  taking  up  his  residence  at  ]Mr.  Brown's, 
in  181 1,  he  had  at  once  taken  the  necessary  steps  in 
order  to  naturahzation,  and,  after  the  expiration  of  the 
two  years  of  residence  required  by  law,  had  been  ad- 
milted  as  a  citizen  of  the  United  States.  No  one  could 
be  more  attached  than  he  to  the  government  and  its 
institutions,  though  he  was  not  at  all  a  politician  ki  the 
ordinary  sense  of  the  word.  During  the  war  with 
Great  Britain,  which,  after  continuing  two  years  and 
eight  months,  had  been  terminated  by  the  treaty  of 
Ghent,  on  the  i8th  of  the  preceding  February  (1815), 
part}-  spirit  had  run  very  high,  and  the  state  of  the 
country  at  the  peace  gave  rise  to  various  exciting  ques- 
tions of  foreign  and  domestic  policy,  which  occasioned 
great  political  agitation.  Mr.  Campbell,  however, 
always  avoided  taking  any  active  part  in  politics,  and 
though,  on  all  proper  occasions,  he  frankly  expressed 
his  view^s  on  all  public  measures,  he  always  took  care 
to  maintain  the  reserve  and  dignity  belonging  to  his 
ministerial  office. 

His  appreciation  of  the  blessings  enjoyed  under  a 
republican  government  may  be  learned  from  a  letter 
which  he  addressed,  immediately  upon  his  arrival  at 
Philadelphia,  to  his  uncle  Archibald  at  Newry  : 

"  Philadelphia  City,  December  28,  1815. 
"  Dear  Uncle  :  More  than  seven  years  have  elapsed  since 
I  bade  farewell  to  you  and  my  native  country.    During  this 
period  of  years  my  mind  and  circumstances  have  undergone 
many  revolutions.    *    *    *  * 

1  cannot  speak  too  highly  of  the  advantages  that  the 
people  in  this  country  enjoy  in  being  delivered  from  a  proud 
and  lordly  aristocracy ;  and  here  it  becomes  very  easy  to 
trace  the  common  national  evils  of  all  European  countries  ta 
their  proper  source,  and  chiefly  to  that  first  germ  of  oppres- 
VOL.  I. — 2  E 


466       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


sion,  of  civil  and  religious  tyranny.  I  have  had  my  horse 
shod  by  a  legislator,  my  horse  saddled,  my  boots  cleaned,  my 
stirrup  held  by  a  senator.  Here  is  no  nobility  but  virtue  ; 
here  there  is  no  ascendance  save  that  of  genius,  virtue  and 
knovv'ledge.  The  farmer  here  is  lord  of  the  soil,  and  the  most 
independent  man  on  earth.  *  *  *  *  consideration 
that  I  can  conceive  of,  would  induce  me  to  exchange  all  that 
I  enjoy  in  this  country,  climate,  soil  and  government,  for  any 
situation  which  your  country  can  aflbrd.  I  would  not  ex- 
change the  honor  and  privilege  of  being  an  American  citizen 
for  the  position  of  your  king." 

As  his  uncle  was  still  an  elder  in  the  Seceder  Church 
at  Nevvry,  he  devoted  a  portion  of  the  letter  to  the  sub- 
ject of  the  religious  changes  he  had  undergone.  After 
speaking  of  family  matters,  he  says : 

''My  father  still  resembles  one  of  our  planets  in  emigrating 
from  place  to  place.  He  has  lived  in  Washington  and  in  the 
country  ;  in  Cambridge,  ninety  miles  west,  and  now  in  Pitts- 
burg. He  is  teaching  a  school  in  Pittsburg,  worth,  say,  seven 
hundred  dollars,  and  will  be  worth  much  more  in  a  short 
time.  As  to  our  religious  state,  news,  progress  and  attain- 
ments, I  expect  my  father  has  written  or  will  immediately 
write  you.  I  shall  therefore  drop  but  a  few  hints  on  this 
subject.  For  my  own  part,  I  must  say  that,  after  long  study 
and  investigation  of  books,  and  more  especially  the  Sacred 
Scriptures,  I  have,  through  clear  convictions  of  truth  and 
duty,  renounced  much  of  the  traditions  and  errors  of  m} 
early  education.  I  am  now  an  Independent  in  church  gov- 
ernment ;  *  *  *  *  of  that  faith  and  view  of  the  gospel 
exhibited  in  John  Walker's  seven  letters  to  Alexander  Knox, 
and  a  Baptist  in  so  far  as  respects  baptism.  *  *  *  ♦ 
W^hat  I  am  in  religion  I  am  from  examination,  reflection, 
conviction,  not  from  *  ipse  dixit'  tradition  or  human  authority  ; 
and  having  halted,  and  faltered,  and  stumbled,  I  have  explored 
every  inch  of  the  way  hitherto,  and  I  trust,  through  grace,  '  I 
am  \>  hat  I  am.*    Though  my  father  and  I  accord  in  senti- 


PREACHING  IN  PHILADELPHIA. 


467 


ment,  neither  of  us  are  dictators  or  imitators.  Neither  ot  us 
lead  ;  neither  of  us  follow.  iThe  poor  Seceders  in  this  coun- 
try seem  to  have  lost  all  power  of  religion  and  of  truth.  * 
*  *  *  Remember  me  atlectionately  to  all  my  old  friends 
and  relations.  I  will  name  none,  as  I  cannot  name  all.  I 
remember  them,  I  pray  for  them,  I  long  for  their  felicity.  *  * 
*'  Your  aflectionate  nephew, 

Alexander  Campbell." 

As,  in  uniting  originally  with  the  Baptists,  Mr.  Camp- 
bell had  made  no  secret  of  his  religious  principles,  but 
had  distinctly  avowed  them  in  the  written  communica- 
tion of  the  Brush  Run  Church  to  the  Redstone  Asso- 
ciation, so,  in  his  intercourse  with  them  as  a  people, 
and  in  his  public  discourses,  he  failed  not  on  all  proper 
occasions  to  urge  upon  them  his  views  of  reformation. 
Being  invited  by  one  of  the  Baptist  preachers  in  Phila- 
delphia to  occupy  his  pulpit,  he  delivered  a  sermon  so 
totally  different  in  its  matter  and  style  from  the  usual 
sermons  among  the  Baptists,  that  the  congregation  was 
quite  wakened  up  by  its  novelty,  and  the  preacher  him- 
self hardly  knew  what  to  make  of  it.  INIeeting  Mr. 
Campbell  next  day,  and  the  subject  coming  up,  he 
expressed  his  dissatisfaction,  upon  which  Mr.  Campbell 
suggested  that  perhaps  he  did  not  fully  understand  him, 
and  that  the  time  allow^ed  had  not  been  sufficient  to 
enable  him  to  deliver  himself  fully  in  regard  to  the 
questions  treated.  At  this,  the  preacher's  face  cleared 
up  a  I'ttle,  and  he  requested  him  to  make  another  ap- 
pointment, which  he  did.  As  the  second  discourse, 
however,  did  not,  any  more  than  the  first,  descant  on  the 
favorite  theories  of  Gill  and  Fuller,  but  presented,  in  a 
still  stronger  light,  the  truths  of  the  simple  gospel,  the 
effect  upon  the  Baptist  preacher  was  worse  than  before, 
so  that  he  could  scarcely  treat  Mr.  Campbell  afterward 

I 


4^8       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


with  common  civility,  and  took  good  care  not  to  afford 
his  congregation  another  opportunity  of  hearing  the 
latter,  which  many  of  the  members  were  very  anxious 
to  enjoy. 

After  leaving  Philadelphia,  he  visited  Trenton  and 
other  towns  in  New  Jersey,  and  went  thence  to  New 
York,  where  he  called  upon  a  number  of  influential 
Baptists.  Among  others,  he  visited  William  Colgate, 
who  was  then  beginning  to  establish  himself  in  busi- 
ness. When  he  called,  Mr.  Colgate  came  out  in  his 
apron  from  his  work,  and  during  the  interview  ?vlr. 
Campbell  was  greatly  charmed,  not  only  with  the 
interest  in  religion  which  Mr.  Colgate  manifested,  but 
with  the  peculiarly  frank  and  cordial  manner  in  which 
he  tendered  for  the  house  in  Wellsburg  a  donation, 
which,  for  his  circumstances  at  the  time,  was  quite  a 
liberal  one.  Upon  leaving  the  house,  Mr.  Campbell 
remarked  to  a  friend  who  accompanied  him,  that  he 
had  no  doubt  Mr.  Colgate  would  one  day  become  a 
wealthy  man.  I  am  convinced,"  said  he,  "  that  the 
Lord  will  abundantly  bless  and  prosper  one  who  dis- 
penses his  income  on  the  principles  that  govern  Mr. 
Colgate  and  the  event,  in  after  years,  fully  proved  the 
correctness  of  his  anticipations.  On  his  return,  he  visited 
Washington  City,  and  having  formed  many  pleasant 
acquaintanceships  during  his  tour,  and,  among  others, 
one  with  the  eminent  Dr.  Staughton,  for  whom  he 
always  entertained  a  very  high  regard,  he  returned 
home  after  an  absence  of  some  months,  having  suc- 
ceeded in  obtaining  about  one  thousand  dollars.  With 
this  sum,  and  additional  assistance  in  Charlestown  and 
its  vicinity,  a  lot  was  obtained  at  the  upper  end  of  the 
main  street  of  the  town,  which  runs  parallel  with  the 
river  lor  more  than  half  a  mile,  and  a  comfortable  brick 


REDSTONE  ASSOCIATION. 


469 


meeting-house  was  soon  erected,  with  the  usual  high 
pulpit,  whose  curta'ns  and  cushions  were  prepared  and 
tastefully  arranged  by  Miss  S.  H.  Bakewell  and  Miss 
Amelia  Miller,  the  whole  being  under  the  special  direc- 
tion of  John  Brown,  who  took  great  interest  and  ren- 
dered efficient  aid  in  the  work. 

The  erection  of  this  house,  it  was  afterward  dis- 
covered, gave  great  offence  to  Elder  Pritchard,  minister 
of  the  Cross  Creek  Baptist  Church,  three  miles  above, 
who  had  already,  in  the  Redstone  Association,  signal- 
ized his  hostility  to  Mr.  Campbell,  and  who  seemed  to 
think  that  the  building  of  the  house  in  Wellsburg  was 
designed  to  weaken  his  influence  and  to  diminish  his 
congregation.  This  sectarian  bigotry  and  pett}^  per- 
sonal jealousy  became  still  more  manifest  at  the  meet- 
ing of  the  Association,  which,  according  to  appoint- 
ment, convened  at  Cross  Creek,  on  the  30th  August  of 
this  year  (1816).* 

*  The  list  of  the  Association  is  as  follows,  the  names  of  the  churches 
being  in  italics,  with  number  of  members  annexed  ;  the  names  of  preachers 
in  small  capitals,  and  those  absent  marked  with  an  asterisk  :  Unioiitow7i,  34, 
William  Brownfield.* — Big  IVhiteley,  60,  Benjamin  Stone,  Joseph  Han- 
nah, John  Haines. — Peter's  Creek,  47,  David  Philips,  Joseph  Philips,  Esq., 
James  McCreary,  Esq.,  Ephraim  Estep. — George'' s  Creek,  67,  John  Patton, 
James  Seymour,  Robert  Hannah.— 7//r/C'<?)/ /^-i?/,  33,  John  Cox. — Forks  0/ 
Cheat,  10,  James  Seymour. — Little  Redstone,  26,  Joseph  Thomas,  Joseph 
Red,  Francis  Burgess. — Maple  Creek,  33,  Henry  Spears,*  Frederick  Cooper, 
Thomas  Cloud. — Big-Redstone,  52,  James  Frey. — Indian  Creek,  39,  John 
Smith.* — Connelsville,  35,  James  Estep,  Jacob  Newmyer. — Head  of  Whitely^ 
57,  James  Patton,  Obadiah  Sams,  Peter  Dillon. —  Ten  Mile,  96,  Mai  iiias 
Luce,  Ezra  DeGarmo,  Henry  Russell. — Forks  of  Yoiigh,  14,  Joseph  Reed. — 
Horse  Shoe,  25. — Sandy  Creek,  15. — Plumb  Ru7i,  19,  Henry  Spears,*  Joseph 
Hill. — Merritt's  T -'vn,  William  Brownfield,*  David  Wilson,  Lacy  Hibbs. 
— George's  Hills,  29. — King's  Creek,  16,  Nicholas  Headington,  Thomas  Bil- 
derback,  John  Magers. — Dunkird  Creek,  42,  William  Jobs,  William  Thomas. 
— Bula,  50. — Cross  Creek,  44,  John  Pritchard,  John  Brown,  Esq.,  Charles 
King,  sen. — Short  Creek,  Virginia,  43,  John  Pritchard,  N.  Evans,  Joseph 
Hedge.  George  C.  Young. — Pigeon  Creek,  24,  Mathias  Luce. — Bate's  Fork, 

40 


470       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL, 


Mr.  Campbell,  who  well  knew  the  spirit  of  the  Bap- 
tist clergy  opposed  to  him,  said  to  his  wife  on  their  way 
to  the  meeting,  '*I  do  not  think  they  will  let  me  preach 
at  this  Association  at  all."  Some  of  the  preachers, 
however,  were  favorable  to  Mr.  Campbell,  and  there 
was  so  much  anxiety  on  the  part  of  the  people  to  heai 
him,  that  on  Saturday,  when  preachers  were  to  be 
selected  for  the  following  day,  Mr.  Campbell  was  at 
once  nominated  with  others.  Elder  Pritchard  now  in- 
terposed, and  observed  that  he  thought  they  ought  ta 
conform  to  the  rule  adopted  by  the  Baptists  in  Mary- 
land, which  w^as,  that  the  church  where  the  Association 
assembled  should  have  the  privilege  of  selecting  the 
preachers  for  the  Lord's  day,  and  that  these  should  be 
chosen  from  amongst  those  who  came  from  a  distance. 
"This  place,"  said  he,  *'is  near  Mr.  Campbell's  home, 
and  the  people  can  hear  him  at  any  time."  The  name 
of  Elder  Stone  was  therefore  substituted  for  that  of  Mr. 
Campbell,  who  returned  to  Charlestown  in  the  evening, 
with  no  expectation  of  hearing  anything  more  of  the 
matter.  Next  morning,  however,  David  Phillips  of 
Peter's  Creek,  one  of  the  oldest  and  best  preachers  in 
the  Association,  came  down  to  see  him,  and  told  him 
that  the  arrangement  made  would  not  do,  and  that  he 
had  been  deputed  by  a  large  number  to  insist' that  Mr. 
Campbell  should  preach  that  day.  The  latter  said  he 
had  no  objections  to  preach,  but  that  he  would  not 
violate  the  rule  of  the  Association.     Elder  Phillips 

30,  William  Stone,  Daniel  Thogmorton.  Nath.  Petit, — Short  Creek,  Ohio, 
22,  Elijah  Stone,  Thomas  Healy. —  Will's  Creek,  13,  Manassah  Evans,  Jere- 
miah Grey,  S.  Vait. — Flat  Rttn,  62,  N.  Skinner,  Richard  Truax,  Jacob 
Martin,  sen.,  Esq. — Salt  Lick,  18,  James  Skimer. — Pittsburg,  8,  B.  B.  Newton. 
--Waslmigton,  26,  Charles  Wheeler,  Hugh  Wilson,  Enoch  Dye,  Christo- 
pher'  Hanover. — Brush  Run,  28,  ALEXANDER  CaMPBELI,  JaMES  FoSfER^ 
George  Sharp. — Total  membership,  1139. 


iSERMON  ON  THE'  LA  W.  471 

withdrew  greatly  disappointed,  but  soon  after  returned 
to  say  that  Elder  Stone  was  taken  ill,  and  again  urged 
Mr.  Campbell  to  preach,  who  then  said  he  would  do 
so,  if  Elder  Pritchard  would  himself  tender  him  the 
invitation.  Elder  Phillips  said  this  should  be  done ; 
and,  accordingly,  when  Mr.  Campbell  rode  up  to  Cross 
Creek,  the  first  person  he  met  at  the  bridge  was  Elder 
Pritchard,  who  said,  **I  have  taken  the  very  earliest 
opportunity  to  see  you  in  order  to  say  that  you  must 
preach  to-day."  ''Have  you  seen  Elder  Phillips?"  said 
Mr.  Campbell ;  "  Yesj"  said  he.  "Then,"  rephed  Mr. 
Campbell,  *'I  will  preach."  Being  called  upon  thus 
rather  unexpectedly,  he  asked  leave  to  follow  Elder 
Cox,  who  delivered  the  first  discourse  from  Matthew 
xxiv.  14. 

On  this  occasion,  which  proved  to  be  quite  a  memo- 
rable one,  there  was  a  large  concourse  present,  gathered 
around  the  stand,  or  seated  within  hearing  beneath  the 
shade  of  the  beautiful  leafy  elms  and  towering  plane 
trees,  which  line  the  borders  of  the  creek,  as  it  winds 
through  the  picturesque  valley  enclosed  by  lofty  hills. 
When  Elder  Cox  concluded,  Mr.  Campbell  rose,  and 
delivered  a  discourse  founded  on  Romans  viii.  3  :  ''For 
what  the  law  could  not  do,  in  that  it  was  weak  through 
the  flesh,  God  sending  his  own  Son  in  the  likeness  of  sin- 
ful flesh,  and  for  sin,  condemned  sin  in  the  flesh."  This 
was  the  famous  Ser^iion  on  the  Law^''  which  created 
such  excitement  subsequently  in  the  Baptist  community. 
Even  during  its  delivery,  as  soon  as  Elder  Pritchard 
and  some  other  opposed  preachers  perceived  its  drift, 
they  used  every  means  openly  to  manifest  their  dissatis- 
faction. A  lady  in  the  congregation  having  fainted, 
Elder  Pritchard  came  into  the  stand,  called  out  some  of 
the  preachers,  and  created  great  disturbance  in  the 


472        MEMOIRS  OF.  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


congregation,  as  if  with  a  design  of  preventing  the 
people  from  hearing.  After  this  commotion  subsided, 
however,  Mr.  Campbell  soon  regained  the  attention  of 
the  audience,  which  he  kept  to  the  close,  hi  the  inter- 
mission, Mr.  Pritchard  called  out  Elders  Estep,  Wheeler 
and  others,  and  said  to  them:  "This  will  never  do. 
This  is  not  our  doctrine.  We  cannot  let  this  pass 
without  a  public  protest  from  the  Association."  Elder 
Estep  replied:  "That  would  create  too  much  excite- 
ment, and  w^ould  injure  us  more  than  Mr.  CampbelL 
It  is  better  to  let  it  pass  and  let  the  people  judge  for 
themselves."  This  prudent  counsel  prevailed,  and  it 
was  found  a  much  safer  and  more  congenial  mode  of 
opposition,  to  circulate  amongst  the  churches,  after  the 
Association  adjourned,  vague  and  calumnious  charges 
of  Antinomianism  against  Mr.  Campbell,  and,  by  this 
means,  to  excite  additional  prejudice  against  him. 
It  was  on  account  of  these  misrepresentations  that 
he  thought  it  best,  soon  afterward,  to  publish  his  dis- 
course in  pamphlet  form,  as  the  best  means  of  refu- 
tation. 

As  this  "Sermon  on  the  Law"  may  be  found  in  full 
in  Mr.  Campbell's  works  {Mil.  Ha7'h.  for  1846,  p.  493), 
it  will  not  be  necessary  here  to  do  much  more  than 
indicate  its  general  purport,  which  was  simply  to  show 
that  Christians  are  under  law  to  Christ,  and  not  to 
Moses.    His  "Method"  was — • 

"  I.  Ascertain  what  ideas  we  are  to  attach  to  the  phrase 
*the  law'  in  this  and  similar  portions  of  the  sacred  Scrip- 
tures. 2.  Point  ou<-  those  things  which  the  la-uu  could  not 
accomplish.  3.  Demonstrate  the  reasons  why  t/ie  law  failed 
to  accomplish  these  objects.  4.  Illustrate  how  God  has  re- 
medied these  relative  defects  of  the  law.  5.  In  the  last 
place,  deduce  such  conclusions  from  these  premises  as  must 


THE  TWO  GREAT  CO^r^TAXD^IEXTS. 


obviously  and  necessarily  present  themsch  es  to  every  unbiased 
and  reflecting  mind." 

Discarding  theological  and  employing  scriptural  de- 
finitions and  divisions,  he  shows  that  "the  law"  signifies 
the  whole  Mosaic  dispensation  ;  and  while  he  condemns 
the  modern  distinctions  of  moral,  judicial  and  ceremo- 
nial law,  as  calculated  to  perplex  the  mind,  he  takes 
care  to  guard  against  the  supposition  that  he  has  any 
intention  of  weakenincr  the  force  of  moral  obliijation, 
or  dispensing  with  the  great  and  immutable  principles 
upon  which  the  Mosaic  law  itself  was  based,  but  which 
that  law  did  not  originate  ;  his  object  being  to  show  that 
the  law  of  Moses,  while  it  embodied  some  of  the  appli- 
cations of  these  principles,  was  a  distinct  and  peculiar 
institution  designed  for  special  ends  and  for  a  limit'^d 
time.  Upon  the  great  principles  referred  to  he  speaks 
as  follows  : 

There  are  two  principles,  commandments  or  laws  that 
are  never  included  in  our  observations  concerning  the  law  of 
Moses,  nor  are  they  ever,  in  Holy  Writ,  called  the  law  of 
Moses: — These  are,  'Thou  shalt  love  the  Lord  thy  God  with 
all  thy  heart,  soul,  mind  and  strength  ;  and  thy  neighbor  as 
thyself.'  '  These  our  Great  Prophet  teaches  us  are  the  basis 
of  the  law  of  Moses  and  of  the  prophets.  '  On  these  two 
commandments  hang  all  the  law  and  the  prophets.'  Indeed 
the  vSinai  law  and  all  Jewish  laws  are  but  modifications  of 
them.  These  are  or  universal  and  immutable  obligation. 
Angels  and  men,  good  and  bad.  are  for  ever  under  them. 
God,  as  our  Creator,  cannot  require  less  :  nor  can  we,  as  crea- 
tures and  fellow-creatures,  propose  or  expect  less,  as  the 
standard  of  duty  and  perfection.  These  are  coe\  al  with 
angels  and  men.  They  are  engraven  with  more  or  h^ss  clear- 
ness on  every  human  heart.  These  are  the  groundwork  or 
basis  of  the  law.  written  in  tlie  heart  of  heathens,  which 
constitute  their  conscience  or  knowledge  of  right  or  wrong. 

40  * 


474       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


By  these  tlieir  thoughts  mutually  accuse  or  else  excuse  one 
another.  By  these  they  shall  be  judged,  or,  at  least,  all  who 
have  never  heard  or  seen  a  written  law  or  gospel.  Let  it 
then  be  remembered  that  in  the  Scriptures  these  precepts 
are  considered  the  basis  of  all  law  and  prophecy ;  conse- 
sequently,  when  we  speak  of  the  law  of  Moses,  we  do  not 
include  these  commandments." 

Under  the  second  head,  in  pointing  out  the  things 
which  the  law  could  not  accomplish,  he  says  : 

In  the  first  place,  it  could  not  give  righteousness  and  life. 
Righteousness  and  eternal  life  are  inseparably  connected. 
Where  the  former  is  not,  the  latter  cannot  be  enjoyed.  What- 
ever means  puts  us  in  possession  of  the  one,  puts  us  in  pos- 
session of  the  other.  But  this  the  law  could  not  do.  '  For 
if  there  had  been  a  law  given  which  could  have  given  life, 
verily  righteousness  should  have  been  by  the  law.*  Gal.  iii 
21.  *  If  righteousness  came  by  the  law,  then  Christ  is  dead 
in  vain.'  These  testimonies  of  the  apostle,  with  the  whole 
scope  of  Divine  truth,  teach  us  that  no  man  is  justified  by 
the  law — that  righteousness  and  eternal  life  cxnnot  be  received 
through  it.    *    *    *  * 

2.  In  the  second  place,  the  law  could  not  exhibit  the 
malignity  or  demerit  of  sin.  It  taught  those  that  were  under 
it  that  certain  actions  were  sinful — to  these  sinful  actions  it 
gives  descriptive  names :  one  is  called  theft,  a  second  murder, 
a  third  adultery.  It  showed  that  these  actions  were  ofiensive 
to  God,  hurtful  to  men,  and  deserved  death.  But  how  ex- 
tensive their  malignity  and  vast  their  demerit,  the  law  could 
not  exhibit.  This  remained  for  later  times  and  other  means 
to  develop. 

*'  3.  In  the  third  place,  the  law  could  not  be  a  suitable  rule 
of  life  to  mankind  in  this  imperfect  state.  It  could  not  to  all 
mankind,  as  it  was  given  to  and  designed  only  for  a  part 
It  was  given  to  the  Jewish  nation  and  to  none  else." 

Under  the  fourth  head,  he  shows  that  God  had  reme- 


INADEQUACY  OF  THE  LAW. 


died  all  these  defects  by  the  gospel,  by  sending  his  Son 
in  the  likeness  of  sinful  flesh  to  make  "  reconciliation 
for  iniquity,"  so  that  all  the  spiritual  seed  of  Abraham 
might  find  "  righteousness  and  eternal  life,  not  by  legal 
works  or  observances,  in  whole  or  in  part,  but  through 
the  abundance  of  grace  and  the  gift  of  righteousness 
which  is  by  him."     *    *    *  * 

"  Hence  it  is,"  he  adds,  that  Christ  is  the  end  of  the 
law  for  righteousness  to  every  one  that  believeth.  Nor  is  he, 
on  this  account,  the  minister  of  sin — for  thus  the  righteous- 
ness, the  perfect  righteousness,  of  the  law  is  fulfilled  in  us, 
who  walk  not  after  the  flesh,  but  after  the  Spirit.  Do  we 
then  make  void  the  law  or  destroy  the  righteousness  of  it  by 
faith  }    God  forbid  :  we  establish  the  law. 

"  A  second  thing  which  we  observe  the  law  could  not  do, 
was  to  give  a  full  exhibition  of  the  demerit  of  sin.  It  is  ac- 
knowledged that  the  demerit  of  sin  was  partially  developed 
in  the  law,  and  before  the  law.  Sin  was  condemned  in  the 
deluge,  in  the  confusion  of  human  speech,  in  turning  to  ashes 
the  cities  of  the  plain,  in  the  thousands  that  fell  in  the  wilder- 
ness. But  these  and  a  thousand  similar  monuments  besides, 
fall  vastly  short  of  giving  a  full  exhibition  of  sin  in  its  malig- 
nant nature  and  destructive  consequences.  But  a  full  dis- 
covery of  its  nature  and  demerits  is  given  us  in  the  person  of 
Jesus  Christ.  God  condemned  sin  in  him — God  spared  not  his 
own  Son,  but  delivered  him  up.  It  pleased  the  Lord  to  bruise 
him,  to  pour  out  his  soul  as  an  offering  for  sin.  When  we 
view  the  Son  of  the  Eternal  suspended  on  the  cursed  tree — 
when  we  see  him  in  the  garden  and  hear  his  petitions — when 
we  hear  him  exclaim,  'My  God,  my  God,  why  hast  thou 
forsaken  me?'  in  a  word,  when  we  see  him  expiring  in  blood 
and  laid  in  the  tomb,  we  have  a  monument  of  the  demerit  of 
sin,  which  no  law  could  give,  which  no  temporal  calamity 
could  exhibit." 

In  showing  further  under  this  head  how  the  failure 


4"^        MEMO /US  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


of  the  law  as  a  rule  of  life  was  remedied,  he  refers  to 
Christ's  perfect  example  and  teachings,  and  to  the  trans- 
figuration, when  iMoses  tiie  giver  and  Elias  the  restorer 
ot  the  law  appeared  along  with  him,  and  a  voice  from 
the  Father  said,  ''This  is  my  beloved  Son  in  whom  T 
am  well  pleased,  hear  yc  hitn.''  "  We  find  all  things," 
he  says,  "  whatsoever  the  law  could  not  do,  are  accom- 
plished in  him  and  by  him — that  in  him  all  Christians 
might  be  perfect  and  complete — '  for  the  law  was  given 
by  Moses,  but  grace  and  truth  came  by  Jesus  Christ.'" 

From  the  above  premises,  he  deduces,  under  the  last 
head,  \'arious  conclusions,  as,  i.  The  essential  difference 
between  law  and  gospel.  2.  That  Christians,  accord- 
ing to  Paul,  were  "not  under  the  law,  but  under  grace," 
showing,  liere,  that  the  apostle  met  the  very  charge  of 
Antinomianism  or  of  licentious  tendency  in  this  doctrine, 
in  his  answer  to  the  question  :  '*  Shall  we  therefore  sin 
because  we  are  not  under  the  law,  but  under  grace? 
God  forbid.  How  shall  we  that  are  dead  to  sin  live 
any  longer  therein." 

Now,"  adds  he,  ''whether  the  ancient  way  of  s^iiartling 
ihe  New  Testament  or  gospel  against  the  char<i^e  of  Antino- 
mianism or  a  licentious  tendency,  or  the  modern  wav,  is  best, 
metiiinUs  is  easily  decided  amon.srst  true  disciples.  Not  so  easy, 
iiowever,  anionj^st  learned  rabbis  and  doctors  of  the  law. 

*  *  *  "  Whatever  was  excellent  in  the  law,"  he  further 
remarks,  our  Legislator  has  repromulgated.  But  shall  we 
say  we  are  muler  tiie  law  as  a  rule  of  our  Christian  life,  be- 
cause some  of  its  sublimest  moral  anil  religious  precepts  have 
been  reproinulgated  by  llim  who  would  not  sutler  one  tittle 
of  it  to  pass  till  he  fullilled  it.-*  As  well  migiit  we  affirm  that 
the  British  law  wliich  governed  these  States  when  colonies 
is  the  rule  of  onr  political  life,  because  some  of  tlie  most 
excellent  laws  of  that  code  have  been  re-enacted  by  our 
legislators." 


LA  W-PREA  CHING  UNA  UTHORIZED, 


477 


He  then,  in  the  third  place,  presents  another  conclu- 
sion, which  was  particularly  grating  to  the  ea»rs  of  the 
Baptist  theologians,  viz.  :  that  there  is  no  necessity  for 
■preachmg  the  law  in  orde?'  to  -prepare  men  for  re- 
ceiving the  gospel. 

Tliis  conclusion,"  says  he,  perfectly  corresponds  with 
the  commission  given  by  our  Lord  to  the  apostles,  and  with 
their  practice  under  their  commission.  '  Go,'  said  he,  "  into 
all  the  world  and  preach  the  gospel  to  every  ci'eature.'  'Teach 
the  disciples  to  observe  all  things  whatsoever  /  commanded 
you.'  Thus,  they  were  constituted  ministers  of  the  New 
Testament,  not  of  the  Old.  Now  the  sacred  history,  called 
the  Acts  of  the  Apostles,  affords  us  the  most  satisfactory 
information  on  the  method  in  which  the  apostles  preached 
under  their  commission,  which,  with  the  epistolary  part  of 
the  New  Testament,  affords  us  the  only  successful,  warrant- 
able and  acceptable  method  of  preaching  and  teaching.  In 
the  Acts  of  the  Apostles  we  see  the  apostles  and  first  preachers 
paid  the  most  scrupulous  regard  to  the  instructions  they 
received  from  the  Great  Prophet.  They  go  forth  unto  all 
nations,  proclaiming  the  gospel  to  every  creature ;  but  not 
one  word  of  law-preaching  in  the  whole  of  it.  We  have  the 
substance  of  eight  or  ten  sermons  delivered  by  Paul  and  Peter 
to  the  Jews  and  Gentiles,  in  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles,  and 
not  one  precedent  of  preaching  the  law  to  prepare  their 
hearers,  whether  Jews  or  Gentiles,  for  the  reception  of  the 
gospel. 

"This  conclusion  corresponds,  in  the  next  place,  with  the 
nature  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven  or  Christian  Church,  and 
with  the  means  by  which  it  is  to  be  built  and  preserved  in 
the  world.  The  Christian  dispensation  is  called  the  miidstra- 
tion  of  the  Spirit,  and,  accordingly,  everything  in  tlie  salva- 
tion of  the  Church  is  accomplished  by  the  immediate  energy 
of  the  Spirit.  Jesus  Christ  taught  his  disciples  that  the  testi- 
mony concerning  himself  was  that  only  which  the  Spirit 
would  use,  in  converting  such  of  the  human  family  as  should 


memoirs  of  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


be  saved.  He  would  not  speak  of  himself,  but  what  he  knew 
of  Christ.  Now  he  was  to  convince  the  world  of  sin,  of 
righteousness,  and  of  judgment ;  not  by  applying  the  law  of 
Moses,  but  the  facts  concerning  Christ,  to  the  consciences  of 
the  people.  The  Spirit  accompanying  the  words  which  the 
apostles  preached,  would  convince  the  world  of  sin  ;  not  bv 
the  ten  precepts,  but  because  they  believed  not  in  liim — of 
righteousness  because  he  went  to  the  Father — and  of  judgment 
because  the  prince  of  the  world  was  judged  by  him.  So  that 
Christ,  and  not  law,  was  the  Alpha  and  Omega  of  their  ser- 
mons ;  and  this  the  Spirit  made  effectual  to  the  salvation  of 
thousands.  Three  thousand  were  convinced  of  sin,  of  right- 
eousness, and  of  judgment,  in  this  precise  way  of  hearing  of 
Christ,  on  the  day  of  Pentecost ;  and  we  read  of  many  after- 
ward. Indeed,  we  repeat  it  again,  in  the  whole  history  of 
primitive  preaching  we  have  not  one  example  of  preaching 
the  law  as  preparatory  to  the  preaching  or  reception  of  the 
gospel." 

After  answering  various  questions,  and  considering 
certain  texts  of  Scripture  misapplied  by  the  law-preach- 
ers, he  adds  the  two  following  conclusions : 

"A  fourth  conclusion  which  is  deducible  from  the  above 
premises  is,  that  all  arguments  and  motives  drawn  from  the 
law  or  Old  Testament,  to  urge  the  disciples  of  Christ  to  bap- 
tize their  infants  ;  to  pay  tithes  to  their  teachers  ;  to  observe 
holy  days  or  religious  fasts,  as  preparatory  to  the  observance 
of  the  Lord's  Supper ;  to  sanctify  the  seventh  day  ;  to  enter 
into  national  covenants ;  to  establish  any  form  of  religion  by 
civil  law — and  all  reasons  or  motives  borrowed  from  the 
Jewish  law,  to  excite  the  disciples  of  Christ  to  a  compliance 
with  or  an  imitation  of  Jew^ish  customs,  are  inconclusive, 
repugnant  to  Christianity,  and  fall  ineffectual  to  the  ground  ; 
not  being  enjoined  or  countenanced  by  the  authority  of  Jesus 
Christ. 

"In  the  last  place,  we  are  taught  from  all  that  has  been 
said,  to  venerate  in  the  highest  degree  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ ; 


BAPTIST  ANIMOSITY. 


479 


to  receive  him  as  the  great  prophet,  of  whom  'Moses  in  the 
law,  and  all  the  prophets  did  write  :'  to  receive  him  as  '  the 
Lord  our  righteousness,'  and  to  pay  the  most  punctilious  regard 
to  all  his  precepts  and  ordinances.  'If  we  continue  in  his 
word,  then  are  we  his  disciples  indeed,  and  we  shall  know 
the  truth,  and  the  truth  shall  make  us  free:  and  if  the  Son 
shall  make  us  free,  we  shall  be  free  indeed.'" 

After  a  few  practical  reflections,  the  discourse  closes 
with  the  petition  : 

"  May  he  that  hath  the  key  of  David,  who  opened  and  no 
man  shutteth,  and  shutteth  that  none  can  open,  open  your 
hearts  to  receive  the  truth  in  the  love  of  it,  and  incline  you  to 
walk  in  the  light  of  it,  and  then  you  shall  know  that  the 
ways  thereof  are  pleasantness,  and  all  the  paths  thereof  are 
peace !  Amen." 

This  sermon,  though  containing  in  reality  nothing 
but  plain  Scripture  teaching  in  reference  to  the  law  and 
the  gospel,  was  so  bold  an  assault  upon  the  theology 
and  style  of  preaching  current  at  that  time  amongst 
the  Baptists,  that  it  created  an  extraordinary  sensation  ; 
and  those  unfriendly  to  Mr.  Campbell  succeeded,  as 
he  says,  "in  bringing  it  up  for  trial  and  condemnation 
at  the  next  Association  at  Peter's  Creek,  in  1817." 
Upon  this  unexpected  movement,  he  proposed  to  go  at 
once  into  an  investigation  of  the  subject,  and  it  was 
then  partially  discussed,  but  finally,  by  the  eflforts  of  his 
friends  and  a  considerable  stretch  of  charity  on  the  part 
of  two  or  three  old  members,  the  question  was  dis- 
missed, on  the  ground  that  the  Association  had  no 
jurisdiction  in  the  case.  Nevertheless,  subsequently, 
through  the  cry  of  heresy  and  various  modes  of  de- 
traction and  misrepresentation  diligently  employed,  his 
opponents  managed  to  close,  to  a  large  extent,  the  ears 


4^0        MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


of  the  Baptists  in  this  region  against  Mr.  Campbell's 
views,  and  to  hinder  his  efforts  to  introduce  among 
them  a  more  accurate  and  scriptural  presentation  of 
the  gospel. 

Recurring  to  the  meeting  of  the  Association  on  Cross 
Creek,  when  this  "Sermon  on  the  Law"  was  delivered, 
there  were  some  other  occurrences  worthy  of  mention. 
In  the  minutes  of  the  meeting  for  Saturday,  August  31, 
it  is  staled  as  follows  : 

Met  agreeahly  to  adjournment. 

^'  5.  The  meeting  was  opened  by  singing  and  prayer,  by 
brother  Jolin  Pattoii. 

**6.  Appointed  brother  Luce,  moderator,  and  brother 
Wheeler,  clerk. 

7.  A  letter  was  presented  by  brother  T.  Campbell,  from  a 
number  of  baptized  professors  in  the  city  of  Pittsburg,  request- 
in<(  union  as  a  church  to  this  Association. 

**S.  Voted,  that  as  this  letter  is  not  presented  according 
to  the  constitution  of  this  Association,  the  request  cannot  be 
granted. 

""i.).  Voted,  that  brother  T.  Campbell  be  invited  to  take  a 
seat  in  this  Association. 

"  10.  Voted,  that  a  coiinnittee  be  appointed  to  wait  on  the 
persons  mentioned  in  the  seventh  article,  to  investigate  the 
subject  of  tiieir  letter.  Brethren  D.  Philips,  Luce  and  Pritch- 
ard  are  tiie  committee  to  attend  in  Pittsburg,  on  the  Saturday 
precedin*^  tiie  Hrst  Lord's  tlay  in  November. 

I  I.  The  circular  letter  prepared  by  brother  T.  Campbell 
was  read  iuul  accepted  without  amendment." 

Thus  it  appears  that  the  few  members  who  had  been 
gathered  togellier  in  Pittsburg  by  Thomas  Campbell, 
and  who  were  accustomed  to  meet  regularly  tor  wor- 
ship in  his  school-room  on  Liberty  street,  were  denied 
admission  as  a  church  because  their  letter  was  *'not 
presented  according  to  the  constitution  of  the  Associa- 


CIRCULAR  LETTER  BY  T.  CAMPBELL.  481 


tion,"  which  required  a  creed  or  statement  of  articles  of 
belief  from  every  church,  and  could  not  accept  in  place 
of  it  a  simple  declaration  of  adherence  to  the  Scrip- 
tures. Nevertheless,  a  committee  was  appointed  to 
investigate  the  subject  of  their  letter,  or,  as  was  doubt- 
less intended,  to  bring  these  simple  disciples  into  regu- 
lar Baptist  "order."  From  the  table  of  names  of 
churches,  etc..  composing  the  Association,  it  seems 
that  besides  those  associated  with  Thomas  Campbell  in 
Pittsburg,  there  was  at  this  time  a  little  society  of  eight 
members  there,  represented  by  B.  B.  Newton,  as  mes- 
senger, who,  having  furnished  the  required  written 
statement  of  belief,  had  been  received  without  difficulty. 

It  appears,  further,  that  Thomas  Campbell  presented, 
on  this  occasion,  the  circular  letter  which  he  had  been 
appointed  to  prepare  at  the  meeting  the  year  before. 
The  subject  given  to  him  was  the  "Trinity,"  upon 
which  the  Baptist  preachers  were  very  anxious  to  elicit 
the  views  entertained  by  the  reformers.  This  circular 
letter,  it  seems,  was  so  entirely  satisfactory  that  even 
the  keen  vision  of  the  most  orthodox  enemies  in  the 
Association  could  find  no  ground  of  objection,  and  it 
was  accordingly  accepted,  we  are  told,  "  without  amend- 
ment," and  printed  at  the  close  of  the  minutes  as  the 
letter  of  the  Association.  In  it,  this  profound  subject 
is  treated  in  a  highly  interesting  manner,  and  mainly 
in  the  simple  and  express  terms  of  Scripture.  In  con- 
descension, however,  probably  to  the  modes  of  thought 
and  speech  current  amongst  the  party  with  which  he 
was  now  associated,  the  author  employs  some  of  the 
terms  of  scholastic  divinity,  such  as  essence,  triune 
and  person,  but  the  word  "Trinity"  does  not  once  occur 
in  the  document.  The  use  of  such  terms  was  not  in 
harmony  with  the  principle  of  the  Reformation,  which 
VOL.  I. — 2  F  41 


4i>-       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


required  that  Bible  things  should  be  spoken  of  in  Bible 
words — not  in  "the  words  that  man's  wisdom  teacheth,'^ 
but  in  those  which  the  Holy  Spirit  has  employed. 
Under  the  circumstances,  however,  it  gives  evidence 
of  a  remarkable  advance  toward  soundness  of  speech 
on  the  part  of  one  long  accustomed  to  the  language  of 
the  schools,  and  who  now  addressed  a  people  to  whom 
its  terms  would  have  been  much  more  familiar,  and 
doubtless  much  more  acceptable,  than  those  employed 
in  Holy  Writ. 

This  letter,  also,  in  its  general  style  and  tone,  fur- 
nishes a  marked  contrast  wdth  the  spirit  of  the  "Sermon 
on  the  Law" — a  contrast  indicative  of  that  which  existed 
in  the  characters  of  their  respective  authors.  The  father, 
full  of  affectionate  sympathy  and  over-sensitive  in  re- 
gard to  the  feelings  of  others,  could  not  bear  to  inflict 
the  slightest  pain,  and  would  rather  withhold  than  confer 
a  benefit  which  could  be  imparted  only  by  wounding 
the  recipient.  The  son,  with  more  mastery  of  his 
emotional  nature,  could  calmly  contemplate  the  entire 
case,  and,  for  the  accomplishment  of  higher  good, 
could  resolutely  inflict  a  temporary  suffering.  The 
former  was  cautious,  forbearing,  apologetic ;  the  latter, 
decided,  prompt  and  critical.  The  one  displayed  the 
gentle  spirit  of  Melancthon,  the  other  the  adventurous 
boldness  of  Farel  and  the  uncompromising  spirit  of 
Knox.  Both  were  alike  anxious  to  promote  the  great 
interests  of  humanity  ;  but  while  the  father  relied  per- 
haps too  much  upon  emollients  to  remedy  the  spreading 
cancer  of  sectarianism,  the  son,  with  less  reverence  for 
consecrated  errors,  but  equal  love  for  men  and  greater 
sagacity  and  skill,  preferred  the  knife  of  the  surgeon 
Both  were  equally  desirous  of  winning  men  away  from 
the  idols  of  religious  bigotry,  but  while  the  one  sought 


SUBJECT  OF  THE  TRINITY. 


to  persuade  with  gentle  words,  the  other  would  seize 
with  powerful  grasp  the  image  at  the  shrine,  and  break 
it  in  pieces  before  the  eyes  of  its  worshipers.  The  dif- 
ferent methods  which  each  thus  employed  had  doubtless 
their  advantages,  and  their  union  tended  to  effect  greater 
good  than  could  have  been  produced  by  either  singly. 
It  is  certain,  however,  as  formerly  intimated,  that  had 
it  not  been  for  the  bold  assaults,  the  incisive  logic  and 
the  determined  spirit  of  the  son,  the  reformatory  move- 
ment initiated  by  the  father  w^ould  speedily  have  dis- 
appeared from  views  as  the  wave  created  in  the  river 
by  the  passing  steamer  quickly  subsides  into  the  general 
current. 

As  the  circular  letter  above  referred  to  presents  the 
views  of  both  upon  the  most  profound  subject  in  the 
Bible,  as  it  forms  a  part  of  the  history  of  the  times  and 
of  the  persons  described,  and  illustrates  how  entirely 
sufficient  the  Scriptures  themselves  are  for  the  elucida- 
tion of  the  most  difficult  questions,  so  far  as  these  can 
be  at  all  comprehended  by  the  human  mind,  it  deserves 
to  be  rescued  from  the  oblivion  which  would  soon  en- 
gulf the  few  remaining  copies.  It  will  therefore  be 
found  in  the  Library  edition  of  this  work.  Appendix  [A]. 


CHAPTER  XXII. 


Difficulties   anc    Hinderances  —  Buflfalo   Seminary  —  Slavery — A  Suitable 

Coadjutor. 

THERE  is  no  labor  which  seems  at  first  more  barren 
of  results  than  that  of  the  sower.  After  many 
days  of  toil,  the  field  on' which  the  labor  has  been  lavished 
exhibits  less  verdure  than  at  first,  and,  in  a  time  of 
drought,  may  long  remain  without  one  single  springing 
blade  to  give  hopeful  promise  of  the  future.  It  is 
equally  so  in  the  moral  and  religious  world.  He  who 
endeavors  to  plant  the  seeds  of  truth  in  human  hearts 
must  await  with  patience  their  development,  and  must 
not  fail  or  be  discouraged  if  the  precious  germs  he  has 
scattered  should,  under  unfavorable  conditions,  long 
remain  undeveloped  and  concealed.  The  spring-time 
will  surely  come  at  last ;  the  living  truth  will  assert  its 
power,  and,  in  its  heavenward  growth,  furnish  the 
cheering  prospect  of  the  harvest.  Such  patience  of 
hope  has  been  required,  in  no  small  degree,  of  all  who 
have  undertaken  the  reformation  of  mankind,  and  who 
have  broken  up  the  fallow  ground  of  pernicious  error 
in  order  to  the  production  of  blessed  fruits.  Nor  was 
it  demanded  less  of  those  who,  under  various  discour- 
agements, were  now  seeking  to  revive  the  cause  of 
primitive  Christianity. 

Among  these  discouragements,  not  the  least  were 
those  they  met  with  from  the  people  with  whom  they 
484 


SECTARIAN  JEALOUSIES.  ^85 

had  formed  a  fraternal  connection  ;  and  it  was  here  they 
learned  to  verify  a  fact  which  has  been  often  noticed, 
that  religious  controversies  and  divisions  originate  oftener 
in  personal  pique  and  rivalry,  in  disappointed  ambition 
or  selfish  interest,  than  in  conscientious  conviction. 
Thus  it  was,  that  a  Mr.  William  Brownfield  of  Union- 
town,  who  had  been  very  conspicuous  in  the  Redstone 
Association  before  the  admission  of  Mr.  Campbell, 
taking  up  the  idea,  which  was  probably  correct,  that 
he  was  afterward  not  as  much  attended  to  as  formerly, 
was  the  very  first  to  institute  opposition  to  Mr.  Camp- 
bell, and  continued  to  the  end  to  manifest  toward  him 
tl  "  bitterest  hostility.  In  all  his  efforts  he  was  indeed 
successfully  opposed,  and,  though  zealously  seconded 
by  Elder  Pritchard  and  a  few  otliers,  never  could 
succeed  in  gaining  his  point.     Mr.  Campbell  was  a 

power"  in  the  Association  not  to  be  overcome.  His 
superior  abilities  and  knowledge  of  the  Bible,  and, 
above  all,  his  advocacy  of  truth,  exercised  a  controlling 
influence  over  the  minds  of  so  many  intelligent  and 
pious  members  that  the  poisoned  shafts  of  his  enemies 
were  sped  in  vain,  and  he  was  able  to  maintain  his 
ground  in  spite  of  all  opposition. 

The  bickerings  and  controversies  occasioned  by  the 
novel  doctrines  of  the  "  Sermon  on  the  Law,"  which 
increased  the  prejudices  of  many,  were  indeed  unplea- 
sant hinderances  to  the  efforts  of  Mr.  Campbell  and  his 
father  to  lead  the  Baptist  churches  with  which  they 
were  connected  into  the  clear  light  of  the  primitixo 
gospel.  The  oldest  things  of  Christianit\-  had  now- 
become  the  newest,  and  were  looked  upon  w  ith  suspi  • 
cicn,  even  by  many  conscientious  and  truth-loving  minds, 
as  being  yet  the  conclusions  of  only  a  fczv  individuals, 
and  opposed  by  the  logic  of  overwhelming  numbers. 

41  * 


486       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 

At  this  time,  in  fact,  those  who  could  be  reckoned  as 
actual  advocates  of  the  Reformation,  and  who,  with  the 
exception  of  the  Brush  Run  Church,  were  scattered 
among  the  Baptists  in  Ohio,  Western  Pennsylvania  and 
Virginia,  did  not  amount  to  more  than  one  hundred  and 
fifty  persons,  and  among  these  there  were  none  who 
were  accustomed  to  take  a  public  and  efficient  part 
abroad  except  Thomas  and  Alexander  Campbell,  the 
labors  of  James  Foster  being  chiefly  confined  to  the 
Brush  Run  Church. 

About  this  period,  indeed,  a  Mr.  George  Forrester,  a 
Haldanean  preacher  and  an  immersionist,  came  to  Pitts- 
burg from  Scotland,  and,  near  the  same  time,  a  Mr. 
Jones,  a  Baptist  from  England,  of  somewhat  liberal 
views.  Mr.  Forrester  opened  an  academy  in  Pittsburg 
and  preached  occasionally,  but  he  had  much  of  the 
stern  and  opinionative  disposition  of  the  Scotch  Bap- 
tists, and  failed  to  make  any  impression  upon  the  public, 
while  Mr.  Jones  soon  migrated  to  the  West.  Not  long 
afterward,  a  Mr.  John  Tassey  also,  who  had  been 
educated  for  the  ministry  in  one  of  the  seminaries 
established  by  R.  Haldane,  emigrated  with  his  family 
from  Ireland,  and  engaged  in  the  mercantile  business 
in  Pittsburg.  He  succeeded  in  gathering  together  a 
few  individuals  as  an  Independent  church,  meeting  for 
weekly  communion,  and  became  their  pastor.  With 
this  little  organization  there  united  a  young  man  already 
distinguished  for  his  piety  and  benevolence,  named 
Samuel  Church,  w^ho  had  himself  been  immersed,  and 
w^as  entirely  in  sympathy  with  Mr.  Campbell's  views  of 
reformation,  but  who,  preferring  the  Independent  order 
of  worship  to  that  of  the  Baptists,  chose  to  remain  for 
some  years  connected  with  Mr.  Tassey.  The  latter 
was  not  in  favor  of  immersion,  and  though  a  man  ol 


BAPTISTS  IN  KENTUCKY. 


487 


some  ability  and  of  excellent  character,  was,  like  Mi. 
Forrester,  somewhat  contracted  in  his  views,  neither 
of  them  possessing  that  enlarged  conception  of  the 
gospel  plan  of  salvation  to  which  Mr.  Campbell  had 
attained.  It  was  thus,  however,  that  several  phases  of 
the  Haldanean  movement  were  at  this  time,  on  a  small 
scale,  represented  in  Pittsburg,  but  though  they  aided 
in  some  respects  in  preparing  the  ground,  non^  of  them 
were  capable  of  rendering  any  great  assistance  to  Mr. 
Campbell. 

About  this  time,  too,  Mrs.  Bryant's  health  having 
failed,  and  the  school  in  Pittsburg  having  become  too 
great  a  burden  to  Thomas  Campbell,  he  concluded  to 
remove  to  Kentucky,  in  hopes  of  finding  among  the 
numerous  Baptist  churches  there,  a  wider  field  of  useful- 
ness. Accordingly,  in  the  fall  of  181 7,  he  took  his 
family  to  Newport,  where  he  left  them  for  a  few  months, 
while  he  spent  the  time  in  visiting  the  Baptist  churches 
bordering  on  the  Ohio,  and  in  examining  into  the  state 
of  the  community.  He  found  the  Baptists  in  Kentucky, 
who  were  the  most  numerous  of  any  religious  party,  to 
be  a  cordial,  frank,  hospitable  people,  and  of  much 
more  liberal  views  and  feelings  than  prevailed  in  the 
religious  bodies  with  which  he  had  heretofore  been 
associated.  He  regretted,  however,  to  discover  that 
they  had  become  accustomed  to  a  style  of  preaching 
which  addressed  itself  almost  entirely  to  the  feelings, 
and  failed  to  impart  real  scriptural  knowledge,  and  that 
the  study  of  the  Bible  and  family  training  were  to  a 
great  extent  neglected.  This,  indeed,  was  true  of  the 
denomination  generally  in  the  United  States,  though  in 
the  more  Northern  States  metaphysical  and  theological 
theories  often  occupied  the  place  of  those  heart-stirring 
and  rhetorical  appeals  by  which  the  preachers  of  the 


MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


South  sought  to  awaken  the  torpid  sensibiHties  of  their 
hearers,  and  renew  that  emotional  excitement  which 
was  regarded  as  the  evidence,  if  not  the  very  essence 
of  reHcrion. 

o 

Thomas  Campbell  accordingly  engaged,  with  great 
zeal,  in  an  effort  to  remedy  the  defects  he  had  observed, 
and  to  induce  strict  attention  to  famiW  duties  and  the 
daily  study  of  tlie  Scriptures.  Having,  in  the  course 
of  his  travels,  visited  Burlington  in  Boone  county,  a 
town  of  three  hundred  inhabitants,  he  was  much  pleased 
v/ith  the  generous  and  hospitable  character  of  the  citi- 
zens, and  finding  it  to  be  a  suitable  place  for  the  estab- 
lishment of  a  seminary,  he  concluded,  at  the  earnest 
solicitation  of  the  principal  families,  to  remove  his 
family  thither,  and  take  charge  of  an  academy  as  soon 
as  the  new  building,  already  in  progress  for  this  pur- 
pose, should  be  completed.  As  soon  as  this  was  done, 
there  being  no  house  of  public  worship  in  the  place,  he 
commenced  in  his  school-room  a  course  of  lectures  upon 
the  Scriptures,  to  which  the  public  were  invited,  and 
w^hich  were,  in  general,  well  attended. 

His  father's  departure  had  thus  left  to  Mr.  Campbell 
the  entire  public  advocacy  of  the  cause  of  reformation, 
now  struggling  in  its  infancy  in  West  Pennsylvania  and 
Virginia.  He  did  not,  how^ever,  shrink  from  the  labor 
thus  devolved  upon  him ;  but,  ever  prepared  for  the 
conflict,  whether  with  foes  within  or  foes  without,  he 
continued  to  itinerate  occasionally  among  the  churches 
of  the  Redstone  Association  and  some  of  those  in  Ohio, 
gradually  enlightening  the  minds  of  the  people,  and 
occasionally  baptizing  individuals  w^ho  believed  the 
gospel  and  were  willing  to  confess  Christ  according  to 
the  primitive  model.  Among  these  was,  in  the  fol- 
'ovs'ing  year  (1818),  James  Foster's  mother,  who  had 


DIFFICULTIES  AND  TRIALS.  4S9 


shortly  before  come  from  Ireland  with  her  brother,  John 
Wilson,  and  his  family,  and  settled  with  them  upon  a 
farm,  near  Hickory  in  Washington  county.  At  the 
same  time,  John  Wilson  and  wife  also  were  baptized, 
and  were  added  to  the  Brush  Run  Church,  which  was 
as  yet  the  07ily  church  in  the  Reformation,  and  which, 
meeting  alternately  at  the  cross  roads  and  at  Brush 
Run,  gave  rise  to  the  impression,  on  the  part  of  some, 
that  there  were  two  churches.  It  was,  however,  but  a 
single  organization,  and  met  at  the  two  places  mentioned 
merely  for  the  convenience  of  some  of  its  members, 
who  were  widely  scattered. 

The  difficulties  with  which  Mr.  Campbell  had  to 
contend  at  this  time  might  well  have  appalled  a  less 
intrepid  spirit.  On  one  hand,  he  had  to  meet  the  stern 
opposition  of  the  entire  ptedobaptist  community,  while, 
on  the  other,  he  was  harassed  by  the  plots  and  misrep- 
resentations of  his  enemies  in  the  Redstone  Associa- 
tion ;  and,  though  he  found  in  the  Association  a  suffi- 
cient number  of  friends  to  vote  down  the  charo^es  of 
heresy  which  the  faction,  headed  by  William  Brown- 
field,  brought  up  annually  against  him,  and  had  still 
more  friends  among  the  people  composing  the  churches, 
they  were  destitute  of  that  unity  and  concert  of  action 
which  his  enemies  were  careful  to  preserve.  In  addi- 
tion to  all  this,  public  opinion  was  altogether  in  the 
hands  of  the  clergy,  and  was  consequently  entirely 
opposed  to  him.  His  task  w^as,  therefore,  extremely 
difficult.  When  public  opinion  is  favorable  to  any 
enterprise,  it  is  like  the  oil  which  is  applied  to  the  bear- 
ings of  a  machine,  so  that  the  force  needed  to  put  the 
whole  in  movement  is  but  slight  in  comparison  with 
what  is  required  if  there  is  no  such  preparation.  With 
Mr.  Campbell,  indeed,  was  the  determined  will  and  the 


490       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL, 


necessary  force,  but  when  a  favorable  public  sentiment 
was  not  only  wanting,  but  was  replaced  by  one  decidedly 
hostile,  his  task  was  like  the  attempt  to  launch  a  ship 
where  the  ways  were  inclined  in  the  wrong  direction, 
not  from  the  vessel  but  tozvard  it.  His  reformatory 
labors,  nevertheless,  could  not  be  suspended,  for  they 
were  labors  of  duty  and  of  love,  and  he  must  continue 
to  pursue  them  in  hope  that  time  and  patience  would 
secure  a  more  favorable  adjustment.  As  an  instance 
of  the  nature  of  the  opposition  waged  by  the  clergy, 
the  conduct  of  Mr.  Findley,  minister  of  the  Union 
Church  at  Middletown,  may  here  be  mentioned.  Hav- 
ing accidentally  met  Mr.  Campbell  at  the  house  of  Mrs. 
Parkinson,  they  happened  to  fall  into  a  little  discussion 
upon  baptism  and  some  other  subjects.  Mr.  Findley 
forthwith  took  pains  to  spread  the  report  in  the  neigh- 
borhood that  he  had  confuted  Mr.  Campbell  on  the 
points  they  had  argued — a  report  which,  from  their 
prepossessions,  he  knew  the  public  would  be  ready  to 
believe.  He  trusted,  however,  too  much  to  public  pre- 
judices and  too  little  to  truth  on  this  occasion,  and  quite 
mistook  the  person  whom  he  thought  thus  to  injure. 
Mr.  Campbell  at  once  put  into  the  Washington  Re- 
porter a  brief  and  pointed  note  to  Mr.  Findley,  charg- 
ing him  with  circulating  a  false  report,  and  offering  to 
discuss  publicl}^  with  him  at  Middletown  the  subject  of 
baptism  and  the  true  observance  of  the  Lord's  day, 
(the  points  in  regard  to  which  he  had  said  he  had 
refuted  ^Nlr.  Campbell),  or  any  other  topic  he  might 
desire.  This  was  dated  February  i6.  1818.  In  a  sub- 
sequent brief  reply,  Mr.  Findley  declined  the  challenge, 
endeavoring  to  conceal  his  timidity  under  an  assuming 
and  contemptuous  style,  which  he  mistook  for  clerical 
dignity.    To  this  Mr.  Campbell  replied  on  the  23d  of 


BUFFALO  SEMINAR r. 


491 


March  in  a  sharp  rejoinder,  and  informed  Mr.  Findley 
that  he  would  hold  a  meeting  in  Middletovvn  on  the 
second  Thursday  of  April,  in  order  to  correct  Mr.  Find- 
lex's  misrepresentations  and  to  defend  openly  the  views 
he  advocated.  He  held  the  meeting  accordingly,  and 
had  a  very  large  and  attentive  audience,  from  which 
Mr.  Findley  took  good  care  to  be  absent ;  but  his  pusil- 
lanimous behavior  in  retiring  within  the  shdl  of  his 
orthodoxy  at  the  approach  of  danger,  lowered  him 
considerably  in  the  estimation  of  the  people,  while  Mr. 
Campbell's  fearless  defence  of  his  views  made,  to  the 
same  extent,  a  favorable  impression. 

On  January  17th  of  this  year  (1818),  his  family 
was  increased  by  the  birth  of  a  daughter,  who  was 
named  Lavinia.  Aware  of  the  great  importance  of 
obtaining  the  assistance  of  instructed  and  cultivated 
minds  in  the  work  to  which  he  was  devoted,  and  feel- 
ing very  sensibly  the  want,  in  his  own  neighborhood, 
of  better  methods  of  educadon  than  those  which  then 
prevailed,  he  determined  in  the  beginning  of  this  year 
to  open  a  seminary,  chiefly  for  young  men,  in  his  own 
house,  and  to  take  the  charge  of  it  himself.  He  hoped 
to  be  able  thus  not  only  to  confer  a  benefit  upon  the 
neighborhood  in  giving  to  the  youth  a  better  education 
than  they  could  otherwise  obtain,  but  also  to  have  the 
opportunity  of  preparing  some  young  men  for  the  minis- 
try of  the  Word.  By  boarding  them  in  his  own  family, 
directing  their  studies  and  imbuing  their  minds  with  a 
knowledge  of  the  Scriptures,  in  the  daily  recitations 
and  lessons  of  instruction  which  he  carefully  kept  up  at 
the  morning  and  evening  devotions  of  his  household, 
he  thought  that  the  desired  object  might  thus  be  gradu- 
ally attained.  As  his  father  had  been  highly  appre- 
ciated in  Pittsburg  as  an  educator,  and  he  himself  had 


492       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


now  become  well  known  for  energy  and  talent,  he  had 
no  difficulty  in  obtaining  as  many  pupils  as  he  desired. 
A  number  of  leading  men  in  Pittsburg  sent  their  sons. 
One  or  two  came  from  a  distance  in  Ohio  ;  a  son  of  Dr. 
Joseph  Doddridge  from  Charlestown.  and  the  remainder 
from  the  neighborhood,  consisting  of  young  men  who 
wished  to  study  the  languages  in  order  to  prepare  them- 
selves for  professional  pursuits,  and  of  others,  both  male 
and  female,  who  desired  merely  to  obtain  a  good  Eng- 
lish education,  and  who  attended  as  day-scholars  from 
their  homes.  Devoting  himself  to  his  work  with  his 
usual  zeal  and  assiduity,  he  endeavored  to  establish  the 
strict  method  to  which  he  had  been  accustomed.  He 
soon  found,  however,  that  his  materials  were  not  the 
most  suitable.  Some  who  were  almost  grown  young 
men,  and  who,  on  account  of  their  insubordination, 
could  hardly  find  admittance  into  any  of  the  schools  of 
Pittsburg,  attempted  at  first  to  create  a  rebellion  against 
the  strict  rules  which  had  been  announced,  but  Mr. 
Campbell,  seizing  unexpectedly  the  ringleader  w^ith  a 
strong  hand,  gave  him  so  severe  a  castigation  before 
the  school  with  a  w^hip  he  had  provided,  that  he  was 
completely  subdued,  and  from  that  time  the  master's 
authority  was  perfectly  established. 

This  academy,  called  "Bufl^alo  Seminary,"  continued 
to  flourish  for  a  number  of  years.*  Mr.  Campbell's 
vivacity,  punctuality,  decision  and  activit}',  banished 
the  dullness  which  too  often  prevails  in  -such  institu- 
tions, and  inspired  the  pupils  with  such  an  interest 
in  their  studies  and  such  an  ambition  to  excel,  that 
that  they  made  remarkable  progress,  and  the  reputation 

*  The  charges  at  the  Seminary  were,  for  board  and  lodging  $1.50  pc 
week,  and  for  tuition  $5.00  per  quarter,  for  any  or  all  the  branches  us'ialiv 
taught  in  academies,  including  Hebrew  and  Frencli. 


BUFFALO  SEMINAR r. 


493* 


of  the  school  became  so  great  that  there  was  no  longer 
room  for  all  who  applied  for  admission.  Although 
thus  successful,  even  beyond  his  expectations  in  some 
respects,  Mr.  Campbell  did  not  find  the  institution  to 
meet  entirely  his  wishes  in  that  particular  which  was 
to  him  the  most  desirable.  From  the  religious  instruc- 
tion given,  he  could  still  hope  much  for  the  future  of 
those  who  had  been  placed  under  his  charge  ;  but  he 
did  not  find  among  them  much  inclination  toward  the 
ministerial  office.  Some  who  acquired  a  good  classical 
education  entered  afterward  into  the  professions  of  lavs^ 
and  medicine,  and  ever  cherished  the  highest  gratitude 
to  Mr.  Campbell  for  his  attention  to  their  improvement. 
But  he  had  a  much  higher  object  in  view  than  merely 
to  prepare  young  men  for  secular  pursuits,  and  greatly 
desired  to  see  some  of  them  disposed  to  consecrate 
their  lives  to  the  cause  of  truth.  At  this  time,  however, 
the  circumstances  were  very  unfavorable  for  such  a 
result.  The  Reformation  was  as  yet  but  imperfectly 
developed  or  established.  It  was  generally  regarded 
as  an  innovation  and  a  novelt}'  in  the  settled  order  of 
religious  society.  No  youths  had  as  3'et  grown  up 
under  its  influence,  and  there  was  no  preparation  of 
heart  and  mind  for  the  work  which  it  required.  Besides 
this,  to  engage  in  its  defence  was  to  incur  obloquy, 
reproach  and  persecution,  without  even  the  prospect  of  a 
moderate  pecuniary  support.  It  is  not  surprising,  then, 
that  few  seemed  disposed  to  turn  "their  attention  in  this 
direction.  Nevertheless,  there  were  not  wanting  some 
among  the  pupils,  who,  animated  with  zeal,  and  long- 
ing for  the  higher  rewards  and  blessings  of  a  religious 
life,  devoted  themselves  ardently  to  the  study  of  the 
Scriptures  and  became  afterward  useful  advocates  of 
the  Reformation     Among  these  may  be  particularly 

42 


494       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


mentioned  Jacob  Osborne  of  Ohio,  who,  endeared  to 
all  by  his  piety,  intelligence  and  love  of  the  truth, 
passed  away  in  early  manhood  to  his  eternal  reward, 
though  not  until  he  had  witnessed  with  joy,  upon  the 
Western  Reserve,  the  first  remarkable  triumphs  of  that 
ancient  gospel  which  he  had  himself  previously  con- 
tributed to  develop  and  sustain. 

While  Mr.  Campbell  was  thus  diligently  engaged  in 
his  seminary,  his  father  had  established  a  flourishing 
school  in  Burlington,  Kentucky,  and  had  obtained  the 
warm  esteem  of  the  entire  community,  who  were  never 
weary  in  rendering  acts  of  kindness  to  him  and  to  his 
family.  Pupils  from  some  of  the  best  families  in  the 
State  were  sent  to  Burlington  to  enjoy  the  benefit  of  his 
instruction.  His  daughter  Jane,  now  about  eighteen 
years  of  age,  assisted  him  in  the  school,  and  soon  be- 
came distinguished  for  her  ability  as  a  teacher,  render- 
ing the  school  quite  popular,  so  that  it  became  highly 
remunerative.  Such  was  the  friendly  and  social  char- 
acter of  the  people,  and  such  their  appreciation  of 
Thomas  Campbell  and  his  excellent  family,  that  the 
latter  had  never  before  been  placed  in  circumstances  so 
agreeable,  and  there  seemed  every  probabilit}^  that  this 
would  be  their  permanent  home. 

It  happened,  however,  upon  a  Lord's  day,  in  the 
summer  of  1819,  in  the  afternoon,  that  Thomas  Camp- 
bell noticed  a  large  number  of  negroes  of  both  sexes 
amusing  themselves  iil  a  grove  near  by,  to  which  they 
sometimes  resorted  on  Sundays.  After  observing  for 
some  time  their  proceedings,  his  sympathy  for  this 
servile  part  of  the  population,  whose  peculiar  condition 
he  had  long  regretted,  became  so  much  enlisted  in  their 
behalf,  that  he  walked  out  to  the  grove  and  invited 
them  all  to  come  into  his  school-room,  in  order  that  he 


AN  UNEXPECTED  CHANGE. 


495 


might  read  the  Scriptures  to  them.  Obeying  the  sum- 
mons with  alacrity,  they  soon  assembled,  and,  after 
reading  to  them  various  portions  of  Scripture,  he  went 
on  to  give  them  such  instructions  and  exhortations  as 
he  thought  would  be  useful  to  them.  Afterward,  he 
occupied  some  time  in  giving  out  hymns,  and  as  they 
sung  these  with  their  sweet  melodious  voices,  and 
seemed  greatly  to  enjoy  this  exercise  and  the  instruc- 
tions he  had  given  them,  his  own -heart  was  filled  with 
inexpressible  delight,  and  he  dismissed  them  with  the 
expectation  of  repeating  the  lesson  upon  the  first  favor- 
able opportunity.  Next  day,  however,  one  of  his 
friends  called  upon  him  to  say  that  the  course  he  had 
adopted  the  day  before  was  quite  contrary  to  the  laws 
of  the  State,  which  forbade  any  address  to  negroes 
except  in  the  presence  of  one  or  more  white  witnesses. 
With  regard  to  what  had  already  occurred,  he  assured 
him  that  no  notice  would  be  taken  of  it,  as  it  was  pre- 
sumable he  had  not  been  acquainted  with  the  law  ;  but 
he  advised  him,  as  a  friend,  not  to  repeat  the  act,  lest 
some  persons  in  the  community  should  put  him  to  trou- 
ble. At  this  announcement,  Thomas  Campbell  was 
thunderstruck.  He  had  been  totally  ignorant  of  the 
existence  of  such  a  law,  for  he  had  never  been  accus- 
tomed to  give  any  attention  to  political  or  civil  affairs. 
*'What!"  thought  he,  is  it  possible  that  I  live  in  a 
land  where  reading  the  Scriptures  and  giving  religious 
instruction  to  the  ignorant  is  a  penal  offence?  Can  the 
Word  of  God  be  thus  bound  and  the  proclamation  of 
the  gospel  be  thus  fettered  in  a  Christian  land?  Is  it 
possible  for  me  to  remain  in  a  place,  where,  under  any 
circumstances,  I  am  forbidden  to  preach  a  crucified 
Saviour  to  my  perishing  fellow-beings?"  His  resolution 
was  at  once  taken.    Whatever  it  might  cost,  he  would 


49^       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


leave  Kentucky  and  go  where  the  preaching  of  the 
gospel  was  untrammeled.  In  this  resolution,  thus  sud- 
denly and  decisively  taken,  he  became  the  more  con- 
firmed when  he  reflected  that,  by  remaining,  some  of 
his  family  would,  in  all  probability,  form  permanent 
alliances  with  the  people,  and  become  themselves  thus 
involved  in  a  state  of  things  which  was  utterly  repug- 
nant to  his  feelings,  and  for  which,  as  he  was  quite 
uninformed  in  regard*  to  the  circumstances  which  gave 
origin  to  that  particular  law,  he  could  at  the  time  find 
no  justification. 

His  family  were  greatly  surprised  and  grieved  when 
he  announced  his  resolution.  They  had  become  so 
much  attached  to  the  place  and  the  people  from  whom 
they  had  received  such  unwonted  kindness,  that  to  aban- 
don their  Irish  home  had  not  been  a  greater  trial  than 
the  one  to  which  they  were  now  to  be  subjected.  Their 
regrets  were  fully  reciprocated  by  the  entire  communit}', 
but  the  most  flatterincr  inducements  and  the  most  earnest 
entreaties  were  employed  in  vain  to  induce  Thomas 
Campbell  to  change  his  resolution.  When  he  could 
not  be  persuaded  to  remain  himself,  he  was  entreated 
at  least  to  allow  his  daughter  Jane  to  stay  and  conduct 
the  seminary  ;  but  he  remained  inflexible,  being  deter- 
mined to  extricate  his  family  from  a  set  of  circumstances 
for  the  existence  of  which  he  was  not  disposed  to  attach 
blame  to  any  one,  but  which  he  felt  to  be  quite  incom- 
patible with  his  own  sense  of  Christian  duty.  He, 
therefore,  immediately  wrote  to  his  son  Alexander  in- 
forming him  of  his  intention,  and  began  to  settle  up  his 
business  in  order  to  a  removal.  Alexander,  in  reply, 
\immediately  proposed  to  him  to  come  and  assist  him  in 
the  Buffalo  Seminary,  and  having  agreed  to  t!iis,  he 
removed  as  soon  as  his  arrangements  were  completed, 


MTDDLETOWX  AND   VI C IX IT T. 


497 


and  ai^ain  settled  his  familv  in  Washinfjton  countv, 
PennsA'lvania,  near  the  villanre  of  West  Middletown.  so 
termed,  because  it  was  half  wav  between  Washington 
and  Charlestown,  the  name  of  which  latter  place  was, 
about  this  time,  changed  to  Welisburg.  The  country 
about  Middletown  has  the  general  character  of  the 
upland  of  this  region.  The  village  is  placed  upon  a 
liigh  and  narrow  ridge,  along  which  passes  the  public 
highway  to  Washington,  forming  the  only  street.  Upon 
the  left,  lookintj  eastward,  the  ridfje  rapidlv  declines 
into  a  deep  and  somewhat  narrow  vallev.  which  stretches 
away  for  several  miles  with  its  rich  fields  and  green 
meadows,  through  which  a  bright  and  gurgling  stream- 
let wends  its  wa}'.  Upon  the  right,  the  ridge  for  a  short 
distance  widens,  and  then  ^^raduallv  sinks  into  the  vallev 
of  Brush  Run,  which,  toward  the  south-west,  presents 
a  charming  prospect  of  wooded  slopes  and  cultivated 
farms,  lo^ng  itself  at  length  in  the  distant  deeper 
gorges  of  the  clear  and  rapid  Buffalo.  Westward  of 
the  town,  the  ridge,  after  rising  into  a  lofty  and  conical 
hill,  spreads  itself  out  into  a  gently  undulating  couutrv 
which  reaches  to  the  steep  declivities  of  Cross  Creek. 
It  was  in  the  upper  part  of  the  Brush  Run  vallev.  upon 
a  farm  about  two  miles  from  the  village,  that  Thomas 
Campbell  now  placed  his  family,  who,  from  this  time, 
conV'nued  to  reside  in  this  vicinity.  He,  himself,  spent, 
the  most  of  the  time  at  his  son  Alexander's,  about  seven 
miles  distant,  in  assisting  to  conduct  the  school  :  and 
he  resumed  the  pastoral  care  of  the  Brush  Run  Church 
which  he  had  planted  about  ten  years  betore. 

It  might  be  thought  that  as  slaverv  existed  in  \"ii- 
ginia  as  well  as  in  Kentucky,  Thomas  Campbell,  \n 
becoming  an  assistant  in  a  Virginia  seminarv,  had  not 
alteied  his  circumstances  in  regard  to  this  institution. 

VOL.  L — 2  G  42  * 


49^       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


It  is  to  be  remembered,  however,  that  he  had  placed 
his  family,  in  regard  to  which  he  felt  the  chief  anxiety, 
in  Pennsylvania,  and  that  the  Brush  Run  Church  met 
in  the  same  State,  only  a  few  miles  distant  from  his 
son's  residence.  It  is  to  be  noted,  also,  that  in  this  part 
of  Virginia,  bordering  upon  the  free  States  of  Penn- 
sylvania and  Ohio,  slavery  had  in  fact  an  existence 
merely  nominal.  There  were  very  few  slaves,  and 
these  remained  with  their  masters  simply  because  they 
were  pleased  to  do  so,  as  escape  was  easy.  The  people 
of  these  border  counties  had  but  little  interest  in  the 
institution,  and  though  willing  to  maintain  the  laws  of 
the  State  in  regard  to  it,  many  violations  of  these  were 
tacitly  allowed.  The  few  slaves  found  in  this  region 
were,  with  scarcely  an  exception,  treated  as  kindly  as 
the  free  laborers,  and  although  the  law  forbade  teach- 
ing them  to  read,  no  one  was  molested  for  doing  it,  and 
a  freedom  of  speech  was  allowed  in  reference  to  slavery 
which  would  not  have  been  tolerated  in  the  interior. 
The  follow^ing  extracts  from  a  work  published  soon 
after  (in  1824)  at  Wellsburg,  the  county  seat  of 
Brooke,  in  which  Mr.  Campbell  resided,  may  serve  as 
an  illustration  of  this ;  and  now  that  the  institution  has 
for  ever  passed  away,  they  must  appear  to  the  thought- 
ful mind  singularly  prophetic.  The  author,  Dr.  Joseph 
Doddridge,  was  the  Episcopal  minister  in  Wellsburg,  a 
brother  of  the  eminent  law3'er,  Philip  Doddridge,  and 
a  warm  personal  friend  of  Mr.  Campbell,  whom  he 
frequently  visited.  In  speaking  of  the  aborigines,  and 
discussing  the  question  of  difference  of  color  among 
men  and  its  results,  he  says : 

"An  African  is  black,  has  a  woolly  head  and  a  flat  nose; 
he  is  therefore  not  entitled  to  the  rights  of  human  nature  I 


AMERICAN  SLAVERY. 


499 


But  he  is  a  docile  being,  possessed  of  but  little  pride  of  indvs- 
pendence.  and  a  subject  of  the  softer  passions,  who,  rather 
than  risk  his  life  in  the  defence  of  his  liberty,  will  '  take  the 
pittance  and  the  lash.'  He  is  therefore  a  proper  subject  for 
slavery ! 

"  The  Indian  has  a  copper-colored  skin,  and  therefore  the 
rights  of  human  nature  do  not  belong  to  him  !  But  he  will 
not  work,  and  his  high  sense  of  independence  and  strong 
desire  of  revenge  would  place  in  danger  the  property  and  life 
of  the  oppressor  who  should  attempt  to  force  him  to  labor. 
He  is  therefore  to  be  exterminated,  or  at  least  despoiled  of 
his  country,  and  driven  to  some  remote  region  where  he  must 
perish  ! 

"  Such  has  been,  and  such  still  is,  to  a  certain  extent,  the 
logic  of  nations  possessed  of  all  the  science  of  the  world  ! — 
Of  Christian  nations  ! — How  horrid  the  features  of  that  slaveiy 
to  which  this  logic  has  given  birth  !  The  benevolent  heart 
bleeds  at  the  thought  of  the  cruelties  which  have  always 
accompanied  it.  Amongst  the  Mohammedans,  as  soon  as  the 
Christian  slave  embraces  the  religion  of  his  master,  he  is  free  ; 
but  among  the  followers  of  the  Messiah,  the  slave  may  indeed 
embrace  the  religion  of  his  master,  but  he  still  remains  a 
slave,  although  a  Christian  brother. 

"  It  is  a  curious  circumstance  that  while  our  missionaries 
are  generously  traversing  the  most  inhospitable  re'^ions,  and 
endeavoring  with  incessant  toil  to  give  the  science  of  Europe 
and  America,  together  with  the  Christian  revelation,  to  the 
benighted  pagans,  most  of  the  legislatures  of  our  slave-hold- 
ing Sntes  have  made  it  a  highly  penal  offence  to  teach  a 
slave  J.  single  letter.  While,  at  great  expense  and  waste  of 
valuaDle  lives,  we  are  endeavoring  to  teach  the  natives  of 
Africa  the  use  of  letters,  no  one  durst  attempt  to  do  the  same 
thing  for  the  wretched  descendants  of  that  ill-fated  people, 
bound  in  the  fetters  of  slavery  in  America.  Thus  our  slavery 
chains  the  soul  as  well  as  the  body.  Would  a  Musselman 
hinder  his  slave  from  learning  to  read  the  Alcoran  Surely 
he  vvould  not. 


500       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


"  We  are  often  told  by  slaveholders  that  they  would  will- 
ingly give  freedom  to  their  slaves  if  they  could  do  it  with 
safety  : — if  they  could  get  rid  of  them  when  free  :  but  are 
they  more  dangerous  when  free  than  when  in  slavery  !  But 
admitting  the  fact  that,  owing  to  their  ignorance,  stupidity 
and  bad  habits,  they  are  unfit  for  freedom,  we  ourselves  have 
ma<^e  them  so.  We  debase  them  to  the  condition  of  brutes, 
aiid  then  use  that  debasement  as  an  argument  for  perpetuating 
their  slavery. 

"  I  will  conclude  this  digression  with  the  eloquent  language 
of  President  JeMerson  on  the  subject:  '  Human  liberty  is  the 
gift  of  God,  and  cannot  be  violated  but  in  his  wrath.  Indeed 
I  tremble  for  my  country,  when  I  reflect  that  God  is  just  and 
that  his  justice  cannot  sleep  for  ever  ;  that,  considering  num- 
bers, nature  and  natural  means  only,  a  revolution  of  the  wheel 
of  fortune,  an  exchange  of  situation  is  among  the  possible 
events  :  it  may  become  probable  by  supernatural  interference. 
The  Almighty  has  no  attribute  which  can  take  sides  with  us 
in  such  a  contest.' " 

Again,  in  speaking  of  the  cruel  scourging  of  the 
negroes  which  he  had  witnessed  while  at  school  in 
Maryland,  he  says  : 

"  The  recollections  of  the  tortures  which  I  witnessed  so 
early  in  life,  is  still  a  source  of  affliction  to  my  mind. 
Twenty-four  hours  never  pass  during  which  my  imagination 
does  not  present  me  with  the  afflicting  view  of  the  slave 
or  servant  writhing  beneath  the  lashes  of  his  master,  and 
cringing  from  the  brine  with  which  he  salted  his  stripes. 

During  my  stay  of  three  years  in  the  region  of  slavery, 
my  only  consolation  was,  that  the  time  would  come  in  which 
the  master  and  slave  would  exchange  situations  :  that  the 
former  would  receive  the  punishment  due  to  his  cruelty,  while 
the  latter  should  find  rest  from  his  toils  and  sufierings  in  the 
kingdom  of  heaven.  The  master  I  regarded  as  Dives  who 
after  '  being  clothed  in  purple  and  fine  linen  and  faring 
sumptuously  every  day,'  must   soon  'lift  his   eves  in  uell. 


OPINIONS  IN  WEST  VIRGINIA. 


being  in  torment.'    The  slave  was  Lazarus,  who  after  closing 
his  siifiering  in  death,  was  to  be  '  carried  bv  the  .'rngels  into  - 
Abraham's  bosom.' 

From  this  afflicting  state  of  society,  I  returned  to  the 
backwoods,  a  republican,  without  knowing  the  meaning  of 
the  term,  that  is,  with  an  utter  detestation  of  the  arbitrary 
power  of  one  man  over  another. 

"  On  reading  this  recital,  the  historian  will  naturally  reflect, 
tliat  personal,  real  or  political  slavery  has,  at  all  times,  been 
the  condition  of  almost,  the  whole  human  race — that  the  his- 
tory of  man  is  the  history  of  oppressois  and  the  victims  of 
oppression.  Wars,  bastiles,  prisons,  crosses,  gibbets,  tortures, 
scourges  and  fire,  in  the  hands  of  despots,  have  been  the 
instruments  of  spreading  desolation  and  misery  over  the 
earth.  Tlie  philosoplier  regards  these  means  of  destruction 
and  their  extensive  use  in  all  ages  as  indices  of  the  depravity 
and  ferocity  of  man.  From  the  blood-stained  pages  of  history 
he  turns  with  disgust  and  horror,  and  pronounces  an  involun- 
tary anatliema  on  the  whole  of  his  race. 

"  But  is  the  condition  of  the  world  still  to  remain  the  same.'' 
Are  the  moral  impressions  of  our  nature  to  be  for  ever  sacri- 
ficed at  the  shrine  of  lawless  ambition  }  Is  man,  as  hereto- 
fore, to  be  born  only  to  destroy  or  be  destroyed.  Does  the 
good  Samaritan  see  no  rational  ground  of  hope,  of  better 
things  for  future  ages.'*  We  trust  he  does,  and  that  ages  vet 
to  come  will  witness  the  fulfillment  of  his  benevolent  wishes 
and  predictions." 

Such  were  the  fearless  utterances  which  were  at  this 
period  heard  and  approved  by  many  in  this  portion  of 
Virginia.  As  to  Mr.  Campbell's  own  sentiments  on 
the  subject  of  slavery,  knowing  that  the  relation  of 
master  and  servant  was  recognized  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment, and  the  respective  duties  of  the  parties  distinctly 
described,  he  thought  it  by  no  means  inconsistent  with 
Christian  character  to  assume  the  legal  rights  of  a 
master,  or  to  transfer  those  rights  to  another,  as  he 


502       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


accordingly  did  in  one  or  two  instances.  As  he  did 
not,  however,  any  more  than  his  father,  approve  of 
the  abuses  of  power  connected  with  the  institution,  those 
under  his  charge  had  the  opportunity^  of  learning  to 
read  and  of  receiving  religious  instruction  ;  and,  fur- 
thermore, perceiving  the  institution  as  it  existed  in  the 
United  States  to  be  peculiarly  liable  to  abuses,  he  was 
always  in  favor  of  emancipation,  and  gave  practical  effect 
to  his  principles  in  setting  free  the  two  or  three  slaves  he 
had  under  his  control,  as  soon  as  they  were  sufficienth* 
grown  to  provide  for  themselves.  As  both  father  and  son 
concurred  in  these  views,  and  were  determined  to  keep 
themselves  free  from  all  personal  responsibility  in  regard 
to  slavery,  they  felt  themselves  perfectly  free  to  pursue 
their  reformatory  labors  in  any  part  of  the  country. 
And  as  Thomas  Campbell  had  now  placed  his  family 
where  they  could  never  become  practically  entangled 
in  any  of  the  evils  connected  with  the  institution,  he 
felt  himself  entirely  at  liberty  to  aid  his  son  in  his  labors 
in  Virginia.  Thus  the  two  original  public  advocates 
of  the  Reformation  were,  greatly  to  their  mutual  happi- 
ness, enabled  once  more  to  renew  their  immediate  co- 
operation with  each  other,  and  to  lighten  each  other's 
burdens.  Providence,  however,  was  already  preparing 
for  them  the  assistance  for  which  both  had  longed.  A 
powerful  auxiliary  was  about  to  enter  the  field,  whose 
genius  was  destined  to  promote,  in  an  eminent  degree, 
tlie  interests  of  the  cause,  and  to  modify,  in  some  im- 
portant respects,  the  practical  advocacy  of  the  reform 
atory  movement. 

During  the  previous  year,  there  had  arrived  at  the 
port  of  New  York  a  young  Scotch  Presbyterian,  of 
good  family  and  an  excellent  education,  named  Walter 
Scott,  who  had  been  induced  to  seek  his  fortune  in  the 


ARRIVAL  OF  WALTER  SCOTT.  503 

New  World.  After  forming  some  acquaintances  in 
New  York,  having  a  strong  desire  to  go  to  the  West 
and  see  the  country,  he,  with  a  companion  of  about  the 
same  age,  set  out  for  Pittsburg.  On  account  of  the 
limited  state  of  their  finances,  they  found  it  necessary  to 
perform  the  journey  on  foot,  but  they  felt  emboldened 
to  attempt  the  task  by  that  youthful  buoyancy  of  spirit 
which  hopes  to  surmount  safely  all  obstacles,  and  to  which 
no  undertaking  seems  impracticable.  As  they  journeyed 
on,  their  fatigue  was  often  forgotten  in  their  contempla- 
tion of  the  beautiful  and  varied  landscapes  along  the 
way,  for  Mr.  Scott  possessed  a  fine  taste  for  the  beauties 
of  nature,  and  was  a  great  admirer  of  extensive  pros- 
pects and  wild  mountain  scenery.  But  what  particularly 
cheered  up  the  weary  pedestrians  was  his  lively  humor, 
for,  though  of  a  deeply  conscientious  and  reverential 
spirit,  he  had  nevertheless  a  keen  wit  and  a  quick  per- 
ception of  the  ludicrous,  and  saw  so  many  oddities  in 
the  log-cabins  and  dresses  and  manners  of  the  people, 
and  so  many  to  him  novel  and  ridiculous  objects,  that 
he  kept  himself  and  his  companion  in  almost  perpetual 
merriment.  For  this  unwonted  levity,  however,  he 
took  himself  seriously  to  task,  after  his  arrival  at  Pitts- 
burg, when  sober  thoughts  revived,  deeming  it  quite 
incompatible  with  that  gravity  and  solemnity  which  be- 
longed to  the  Presbyterian  profession. 

At  Pittsburg,  he  soon  became  acquainted  with  his 
countr\'man,  Mr.  Forrester,  by  whom  he  was  very 
kii.dly  and  hospitably  received,  and  in  whose  school  he 
became  for  a  time  an  assistant.  Mr.  Forrester,  in  con- 
versing with  him  frequently  upon  religious  subjects, 
and  directing  his  attention  to  the  Scriptures,  soon  satis- 
fied him  that  infant  baptism  had  no  place  in  the  Bible ; 
-and  after  a  struggle  with  his  educational  prejudices,  he 


504        MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 

at  length  yielded  to  his  convictions  and  was  immersed^ 
Soon  after  this,  Mr.  Forrester,  going  into  other  busi- 
ness, relinquished  the  school  to  him,  which,  under  his 
strict  and  skillful  management,  continued  to  prosper. 
At  this  time,  he  formed  an  acquaintance  with  Mr.  Rich- 
ardson, at  whose  house  he  spent  occasionally  a  pleasant, 
social  evening,  and  who  formed  quite  an  attachment 
to  the  }  oung  Scotchman,  who  seemed  to  combine  the 
freshness,  simplicity  and  enthusiasm  of  a  child  with 
the  accomplishments  of  a  scholar,  and  whose  polite 
manners  and  pleasant  conversation  rendered  him  ever 
a  welcome  guest.  To  him  Mr.  Richardson  committed 
also  the  education  of  his  oldest  son,  Robert,  then  thir- 
teen years  of  age,  who  had  been  some  time  before  a 
pupil  of  Thomas  Campbell,  and  who,  commencing  with 
Mr.  Scott  the  study  of  the  ancient  languages,  was,  by 
judicious  words  of  encouragement,  inspired,  not  only 
with  an  earnest  desire  for  learning,  but  with  the  warmest 
affection  for  his  teacher. 

The  seed  of  the  Word  which  had  been  implanted  in 
the  heart  of  Walter  Scott  had  fallen  into  no  ordinary 
soil.  His  earnest  nature  soon  became  wholly  absorbed 
in  the  stud}'  of  Divine  things.  Every  moment  that 
could  be  spared  from  necessary  duties  was  devoted  to 
the  Bible,  which  had  become  to  him  a  new  book,  open- 
ing up  to  his  astonished  mind  a  world  of  wonders,  of 
which,  amidst  the  misty  atmosphere  of  sectarianism, 
he  had  hardly  dreamed.  Especially  was  he  enraptured 
with  the  simplicity  of  the  gospel,  so  ditTerent  from  the 
involved  and  complex  theological  systems  of  the  day,, 
and  with  the  clear  and  unambiguous  teachings  of  the 
Scriptures,  as  compared  with  those  of  modern  religious 
theorists.  Possessing  an  extraordinary  power  of  analysis 
and  classification,  he  was  soon  enabled  to  arrange  the 


RETURX  TO  NEW  TORK. 


Scripture  teacliing  under  its  appropriate  heads  or  sub- 
jects, and  to  resolve  the  Divine  plan  of  redemption  into 
its  constituent  elements.  Having,  at  the  same  time,  an 
ardent  fancy,  he  saw  in  the  simple  facts  of  the  gospel, 
and  in  its  expressive  ordinances,  a  power  which  he 
believed  capable  of  breaking  down  all  the  barriers  of 
religious  partyism  and  carrying  salvation  to  the  ends 
of  the  earth.  Becoming  more  and  more  occupied  with 
religious  thought,  and  burning  with  zeal  to  impart  to 
others  the  light  which  had  illuminated  his  own  mind* 
the  confinement  and  drudgery  of  the  school  became, 
after  a  few  months,  so  irksome  that  he  was  constrained 
to  abandon  it ;  and,  conceiving  that  he  could  be  most 
useful  in  the  city  of  New  York,  in  connection  with  the 
congreiration  meeting  there,  and  which  was  composed 
of  individuals  holding  the  sentiments  of  the  Haldanes 
and  of  the  Scotch  Baptists,  he,  with  that  precipitation 
which  often  characterized  his  movements,  set  out  once 
more  for  that  cit}'. 

From  the  remarkable  success  which  had  attended  his 
labors  in  the  school,  its  patrons  were  much  grieved  at 
his  departure.  Mr.  Richardson,  especially,  who  most 
highly  appreciated  the  value  of  such  a  teacher,  and 
whose  son,  in  the  warmth  of  his  affection,  ardentlv 
hoped  for  his  return,  determined  to  make  at  least  an 
effort  for  the  purpose,  and  accordingly  proposed  to  a 
few  of  his  intimate  friends  to  unite  with  him  in  makino- 
up  a  good  salary,  and  in  endeavoring  to  persuade  ^Nlr. 
Scott  to  return  and  become  a  private  tutor  for  their 
families.  This  having  been  readily  arranged,  he  at 
once  wrote  to  Mr.  wScott  and  urged  the  matter  upon 
him.  To  this  letter  he  soon  received  a  replv,  full  of 
kind  expressions  and  affectionate  ren^embrances,  and 
intimations  of  disappointed  hopes  and  cloudy  prospects 

43 


5o6       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


in  New  York,  from  which  it  could,  upon  the  whole,  be 
gathered  that  he  would  accept  the  position  offered  him ; 
and,  accordingly,  about  two  weeks  afterward,  Mr. 
Scott  himself  appeared  at  Mr.  Richardson's,  dusty  and 
travel-worn,  having  again  walked  the  whole  distance 
on  foot,  coming  this  time,  by  way  of  variety,  through 
Washington  City.  Being  welcomed  with  all  the  warmth 
of  Irish  hospitalit}',  he  at  once  became  an  inmate  of 
Mr.  Richardson's  family,  and  an  apartment  was  as- 
signed him  in  his  spacious  house,  where  he  could  daily 
assemble  his  pupils,  amounting  in  all  to  about  fifteen — 
a  number  which  was  not  to  be  increased,  his  patrons 
believing  that  by  confining  his  attention  to  a  few,  the 
rapidity  of  their  progress  and  the  thoroughness  of  their 
instruction  would  more  than  compensate  for  the  in- 
creased expense.  In  this  respect  their  anticipations 
were  more  than  realized,  and,  under  this  arrangement, 
results  were  attained  which  had  never  before  been 
reached  by  any  school  in  the  city.  Mr.  Scott  possessed 
a  peculiar  tact  as  a  teacher,  having  a  quick  perception 
of  character,  and  knowing  well  how  to  excite  the  dili 
gent,  rouse  the  slothful  and  punish  the  disobedient 
Though  kind  in  his  feelings,  he  pursued  the  strict 
system  of  discipline  to  which  he  had  been  accustomed 
in  Europe,  and  which  required  ferfect  order  and  accu- 
rate recitations,  or,  as  an  alternative,  the  arguiJientum 
hacctilintun.'''  The  exuberance  of  his  youthful  hopes 
having  been  pruned  by  his  late  experience,  he  now 
pursued  his  educational  labors  with  great  satisfaction, 
and  renewed  with  unabated  interest  his  religious  asso- 
ciation with  Mr.  Forrester  and  his  little  congregation, 
to  which  body  a  sudden  calamit}  soon  after  obliged  him 
to  assume  a  more  important  relation. 

Late  on  a  pleasant  summer  evening,  a  hast}'  messen- 


CENTRAL  TRUTH  OF  CHRISTIANITY.  507 


ger  arrived  to  tell  him  that  Mr.  Forrester  had  been 
drowned.  He  had  gone,  it  appeared,  to  the  Alleghany, 
at  the  upper  part  of  the  town,  to  bathe,  and  ignorant  of 
the  fact  that  in  that  place  there  was  an  old  wharf,  now 
concealed  beneath  the  water,  lie,  unfortunately,  in  wad- 
ing out  into  the  stream,  unexpectedh'  stepped  off  this 
structure  and  found  himself  suddenly  in  deep  water. 
Being  unable  to  swim,  and  no  efficient  help  being  at 
hand,  he  was  speedily  drowned,  and  it  was  so  long 
before  the  body  could  be  recovered  that  all  attempts  at 
reanimation  were  fruitless.  This  sad  event  was  a  <jreat 
affliction  to  one  of  Mr.  Scott's  affectionate  and  sympa- 
thetic nature,  and  upon  him  now  devolved  the  task 
of  comforting  and  assisting  the  bereaved  widow  and 
orphans,  as  well  as  of  watching  over  and  instructing 
the  church  which  Mr.  Forrester  had  formed.  This  to 
him,  however,  was  a  labor  of  love,  and  he  devoted 
himself  more  ardently  than  ever  to  the  study  of  the 
Bible.  He  was  accustomed  daily  to  commit  portions 
of  it  to  memory,  and  long  after  midnight  would  often 
be  found  still  deeply  engaged  in  his  earnest  inquiries. 
Above  all  things,  he  seemed  to  be  impressed  with  the 
Divine  glory  of  the  Redeemer  in  all  his  personal  and 
official  relations.  In  the  exercise  of  his  analytical 
power,  he  soon  discovered  that  the  testimonies  of  Mat- 
thew, Mark,  Luke  and  John  were  written  for  one 
great  specific  object,  and  that  this  was  to  prove  the 
proposition  that  '■'Jesus  is  the  Christy  the  Son  of  God^""* 
and  that  this  constituted  the  central  truth  and  the  great 
essential  element  of  Christianit3^  He  had  thus,  by  a 
different  process,  reached  the  same  stand-point  which 
Mr.  Campbell  had  attained  in  eliminating  from  the 
Christian  faith  everything  that  was  foreign  to  its  nature. 
Upon  this  theme,  Mr.  Scott  delighted  to  dwell.    For  a 


5oS       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


considerable  time  he  delivered,  as  his  first  efforts  at 
public  speaking,  interesting  lectures  upon  it  to  the  little 
church,  which  was  accustomed  to  assemble  in  the  court- 
house. The  beauty  of  the  character  of  Christ  seemed 
to  be  the  subject  of  his  continual  meditation  and  the 
model  for  his  daily  life.  As,  from  the  confinement  and 
labor  attendant  upon  his  arduous  duties,  he  grew  tliin 
and  pale,  Mr.  Richardson's  son,  Robert,  who  was  now 
friend  and  companion,  as  much  as  pupil,  would  some- 
times invite  him  to  walk  out  of  an  evening  to  his  father's 
garden  in  the  vicinity  of  the  city  ;  but  his  mind  could 
not  be  divorced,  even  amidst  such  recreations,  from  the 
high  theme  which  occupied  it.  Nature,  in  all  its  forms, 
seemed  to  speak  to  hitn  only  of  its  Creator ;  and  al- 
though, gentle  and  aflJectionate  as  he  was,  he  sought 
ever  to  interest  himself  in  the  things  that  interested 
others,  his  mind  would  constantly  revert  to  its  ruling 
tliought,  and  some  little  incident  in  their  ramble,  some 
casual  remark  in  their  conversation,  would  at  once  open 
up  the  fountain  of  religious  thought  which  seemed  to 
be  ever  seeking  for  an  outlet.  Thus,  for  instance,  if 
his  pupil  would  present  him  with  a  rose,  while  he  ad- 
mired its  tints  and  inhaled  its  fragrance,  he  would  ask 
in  a  tone  of  deep  feeling:  "Do  you  know,  my  dear, 
why  in  the  Scriptures  Christ  is  called  the  Rose  of 
Sharon?"  If  the  answer  was  not  ready,  he  would 
reply  himself :  "It  is  because  the  rose  of  Sharon  has 
no  thorns,"  and  would  then  go  on  to  make  a  few  touch- 
in  remarks  on  the  beautiful  traits  in  the  character  of 
the  Saviour.  Then,  in  the  exercise  of  his  powers  jf 
accurate  perception,  and  his  love  of  analysis  and  object- 
teaching,  descanting  on  the  special  characteristics  of 
the  flow  er,  and  calling  attention  to  the  various  elements 
which  by  their  assemblage,  produced  such  a  ciiarming 


INTRODUCTION  TO   WALTER  SCOTT.  509 


result — the  cjraceful  curvinfj  lines  that  bounded  the 
petals  and  the  Ibliage,  so  much  more  beautiful  than  the 
straight  and  parallel  edges  of  the  blades  of  grass  or 
maize  ;  the  winding  veinlets,  the  delicate  shadings  of 
carmine  and  their  contrast  with  the  green  foliage,  the 
gi  ac  eful  attitude  assumed  by  the  flower,  as,  poising  itself 
upon  its  stem  armed  with  thorns,  it  shone  resplendent  in 
queenly  beauty,  he  would  pass,  by  a  natural  and  easy 
transition,  to  dwell  yet  again  upon  the  infinite  power 
and  glorious  perfections  of  the  Creator — the  Word  that 

was  God,"  that  was  in  the  beginning  with  God," 
and  "without  whom  nothing  was  made  that  was  made." 
Xor  did  he  neglect  even  amidst  the  daily  duties  of  the 
sciiool-room  to  lead  the  minds  of  his  pupils  to  similar 
contemplations,  so  that  they  might  be  induced  to  "look 
through  nature  up  to  nature's  God."  The  revelations 
of  God  in  the  Bible,  however,  formed  his  chief  delight, 
and  in  accordance  with  his  feelings,  he  took  especial 
pains  to  familiarize  the  students  of  the  ancient  tongues 
with  the  Greek  of  the  New  Testament,  for  which  pur- 
pose he  caused  them  to  commit  it  largely  to  memory, 
so  that  some  of  them  could  repeat,  chapter  by  chapter, 
the  wiiole  of  the  four  gospels  of  Matthew,  Mark,  Luke 
and  John  in  the  Greek  language.  It  was  also  his 
invariable  practice  to  require  memorized  recitations  of 
portions  of  the  ancient  classic  authors,  as  well  as  written 
translations  of  them.  These  tasks,  irksome  to  those  of 
fec!?le  memory,  and  exacted  perhaps,  in  some  cases, 
with  too  much  rigor,  tended  nevertheless  to  improve 
the  pupils  in  taste  and  accuracy,  and  to  store  their  minds 
with  charming  passages  for  use  in  future  life. 

Mr.  Campbell's  continement  at  home,  on  account  of 
his  duties  in  the  seminary,  had,  for  a  long  time,  pre- 
vented him  from  visiting  Pittsburg,  and  that  his 

43* 


5IO       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


father's  presence  enabled  him  to  do  this,  it  can  easily 
be  imagined  with  what  pleasure  he  formed  the  acquaint- 
ance of  Mr.  Scott,  and  found  in  him  a  congenial  spirit, 
coinciding  with  him  in  regard  to  the  distinguishing 
features  of  the  reformatory  movement,  and  prepared  by 
education,  natural  abilities  and  piety  to  become  such  a 
fellow-laborer  as  he  had  long  desired.  They  conceived 
for  each  other,  therefore,  at  once,  the  warmest  personal 
esteem — an  esteem  which  was  based  perhaps  less  upon 
those  points  in  their  respective  characters  in  which  they 
agreed,  than  upon  those  in  which  they  differed.  For 
although  their  mutual  reverence  for  Divine  things,  their 
earnest  desire  for  religious  reformation,  their  zeal  and 
piety,  their  devotion,  their  Christian  faith  and  love,  cer- 
tainly united  them  strongly  to  each  other,  these  were 
qualities  possessed  also  by  others,  and  constituting  with 
them  all  in  common  the  bond  of  fellowship  and  union. 
But  the  different  hues  in  the  characters  of  these  tw'a 
eminent  men  were  such  as  to  be,  so  to  speak,  comple- 
mentary to  each  other,  and  to  form,  by  their  harmonious 
blending,  a  completeness  and  a  brilliancy  which  ren- 
dered their  society  peculiarly  delightful  to  each  other. 
Thus,  while  Mr.  Campbell  was  fearless,  self-reliant 
and  firm,  Mr.  Scott  was  naturally  timid,  diffident  and 
yielding ;  and,  w^hile  the  former  was  calm,  steady  and 
prudent,  the  latter  was  excitable,  variable  and  precipi- 
tate. The  one  like  the  north  star  was  ever  in  position, 
unaffected  by  terrestrial  influences ;  the  other,  like  the 
magnetic  needle,  was  often  disturbed  and  trembling  on 
its  centre,  yet  ever  returning  or  seeking  to  return  to  its 
true  direction.  Both  were  nobly  endowed  with  the 
powers  of  higher  reason— a  delicate  self-consciousness, 
a  decided  will  and  a  clear  perception  of  truth.  But,  as 
it  regards  the  other  departments  of  the  inner  nature,  in 


MENTAL  AND  PERSONAL  CONTRASTS. 


5" 


Mr.  Campbell  the  understanding  predominated,  in  Mr. 
Scott  the  feelings;  and,  if  the  former  excelled  in 
imagination,  the  latter  was  superior  in  brilliancy  of 
fancy.  If  the  tendency  of  one  was  to  generalize,  to 
take  wide  and  extended  views  and  to  group  a  multitude 
of  particulars  under  a  single  head  or  principle,  that  of 
the  other  was  to  analyze,  to  divide  subjects  into  their 
particulars  and  consider  their  details.  If  the  one  was 
disposed  to  trace  analogies  and  evolve  the  remotest 
correspondences  of  relations,  the  other  delighted  in 
comparisons  and  sought  for  the  resemblances  of  things. 
If  the  one  possessed  the  inductive  power  of  the  philoso- 
pher, the  other  had,  in  a  more  delicate  musical  faculty 
and  more  active  ideality,  a  larger  share  of  the  attributes 
of  the  poet.  In  a  word,  in  almost  all  those  qualities 
of  mind  and  character,  which  might  be  regarded  differ- 
ential or  distinctive,  they  were  singularly  fitted  to  supply 
each  other's  wants  and  to  form  a  rare  and  delightful 
companionship.  Nor  were  their  differences  in  personal 
appearance  and  physical  constitution  less  striking  or 
less  susceptible  of  agreeable  contrast.  For  while  Mr. 
Campbell  was  tall,  vigorous  and  athletic,  Mr.  Scott 
was  not  above  the  average  height,  slender  and  rather 
spare  in  person,  and  possessed  of  little  muscular 
strength.  While  the  aspect  of  the  one  was  ever  lively 
and  cheerful,  even  in  repose,  that  of  the  other  was 
abstracted,  meditative,  and  sometimes  had  even  an  air 
of  sadness.  Their  features,  too,  were  very  different. 
Mr.  Campbell's  face  had  no  straight  lines  in  it.  Even 
his  nose,  already  arched,  was  turned  slightly  to  the 
right,  and  his  eyes  and  hair  were  comparatively  light. 
Mr.  Scott's  nose  was  straight,  his  lips  rather  full  but 
delicately  chiseled,  his  eyes  dark  and  lustrous,  full  of 
intelligence  and  softness,  and  without  the  peculiar  eagle- 


512       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


glance  so  striking  in  Mr.  Campbell,  while  his  hair, 
clustering  above  his  fine  ample  forehead,  was  black  as 
the  raven's  wing. 

Such  were  some  of  the  prominent  contrasts  of  these 
two  eminent  advocates  of  reformation,  who  were  hence- 
forth destined  to  share  each  other's  labors  and  trials,  to 
promote  each  other's  discoveries  of  truth,  and  to  emulate 
each  other  in  their  efforts  to  restore  the  pure  primitive 
apostolic  gospel  to  the  world. 


CHAPTER  XXIIl. 


< 'ixil  and  Keliginus  Freedom — "Moral  Societies"  of  Washington  County- 
Spiritual  Despotism — Vindication  of  Human  Rights. 

IT  is  a  mistake  to  suppose  that  religious  freedom  is 
the  result  of  ci\il  hbert\-.  The  reverse  of  this  is 
true,  that  civil  liberty  springs  from  religious  freedom. 
Such  republics  as  those  of  Greece  and  Rome  were  pos- 
sible under  a  rehgious  s}  stem  tliat  conceded  universal 
toleration,  and  where  every  one  was  permitted  freelv  to 
worship,  after  his  own  fashion,  his  own  divinity  ;  but 
could  have  no  existence  under  the  religious  despotism 
of  the  Persian  tire-worship  or  that  of  the  Egyptian 
Osiris.  When  the  gospel  was  first  introduced,  its 
refusal  to  tolerate  any  species  of  idolatry  became, 
therefore,  among  the  Greeks  and  Romans,  its  chief 
oflence.  They  could  not  endure  the  exclusive  claim 
of  a  religious  autocracy  which  seemed  but  the  harbinger 
of  civil  bondage,  and  were  unwilling  to  exchange  the 
outward  license  of  polytheism  for  the  spiritual  freedom 
which  Christ  offered  to  bestow.  They  had  but  little 
conception,  indeed,  of  that  freedom  of  the  soul  from 
ignorance  and  sinful  bondage,  and  that  liberation  of  the 
conscience  from  a  sense  of  guilt,  which  the  gospel 
aflbrded,  and  had  failed,  as  yet,  to  comprehend  that 
glorious  liberty  which,  like  that  of  the  sparkling  waters 
of  the  streamlet  or  the  motions  of  the  *'  view  less  air," 
can  be  enjoyed  only  in  a  strict  conformity  to  the  laws 
vol-  I, — 2  II  513 


514       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


of  God.  It  was  not  until  Christianity  had  sufficiently 
proved  its  tendency  to  make  men  gentle  and  obedient ;. 
patient  and  forbearing  ;  willing  to  concede  to  all  their 
just  rights,  and  employing  in  behalf  of  their  cause  na 
influence  but  persuasion,  that  it  became  acceptable  and 
prevalent  throughout  the  Roman  empire.  It  was  not 
long,  however,  until,  through  the  ambition  and  envy  of 
rival  bishops,  there  arose  a  contest  for  precedence  and 
power.  Shackles  were  imposed  upon  men's  minds  by 
decrees  of  councils ;  the  rights  of  private  judgment 
were  refused,  and  what  there  was  of  civil  liberty  per- 
ished when  civil  government  became  at  length  the 
subservient  instrument  of  spiritual  t3Tanny. 

Amidst  the  increasing  gloom  which  gradually  en- 
veloped the  nations,  there  was  soon  revealed,  according 
to  prophecy,  that  bold  and  undisguised  form  of  religious 
absolutism,  termed  the  Papacy.  It  was  said  of  the 
Romans,  as  Tacitus  relates,  that  in  subduing  the  nations 

they  made  a  desolation  and  called  it  peace."  Thus, 
in  like  manner,  the  Papal  power,  in  endeavoring  to 
extirpate  its  opposers  as  heretics ;  in  denying  to  the 
people  all  liberty  of  thought,  and  in  obliterating  every 
landmark  of  the  mind's  own  possessions,  created, 
wherever  it  moved,  that  fatal  and  mortuary  peace  that 
springs  from  moral  and  spiritual  desolation.  In  this 
respect  Catholicism  has,  indeed,  ever  been  trul}'  Roman. 
Nor  is  the  analogy  less  striking  as  to  the  extent  of  its 
empire  and  the  efforts  it  has  made  to  crush  out  every 
struggle  for  civil  liberty,  except  in  the  few  and  doubtful 
instances  where  policy  demanded  a  certain  degree  of 
concession  to  surrounding  circumstances.  The  history 
of  the  world  proves  that  the  same  spirit  prevails,  more 
or  less,  in  every  religious  national  establishment,  and 
in  every  religious  representative  assembly,  and  thai  it 


RELIGIOUS  AND  CIVIL  LIBERTY,  5 15 

will  inevitably  display  itself  when  any  one  of  them  is 
allowed  to  exercise  power  in  political  affairs,  Proposi- 
tions to  remove  civil  disabilities,  or  to  enlarge  the  pre- 
cincts within  which  the  masses  are  confined,  never 
proceed  from  the  bishops  of  England  or  from  the  clergy 
in  any  land  where  they  are  permitted  to  have  a  voice 
in  civil  affairs.  On  the  contrary,  they  are  found  ever 
to  resist  reforms,  and,  from  an  instinctive  antipathy,  to 
detest  liberal  ideas.  Hence  it  was  that  Great  Britain 
never  truly  possessed  herself  of  the  great  principles  of 
civil  liberty  until  the  hierarchical  powers  were  over- 
thrown, and  the  Independents,  under  Cromwell,  learned 
from  their  religious  freedom  the  lesson  of  universal 
emancipation.  Hence,  too,  as  it  was  the  Independent 
and  former  Puritan,  Roger  Williams,  who  first  secured 
the  constitutional  grant  of  liberty  of  conscience,  so  it 
was  this  inestimable  boon  which  ultimately  gave  to  this 
favored  land  the  truest  and  noblest  conception  and 
enjoyment  of  the  rights  of  man.  In  all  cases  it  will 
be  found  that  "  soul-freedo7n^^''  as  Roger  Williams  used 
to  term  religious  liberty,  preceded  and  gave  origin,  form 
and  character  to  every  effort  for  the  attainment  of  civil 
freedom  ;  and  as  the  latter  is  speedily  lost  when  the 
rights  of  conscience  and  of  private  judgment  are  denied, 
it  behooves  all  lovers  of  liberty  to  watch,  with  jealous 
eye,  the  movements  of  religious  bodies  which  claim  the 
right  to  dictate  articles  of  faith,  and  to  repel  with 
promptitude  their  attempts  to  acquire  political  influenc(j 
or  to  obtain  control  of  legal  power.  Such  attempts 
have  been  made  more  than  once  already,  even  in  this 
country,  and  it  is  of  these  that  the  course  of  the  narra- 
tive now  renders  it  necessary  to  speak. 

It  has  been  already  mentioned  that  Presbyterianism 
had  almost  entire  control  of  the  population  in  Western 


5l6       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL, 


Penns3^1vania,  and  especially  in  Washington  county. 
It  was  naturally  to  be  expected,  therefore,  that  the 
spirit  of  the  prevailing  religion  would  hnd  expression 
more  or  less  in  the  local  laws  and  regulations,  and  that 
these  in  turn  would  reveal  the  character  and  real 
tendency  of  this  religion.  Too  inattentive  to  the  proba- 
bility of  this  latter  result,  and  too  confident  in  the  pos- 
session of  power,  the  adherents  of  the  dominant  party 
in  Washington  county  had  commenced,  in  1815,  a 
system  of  espionage  and  of  arbitrary  coercion,  with 
respect  to  the  people,  which  seemed  to  revive  the  spirit 
of  the  old  Puritan  codes,*  and  which  at  the  present 
day  no  Western  community  would  for  a  moment  endure. 
This  system  it  was  attempted  to  establish  through  the 
agency  of  what  were  called  "moral  societies,"  organ- 
ized for  the  reputable  purpose  of  "suppressing  vice 
and  immorality,"  which  seemed,  in  the  estimation  ot 
the  founders  of  these  societies,  to  form  two  different 
categories.  But  the  nature  of  these  organizations,  and 
the  plausibility  of  the  reasons  by  which  it  was  at- 
tempted to  justify  them,  will  be  best  seen  from  their 
own  records.  Thus,  it  is  related  that  on  the  4th  day  of 
April,  181 5 — 

"At  a  meeting  of  a  number  of  the  citizens  of  the  borough 
of  Washington,  to  take  into  consideration  the  expediency  of 
forming  an  Association  for  the  suppression  of  vice  and  im- 
morality, James  Brice  was  called  to  the  chair  and  Obadiah 
Jennings  was  appointed  secretary.  Whereupon  it  was  re- 
solved to  form  an  Association  for  the  suppression  of  im- 


*  Reference  is  here  made  to  the  rigid  municipal  regulations  of  tKe  Pilgrim 
Fathers,  and  not  to  what  are  termed  the  "  Blue  Laws  of  Connecticut,"  which 
never  had  any  actual  existence,  but  were  first  published  in  London  in  1781 
as  a  satire  upon  the  severity  of  the  Puritans,  by  a  tory  Churchman  named 
Samuel  Peters,  who  had  been  expelled  from  New  England. 


ADDRESS  OF  MORAL  SOCIETT. 


morality."  Certain  rules  were  then  adopted  as  the  constitu 
tion  of  the  "Washington  Moral  Society."  In  this  constitu- 
tion, it  is  made  the  duty  of  every  member  "  actively  to  pro- 
mote the  objects  of  the  Association  by  giving  information 
against  any  one  known  to  be  guilty  of  profane  swearing, 
Sabbath-breaking,  intoxication,  unlawful  gaming,  keeping  a 
disorderly  public  house,  or  any  other  active  immoridity  pun- 
ished by  the  Commonwealth."  It  was  further  enjoined  upon 
each  memb.M'  to  "  assist  and  encourage  his  fellow-members  in 
their  duty."  Regular  meetings  were  also  to  be  held  on  the 
first  Monday  of  May,  August,  November  and  February  at 
tJie  Pi'esbyterian  meeting-house  in  the  borougli  of  Wash- 
ington, six  members  forming  a  quorum.  It  is  recommended 
also  that  ''similar  associations  be  formed  in  the  different  parts 
of  the  county."  After  the  constitution,  an  "Address"  was 
adopted,  which,  after  setting  forth,  at  length,  the  evils  of 
"intemperance,  Sabbath-breaking,  swearing,"  etc.,  proceeds 
as  follows : 

"  The  Society  are  desirous  of  calling  the  attention  of  their 
fellow-citizens  more  particularly  to  the  aforesaid  vices,  not 
only  because  they  are  deemed  amongst  the  most  criminal 
and  destructive,  but  also  because  they  are  more  generally 
permitted  to  pass  with  impunity  than  many  others  of  a  less 
malignant  character.  At  the  same  time,  it  is  confidently 
believed  that  there  is  a  sufficient  amount  of  moral  influence 
in  the  community,  if  combined  ^nd  vigorously  directed,  to 
afford  an  effectual  corrective.  We  would  suggest  the  import- 
ance of  forming  similar  associations  in  every  part  of  our 
country.  Some  have  recently  been  formed  in  this  county, 
and  the  good  effects  are  already  visible.  Can  any  one  dou'dt 
the  light  or  question  the  propriety  of  such  associations?  Is 
it  not  the  indispensable  duty  of  every  member  of  society  to 
promote  it?  welfare,  and  prevent,  according  to  his  ability, 
everything  which  vv^ould  be  destructive  of  its  interests  and 
prosperity .?" 

It  then  goes  on  to  speak  of  the  increase  of  im- 

44 


-)iS       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL, 


morality,  and  among  other  things  mentions  the  fact 
that  while  in  1802  there  were  only  fifty-five  taverns  in 
Washington  county,  there  were  then  one  hundred  and 
fifteen,  a  ratio  of  increase  much  greater  than  that  of 
population. 

Under  the  influence  of  these  moral  societies,  estab- 
lished throughout  the  county,  a  strict  watch  was  at 
once  set  over  the  behavior  of  every  individual ;  local 
laws  were  passed  in  reference  to  the  vices  named,  and 
the  magistrates  were  stimulated  to  a  rigid  enforcement 
of  them.  The  societies  were,  indeed,  in  their  incep- 
tion, simply  organized  bands  of  informers,  though, 
emboldened  by  the  submission  of  the  people,  their 
members  soon  began  to  make  arrests  without  civil  pro- 
cess or  legal  authority.  As  they  pursued  their  voca- 
tion with  enterprising  zeal,  many  violations  of  the  laws 
were  detected  and  exposed,  and  every  member  of  the 
community  soon  found  himself  to  be  under  a  sort  of 
inquisitorial  scrutiny  that  was  as  strict  as  it  was  novel, 
and  as  distasteful  to  the  feelings  of  many  true  friends 
of  morality  as  it  was  incompatible  wath  the  spirit  of 
republican  freedom.  For  a  considerable  time,  how- 
ever, the  moral  societies  had  everything  their  own  way. 
Murmurs  and  complaints,  indeed,  there  were,  but  no 
one  had  the  hardihood  to  oppose,  publicly,  proceedings 
which  were  professedly  in  the  interest  of  moralit}^  and 
which,  in  many  instances,  no  doubt  secured  the  out- 
ward observance  of  its  rules.  No  one  that  had  the 
least  regard  for  his  popularity  would  venture  to  oppose 
the  strict  enforcement  of  the  laws ;  and  although  many 
were  sensible  that  there  was  certainly  an  undue  exer- 
cise of  power,  or  some  false  principle  involved  in  such 
proceedings,  there  seemed  to  be  no  one  capable  of 
detecting  it,  or  willing  to  bring  down  upon  himself  the 


OPERATIONS  OF  MORAL  SOCIETIES.  519 


odium  of  the  clergy  and  of  the  dominant  religious 
party.  Nevertheless,  the  burden  imposed  upon  the 
people  seemed  to  grow  heavier  the  longer  it  was 
borne,  and  a  good  deal  of  discontent  began  to  manifest 
itself.  Those  who  had  been  fined  through  the  moral 
sci.ieties,  began  to  scrutinize  more  closely  the  conduct 
of  the  members  composing  them,  and,  in  many  cases, 
soon  found  that  these  self-constituted  custodians  of  the 
public  morals  were  themselves  guilty  of  offences  simi- 
lar to  those  which  they  condemned  in  others.  The 
nature  and  operation  of  these  societies,  as  well  as  the 
piety  and  consistency  of  their  members,  will,  however,, 
be  better  understood  by  a  recital  of  actual  occurrences. 

On  one  occasion,  a  Mr.  Martin,  near  Washington,^ 
had  employed  a  teamster  to  convey  some  produce  for 
him  to  Pittsburg.  Returning  on  Saturday,  they  were 
imable  to  make  the  whole  distance,  and  were  obliged 
to  put  up  for  the  night  within  a  short  distance  of 
Canonsburg.  Setting  out  early  next  morning,  on  their 
way  homeward,  on  entering  the  borough  of  Canons- 
burg, they  were  at  once  stopped  and  informed  that 
they  would  not  be  permitted  to  travel  on  the  "Sabbath.'* 
At  once  acquiescing,  they  put  up  the  horses,  and  re- 
mained at  the  hotel  until  the  next  morning  after  break- 
fast, when  they  again  set  out.  After  leaving  the  vil- 
lage, they  were  overtaken  by  the  constable,  who  de- 
manded of  the  wagoner  the  fine  for  traveling  on  the 
"Sabbath."  This  the  wagoner  refused  to  pay,  and, 
after  some  altercation,  it  appeared  that  the  constable 
had  not  with  him  any  writ  to  enable  him  to  make  an 
arrest.  He  then  said  he  would  go  back  to  town  for  it, 
and  would  overtake  him  before  he  got  to  Washington. 
As  soon  as  he  was  gone,  the  wagoner  got  a  friend  on 
the  way  to  drive  the  wagon  for  him,  and  disappeared. 


520        MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


When  the  constable  overtook  the  team  at  Washington, 
he  was  greatly  enraged  at  being  thus  baffled,  and 
making  considerable  noise,  a  crowd  collected  and 
began  to  dispute  with  him  as  to  his  ability  to  collect 
the  fine  under  the  circumstances.  He  insisted  that  he 
could  and  would  collect  it ;  and  as  he  became  more  and 
more  excited,  one  of  the  bystanders  said  to  another 
privately,  Suppose  you  banter  the  constable  to  bet  ten 
dollars  on  the  collection  of  this  fine.  I  will  then  go  and 
inform  upon  you  both,  and  you  will  both  be  fined,  and 
as  half  the  fine  goes  to  the  informer,  I^will  receive  the 
full  amount  of  your  fine,  which  I  will  hand  over  to  you, 
so  that  you  will  lose  nothing,  and  we  shall  have  some 
sport."  His  friend,  agreeing  to  this,  immediately  pro- 
posed to  bet  with  the  constable,  who,  in  the  excitement 
of  the  moment,  at  once  accepted  the  ofTer.  "Now," 
said  the  originator  of  the  plot  to  him,  "you  have  vio- 
lated the  law  yourself,  which  is  against  betting  as  well 
as  against  Sabbath-breaking  ;  and  it  will  be  my  duty  to 
go  and  inform  upon  you  both."  At  this,  the  constable, 
finding  he  was  caught,  became  quite  crest-fallen,  and 
knowing  that  he  would  lose  his  office  and  his  popu- 
larity if  the  matter  were  made  known,  besought  all 
present  to  say  nothing  about  it,  and  promising  if  they 
would  consent  to  this  and  come  into  the  tavern,  he 
w^ould  "treat  them  all  round,"  and  give  up  prosecuting 
the  case  against  the  wagoner ;  all  w^hich  was  agreed  to 
amidst  great  merriment. 

On  another  occasion,  one  of  the  members  of  the 

Moral  Society  at  West  Middletown,  Da^'id  M  , 

returning  from  meeting  on  the  "  Sabbath  day,"  noticed 
at  Wilson's  ta-  ern,  two  and  a  half  miles  from  the  town, 
a  bucket  belonging  to  him  which  his  teamster  had  for- 
gotten there  the  day  before.    Taking  up  the  bucket,  he 


MORAL  TENDENCr  OF  SOCIETIES. 


concluded  to  carry  it  home  with  him,  and  on  the  way- 
was  reminded  by  one  of  his  friends  that  he  was  violat- 
ing the  law  by  carrying  a  burden  on  the  "  Sabbath 
day."  Upon  his  return  home,  the  circumstance  naturally 
gave  rise  to  serious  reflection  on  his  part,  and,  amongst 
his  pious  "Sabbath"  musings,  he  considered  how  he 
should  extricate  himself  from  the  dilemma  in  which  he 
had  become  involved,  and  which  was  likely  to  bring 
reproach  upon  his  character  as  an  orthodox  and  orderly 
member  of  the  church.  At  length,  the  happy  thought 
occurred  to  him  that  if  he  would  go  and  infoi'^n  upon 
himself,  such  an  instance  of  self-sacrifice,  disinterested 
zeal  and  respect  for  principle,  would  not  only  clear  his 
escutcheon  from  every  stain,  but  elevate  him  even  higher 
than  ever  in  the  esteem  of  the  faithful.  This  bright 
idea  was  accompanied — or,  as  some  might  be  so  un- 
charitable as  to  think,  -preceded — by  another  reflection 
of  uncommon  weight,  which  was,  that  as  half  the  fine 
went  to  the  informer,  he  would  save  two  dollars  by 
informing  upon  himself.  Accordingly,  he  at  once 
resolved  to  do  it,  and  going  next  morning  to  the  magis- 
trate at  an  early  hour,  lest  any  one  should  anticipate 
him  in  the  performance  of  what  he  felt  was  his  peculiar 
duty,  gave  the  information  in  due  form  and  tendered 
half  the  fine  as  a  full  and  efficient  expiation  for  the 
offence  he  had  committed.  The  magistrate,  however, 
could  not  see  the  matter  in  that  light,  not  being  able  to 
discover  that  the  law  had  made  any  provision  for  so  ex- 
traordinary a  case  ;  and  so,  reminding  the  pious  culprit 
that  the  money  went  to  the  support  of  preachers,  com- 
pelled him  to  pa}'  the  whole  fine.  From  such  facts  (and 
similar  cases  were  not  unfrequent)  the  moral  tendencies 
of  these  societies  will  be  sufficiently  evident.  It  will  be 
also  seen  that  they  had  not  for  their  object  to  repress  or 

44  ■* 


522       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  ZAMPBELL, 


punish  crimes  which  men  commit  to  the  injury  of  others, 
and  to  which  the  attention  of  the  civil  magistrate  had 
been  heretofore  confined  ;  but  that  they  took  under  their 
especial  care  those  vices  which  affect  individuals  them- 
sel/es,  and  of  which  the  civil  authority  had  not  pre- 
viously been  accustomed  to  take  cognizance,  unless 
when,  as  sometimes  in  the  case  of  drunkenness,  they 
caused  a  disturbance  of  the  public  peace.  It  will  be 
further  noticed  that  they  attempted  to  engraft  upon  the 
civil  code  their  peculiar  religious  views  in  regard  to 
the  "  Sabbath,"  and  to  compel  by  law  the  whole  com- 
munity to  submit  to  the  Judaizing  opinions  which 
they  had  themselves  imbibed  from  their  religious 
teachers. 

As  Mr.  Campbell  frequently  visited  his  mother  and 
the  family,  now  living  near  Middletown,  he  soon  became 
well  acquainted  with  the  facts  and  principles  developed 
during  the  operation  of  these  "  Moral  Societies,"  but, 
though  indignant  at  such  invasions  of  personal  and 
public  freedom,  he,  for  some  time,  forbore  to  notice 
them,  as  he  lived  in  an  adjoining  State,  where  such 
things  had  no  existence.  As  matters  grew  worse, 
however,  and  no  one  in  Washington  county  seemed 
willing  or  able  to  undertake  the  matter,  he  determined 
at  length  to  interfere,  and  on  the  27th  of  April,  1820, 
he  published  an  article,  under  the  signature  of  Candidus, 
in  which  he  criticised  an  address  previously  issued  by 
the  "  Moral  Society  of  Middletown."  In  this  piece  he 
first  satirized,  in  his  peculiar  wa}',  the  moral  state  of 
Middletown,  which  was  thought  to  demand  such  reme- 
dies, and  then  exposed  the  conduct  of  some  leading 
members  of  the  Moral  Society,  who  were  themselves 
guilty  of  raffli?ig\  taking  part  in  "  shooting  ?naiches''^ 
for  gain,  etc.    He  then  attacks  the  principle  on  which 


PRINCIPLES  EXAMINED.  523 

the  societies  acted,  viz.  :  that  fining  men  for  their 
vices  would  make  them  moral. 

"When  they  pay  dear  for  their  sins,"  says  he,  "  they  will, 
from  principles  of  avarice.,  become  morally  correct !  *  * 
*  *  And  what  becomes  of  the  fines?  Oh  !  they  are  given 
to  some  pious  clergyman  to  be  applied  to  the  education  of 
young  men  for  the  ministry.  Go  on,  therefore,  in  your  mis- 
<leeds,  ye  profane,  for  the  more  you  sin  the  more  preachers 
we  shall  have."    *    *    *  * 

As  may  be  readily  supposed,  this  article  created  quite 
a  sensation.  The  Society  at  Middletown  immediately 
appointed  a  committee  to  make  a  reply  to  it,  which  was 
published  in  the  Reporter,  and  which,  instead  of  de- 
fending the  principles  of  tlie  Society,  raised  against 
Candidus  the  cry  of  a  friend  to  immorality,"  etc.,  and 
attempted  to  browbeat,  and  intimidate  him.  To  this 
eflusion,  however,  the  latter  very  promptly  replied,  dis- 
avowing the  improper  motives  attributed  to  him,  and 
fully  admitting  and  asserting  the  claims  of  morality. 
He  boldl}^  claims  the  right,  however,  to  animadvert 
on  those  who,  unsolicited,  mount  the  judgment-seat  and 
presume  to  deal  rash  judgment  round  the  land  on  every 
one  they  suppose  able  to  pay  for  his  transgressions." 
He  then  goes  on  to  show  that  such  moral  societies  are 

anti-evangelical,  anti-constitutional  and  anti-rational," 
and  says  he  has  as  good  a  right  to  sit  in  judgment  on 
Ihem  as  they  have  on  their  fellow-citizens.  His  first 
position,  that  they  are  anti-evangelical,  he  then  goes  on 
to  prove  by  showing  that  the  Bible  gives  no  autliority 
wnatever  for  them.  In  another  article,  on  the  5th  of 
June,  he  continues  the  argument,  showing  that  moral 
societies  are  anti-evangelical,  because  Christians  are 
not  at  liberty  to  interfere  with  men  of  the  world  in  any- 


524       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


thing  pertaining  to  God  and  conscience."  He  takes  tlie 
ground,  also,  that  if  all  members  of  society  anywhere 
are  Cliristians,  they  must  go  by  the  discipline  given  in 
the  New  Testament. 

I'hese  assaults  brought  out  a  host  of  writers  on  be- 
half of  the  societies,  and  the  paper  was  for  some  time 
crowded  with  articles,  mostly  of  ver}^  poor  quality,  and 
filled  with  invectives  against  "  Candidus."  By  way  of 
variety,  an  essay  then  appears  in  defence  of  "  Can- 
didus,"  signed  "V.  A.  Flint,"  corroborating  the  state- 
ments of  "  Candidus"  in  regard  to  the  practical  opera- 
tions of  the  societies.  In  doing  this,  he  details  the 
case  of  a  poor  old  Revolutionary  soldier,  who,  at  an 
election  in  Taylorstovvn,  indulged  too  freely  in  liquor, 
and  was  consequentl}-  fined  by  the  Society-members. 
The  old  man,  being  exasperated  at  having  to  pay  the 
fine,  began  to  swear,  and  continued  thus  to  vent  his 
passion  for  a  considerable  time,  during  which  the 
ctistodcs  moi'um  in  attendance  coolly  kept  an  exact 
account  of  the  particular  number  of  oaths.  As  there 
was  a  fine  for  every  oath,  the  a£{<frecrate  amount  finallv 
became  so  great  that,  in  order  to  pay  it,  the  old  man 
had  to  part  with  the  entire  store  of  corn  on  which  his 
family  depended  for  subsistence  during  the  winter. 
On  the  1 2th  of  June,  there  appears  a  weak  piece  against 
Candidus,  and  in  the  same  paper  another  article  by  V. 
A.  Plint  in  his  defence.  On  the  19th,  Candidus  con- 
tinues his  exposition  of  principles.  He  shows  that 
"  the  only  system  of  pure  morality  is  that  of  the  Bible, 
especially  of  the  New  Testament,  and  that  it  must  point 
out  the  onl}^  sure  and  efficient  means  of  promoting  it." 
Reaching  down  to  the  great  basis  on  which  all  morality 
rests,  the  wall  of  the  Divine  Law-giver,  he  shows  ihal 
a  violation  of  this  will  in  any  one  point  is  the  violation 


PROCEEDINGS  UNC ONS TITUTIONAL. 


of  the  whole  law,  as  it  is  a  rejection  of  the  authority  on 
which  the  whole  rests.  He  quotes  the  declaration  of 
James  :  "He  that  said  Thou  shalt  not  commit  adultery, 
said  also,  Thou  shalt  not  steal and,  "  if  a  man  keep 
the  whole  law  and  yet  offend  in  one  point,  he  is  guilty 
of  all."  He  then  remarks  that  the  law  enforced  by  the 
societies  "  values  the  profanation  of  the  '  Sabbath'  at 
four  dollars ;  profanation  of  the  Divine  name  at  less 
than  one  dollar;  drunkenness  at  so  much,  etc.,"  and 
asks  why,  in  view  of  the  true  principles  of  moralit}^  is 
each  sin  valued  at  a  different  price,  and  why  any  of 
them  are  valued  at  a  fixed  price,  etc.  At  this  juncture, 
a  letter  appears  from  Mr.  Findley,  attributing  the  author- 
ship of  Candidus  to  Mr.  Campbell,  and  endeavoring  to 
cast  aspersions  upon  his  character.  In  the  next  paper, 
is  a  letter  from  Mr.  Campbell,  over  his  own  signature, 
addressed  to  Mr.  Findlev,  demanding  the  proof  of  his 
assertions,  to  which  Mr.  F.  made  no  reply. 

It  was  just  at  this  time  that  Mr.  Campbell  became 
engaged  in  an  oral  debate  on  baptism  with  Mr.  John 
Walker,  a  minister  of  the  Secession,  and  which  was 
held  at  Mount  Pleasant  on  the  19th  and  20th  of  June. 
This  debate,  and  the  subsequent  preparation  of  it  for 
the  press  by  Mr.  Campbell,  interrupted  for  a  time,  on 
his  part,  the  discussion  in  regard  to  the  Moral  Societies. 
Returning  to  the  charge,,  however,  in  the  latter  part 
of  July,  he  resumes  the  train  of  argument  he  had  in- 
troduced, which,  in  order  to  avoid  breaking  the  connec- 
tion, will  be  here  pursued  to  the  close.  In  his  article 
on  the  31st  August,  Candidus  argues  the  unconstitu- 
tionality of  the  proceedings  of  the  Moral  Societies, 
because  the  Constitution  gave  the  right  to  all  to  worship 
God  according  to  their  consciences,  expressly  declaring 
thnt  "no  one  can  be  compelled  to  erect,  attend,  or 


526       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL, 


support  any  place  of  worship  or  to  maintain  any  minis- 
try against  his  consent,"  and  that  the  observance  of  the 
Sabbath,  or  of  any  other  day,  is  purely  a  right  of  con- 
science. In  subsequent  essays,  he  takes  the  ground 
that  "officers  of  the  church  have  no  right  to  interfere 
with  the  execution  of  the  law,  or  to  supercede  civil 
officers,  legally  appointed,  as,  in  presuming  to  do  so, 
they  assume  that  the  civil  officers  are  insufficient.  It 
is,  however,  made  the  duty  of  the  magistrates  to  be 
vigilant  in  enforcing  the  law,  as  they  are  appointed  for 
the  very  purpose  of  maintaining  the  good  order  of 
society,  being  ordained  of  God  for  the  punishment,  of 
evil-doers  and  the  praise  of  those  who  do  well."  Con- 
tinuing his  essays  during  the  winter,  Candidus  criti- 
cises Judge  Rush's  charge  upon  the  institution  of  the 
"Sabbath,"  in  Lluzerne  county,  Pennsylvania,  and 
shows  that  there  is  no  law  in  the  New  Testament  pre- 
scribing the  first  day  of  the  week  as  the  "Sabbath." 

Hitherto  the  writers  against  Candidus  had  displayed 
so  little  ability  that  they  had  not  offered  even  a  plausi- 
ble refutation  of  one  of  his  arguments,  and  the  cause 
of  the  Moral  Societies  seemed  to  be  in  quite  a  hopeless 
state.  But  on  the  12th  February,  there  appeared  against 
'Candidus"  a  new  writer  of  a  different  stamp,  who 
signed  himself  "Timothy,"  and  whose  articles  were 
written  in  much  superior  st}^le.  They  were  clear  and 
argumentative,  entering  into  the  merits  of  the  question 
and  discussing  the  matters  involved,  with  a  manliness 
and  vigor,  which  formed  quite  a  contrast  with  the  feeble- 
ness which  had  heretofore  characterized  the  writers 
upon  that  side.  In  these  essays,  Timothy  referred  to 
Candidus  as  "Mr.  C,"  and  continued  them  for  several 
weeks  without  any  reply  from  the  latter.  The  impres- 
sion hence  became  general  that,  feeling  himself  unable 


CANDID  us  AND  TIMOTHY. 


to  meet  the  reasoning  of  "Timothy,"  "Candidus''  had 
abandoned  the  discussion  ;  and  it  was  then  whispered 
round  that  "Timothy"  was  none  other  than  Rev. 
Andrew  WyHe,  D.  D.,  who  had  some  time  before  be- 
come President  of  Washington  College.* 

At  length,  upon  tlie  i6th  April,  Candidus  reappears, 
reviewing  the  progress  of  the  discussion  up  to  that 
time.  To  this  Timothy  replies,  admitting  that  the  pre- 
vious opponents  of  Candidus  had  injured  their  cause. 
In  the  same  paper,  another  article  appears  from  Candi- 
dus, who  appears  to  be  conscious  that  he  has  now  an 
opponent  worthy  of  regard,  and  therefore  takes  hold 
of  Timothy's  arguments  with  more  than  usual  power. 
In  subsequent  numbers  he  ably  exposes  the  plausible 
sophisms  of  "Ti/r.othy,"  and  sustains  the  positions  he 
had  himself  taken,  while  the  replies  of  Timothy  be- 
come feeble  and  are  at  last  discontinued.  Candidus, 
accordingly,  on  the  6th  August,  1821,  sums  up  the 
controversy,  and,  supposing  that  Timothy  had  retired, 
challenges  him  to  debate  the  whole  question  from  the 
beginning,  either  orally  or  in  the  Reporter.  To  this, 
on  the  20th,  Timothy  replies,  saying  he  had  not  retired, 
but  u'ould  continue  to  write  as  long  as  Mr.  C.  advanced 
anything  worthy  of  notice,  and  endeavors  then  to  show 
that  Mr.  C.'s  reasoning  was  fallacious.  This  he  fol- 
lowed up  in  two  long  articles,  which  w^ere  devoted  to 
invective  rather  than  argument,  and  treated  side-issues 


*  Dr.  Wylie  had  previously  occupied  the  position  of  President  of  Jeffer- 
son College  at  Canonsburg,  to  which  he  was  appointed  in  1812  ;  but  after 
some  years  resigned  and  was  succeeded  by  the  Rev.  \V.  McMillan.  The 
resignation  of  Mr.  I'rown  at  Washington  was  occasioned  by  the  action  of 
the  trustees  rendering  Mr.  Brown's  duties  as  President  incompatible  with 
tho.se  due  to  his  congregation,  he  preferring  to  adhere  to  his  congregation. 
The  election  of  Mr.  W^ylie  to  succeed  him  gave  rise  to  a  very  bitter  con- 
troversy between  the  friends  of  the  two  institutions. 


528       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


rather  than  the  main  question.  Resuming  the  subject 
on  the  17th  of  September,  Candidus  addresses  the 
pubhc  through  the  Reporter,  apologizing  for  the  dis- 
cursive style  of  the  previous  discussion,  during  which 
he  had  been  induced  to  follow  his  opponents  into  matters 
irrelevant.  He  charges  Timothy  with  having  pursued 
an  improper  course  in  his  articles,  and  with  having 
written  a  scurrilous  poem  which  had  appeared  in  the 
Reporter.  He  further  says  that  he  has  made  an  ar- 
rangement with  his  friend  Mr.  Sample  to  have  the 
controversy  conducted  thenceforth  in  a  proper  style, 
that  he  will  now  furnish  a  column  regularly,  as  a 
new  series  of  articles.  The  lirst  of  these  accompanies 
this  address,  and  states  the  argument  (which,  at  this 
time  was  confined  to  the  '"Sabbath"  question)  as 
follows  : 

**  The  whole  of  the  precepts  or  commands  of  the  Christian, 
religion  are  contained  in  the  Ne^v  Testament. 

But  there  is  no  precept  or  command  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment to  compel  by  civil  law.  any  man  who  is  not  a  Chris- 
tian to  pa\'.  any  regard  to  the  Lord's  day,  any  more  than  to 
any  other  day. 

•"Therefore  to  compel  a  man  who  is  not  a  Christian  to 
pay  any  regard  to  the  Lord's  day,  more  than  to  any  other 
day,  is  without  authority'  in  the  Christian  religion." 
The  statement  of  his  second  argument  is  as  follows : 
'•The  gospel  commands  no  dutv  which  can  be  performed 
without  faitli  in  the  Son  of  God.  '  Whatever  is  not  of  faith 
is  sin.' 

*•  But  to  compel  men  destitute  of  faith  to  observe  anv  Chris- 
tian institution,  such  as  the  Lord's  dav.  is  commanding  dutv 
to  be  performed  without  faith  in  God. 

"  Therefore,  to  command  unbelievers  or  natural  men  t(» 
obser\'e,  in  any  sense,  the  Lord's  day.  is  anti-evangelical  or 
contrary  to  the  gospel." 


EFFECTS  OF  THE  DISCUSSION, 


In  subsequent  papers,  Candidus  now  proceeds  regu- 
larly, in  a  clear  and  cogent  manner,  to  refute  Timothy's 
arguments  and  sustain  his  own,  paying  no  attention  to 
scurrilous  pieces  which  occasionally  appeared  against 
him.  On  the  29th  of  October,  Timothy  announces  that 
he  will  not  reply  regularly^  but  will  review  the  whole 
when  Candidus  is  done.  In  November,  Candidus  con- 
tinues the  subject  in  able  articles,  and  in  January,  1822, 
Timothy  reviews  his  pieces  at  some  length  and  with 
considerable  ingenuity.  Candidus  appears  again  in  an 
able  refutation  on  the  28th  of  January ,  and  finally  on 
the  25th  of  February,  as  no  further  articles  appeared 
from  Timothy,  who  had  evidently  exhausted  his  re- 
sources, and  whose  arguments  had  been  clearly  over- 
thrown, Candidus  closes  the  discussion  with  an  apology 
for  any  inadvertent  expressions,  and  with  kind  expres- 
sions in  reference  to  his  ingenious  opponent,  thus  re- 
maining the  acknowledged  victor  in  the  controversy 
which  had  now  continued  during  nearly  two  years. 

The  effect  of  these  essays  upon  the  public  mind  was 
great.  Men,  whose  minds  had  been  previously  bewil- 
dered and  confused  upon  the  subject,  now  pei»ceived 
clearly  the  nature  of  the  questions  at  issue,  and  though 
the  "  Moral  Societies"  continued  their  operations  with 
even  more  than  usual  zeal,  there  were  many  who  only 
waited  for  a  favorable  opportunity  in  order  to  put  their 
authority  to  the  test.  This  was  not  long  wanting.  A 
man  named  Isaac  Jones,  a  citizen  of  Wellsburg,  had 
been  attending  to  some  business  at  the  court  in  Wash- 
ington, which  detained  him  until  it  was  too  late  on 
Saturday  evening  to  reach  home  that  day.  As  his  wife 
was  in  delicate  health,  he  thought  it  necessary  to  set 
out  early  next  morning.  But  on  approaching  West 
Middletown  he  was  met,  near  Davis'  tavern,  by  five 
VOL.  I. — 2  I  45 


530       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL, 


men,  who  demanded  to  know  where  he  was  going.  He 
told  them  he  was  going  home  to  Wellsburg,  and  asked 
in  turn  where  they  were  going.  They  repHed  that  they 
were  going  to  meeting,  and  as  he  was  violating  the  law 
against  "Sabbath-breaking"  by  traveling  on  that  day, 
he  must  go  back  with  them  to  Washington.  This  Mr. 
Jones  found  himself  compelled  to  do,  though,  as  may 
be  well  supposed,  not  in  a  very  devotional  frame  of 
mind.  Upon  coming  up  to  the  steps  of  the  hotel  at 
Washington,  they  found  standing  there  several  of  the 
lawyers  who  had  been  in  attendance  upon  the  court,  as 
James  Ross  of  Pittsburg,  Philip  Doddridge  of  Wells- 
burg, and  with  them,  Judge  Baird  of  Washington,  who 
was  a  warm  friend  of  Mr.  Jones.  Mr.  Ross,  surprised 
to  see  him  back,  inquired  the  reason,  and  when  informed 
of  his  arrest,  became  very  indignant,  and  told  the  men 
that  they  should  pay  dearly  for  their  conduct.  As 
James  Ross  was  a  lawyer  of  great  eminence,  they  be- 
came alarmed  and  were  about  to  go  away,  when  they 
were  informed  that  they  must  not  depart  until  their 
names  and  residences  were  duly  taken  down.  Suit 
was  at  once  brought  against  them  for  unlawful  arrest, 
and  the  matter  being  adjourned  from  time  to  time  in  the 
court  at  Washington,  was  at  length  transferred  to  Pitts- 
burg, where  it  was  finally  decided  against  the  persons 
making  the  arrest,  who  were  adjudged  to  pay  consider- 
able damages.  These  Mr.  Jones  refused  to  accept; 
but  so  great  had  been  the  costs  and  expenses  of  the 
suit  that  the  convicted  persons  became  quite  impover- 
ished in  their  circumstances,  and  the  questions  at  issue 
being  now  legally  determined,  the  operations  of  the 
**  Moral  Societies"  totally  ceased  from  that  time,  so  that 
these  organizations  were  heard  of  no  more. 

That  Mr.  Campbell's  exposure  of  the  spirit  and  pur 


DEVOTION  TO  TRUTH, 


poses  of  these  societies,  and  of  the  unscriptural  and 
anti-republican  character  of  their  principles,  had  largely 
contributed  to  this  result  there  could  be  no  question.  The 
same  desire  of  being  serviceable  to  society,  which  led 
him,  in  the  essays  of  Clarmda,  to  attempt  the  correc- 
tion of  the  social  evils  he  found  existing  upon  liis  first 
arrival  at  Washington,  or,  in  those  of  Bonus  Homo,  to 
subserve  the  interests  of  collegiate  education,  had  now 
induced  him  to  attempt  the  rescue  of  the  community 
from  the  civil  tyranny  which  bigoted  religionists  had 
been  seeking  to  establish  in  the  name  of  morality. 
Such  was  his  nature,  that  he  was  ever  ready  to  enter  the 
lists  in  defence  of  truth  and  right,  and  sought  ever  to 
instruct,  liberate  and  elevate  society  in  spite  of  all  the 
obloquy,  calumny  and  reproach  constantly  heaped  upon 
him.  In  the  uncalculating  and  unselfish  spirit  of  a  true 
reformer,  he  sought  for  truth  alone,  and  in  its  defence 
he  feared  no  opposition.  Though,  in  common  with 
noble  minds,  he  was  not  insensible  to  fame,  as  an  advo- 
cate of  right  he  was  indifferent  to  censure.  Though 
lenient  to  the  mistakes  and  frailties  of  men,  his  feelings 
revolted  against  deliberate  schemes  to  acquire  arbitrary 
power ;  and  though  ever  ready  to  grant  the  largest 
libert}^  of  opinion  in  matters  of  indifference  or  mere 
expediency,  in  those  of  morality  and  religion  he  would 
admit  no  standard  but  the  Bible.  With  him,  personal 
considerations  were  of  little  moment  compared  with  the 
great  issues  affecting  the  welfare  of  mankind,  and  hav- 
ing no  partisan  religious  interests  to  subserve,  he  was 
free  from  that  narrow-minded  bigotry  which  claims  for 
its  opinions  a  sort  of  infallibility,  and  will  never  consent 
to  change.  Hence  he  was  never  ashamed  to  acknow- 
ledge errors,  but,  in  his  progress  toward  clearer  views, 
openly  acknowledged  them  in  renouncing  the  prejudices 


532        MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


of  his  religious  education,  and  publicly  professing  a 
truer  faith.  Hence,  too,  it  was  that  every  honorable 
opponent  he  met  in  his  numerous  discussions  soon 
learned  to  regard  him  with  respect,  and,  notwithstand- 
ing the  severity  of  his  logic  and  the  keenness  of  his 
sarcasm,  to  entertain  for  him,  after  the  contest  was  over, 
the  most  friendly  personal  feelings. 

CJf  this.  President  Wylie  affords  a  marked  example, 
for,  after  the  discussion  about  the  "  Moral  Societies,"  he 
became  a  warm  friend  of  Mr.  Campbell ;  and  when, 
some  years  after,  he  removed  to  the  West,  where  Mr. 
Campbell  had  by  this  time  acquired  great  influence,  he 
received  from  the  latter  introductory  and  commendatory 
letters  which  contributed  to  place  him  at  once  in  the 
position  for  which  he  was  fitted  b}'  his  learning  and 
abilities.  He  soon  became  President  of  the  State 
University  of  Indiana,  and  during  the  remainder  of  his 
life  kept  up  a  familiar  and  friendly  correspondence 
with  Mr.  Campbell,  who  always  retained  a  high  regard 
for  him,  and  often  spoke  in  terms  of  high  praise  of  his 
scholarship  and  talents.  And  it  is  worthv  of  remark, 
also,  that  such  impressions  had  been  made  upon  the 
mind  of  Mr.  Wylie  that,  after  the  discussion  with  Mr. 
Campbell,  he  ceased  to  advocate  the  claims  of  any 
religious  sect,  and  gradually  made  such  advances 
that,  after  his  removal  to  the  West,  he  began  to  oppose 
partyism  altogether,  and  reached  pretty  nearl}^  the 
conclusions  of  the  Christian  Association,  becoming  a 
strong  advocate  of  Christian  union,  and  even  leaving 
the  Presbyterians  and  attending  the  worship  of  the 
Episcopal  Church  as  more  liberal  in  its  spirit. 

With  regard  to  the  questions  involved  in  "the  debate 
about  the  "  Moral  Societies,"  it  seemed  not  a  little 
strange,  as  was  shown  by  Candidus.  that  a  people  pro- 


CHIEF  OBJECT  OF  THE  SOCIETIES.  533 


I'essing  Christianity  should  betra}-  such  ignorance  of  its 
principles  as  to  think  of  making  men  moral  by  legal 
enactments.  Unlike  Judaism,  which  demanded  only 
an  external  conformity,  Christianity  addresses  itself  to 
the  hcai't^  the  fountain  of  human  motives  and  actions, 
and  seeks  to  make  the  tree  good"  in  order  that  its 
fruit  may  be  good,"  since  "  an  evil  tree  cannot  bring 
forth  (jood  fruit."  But  the  miscalled  Moral  Societies" 
sought  not  to  cherish  or  strengthen  any  moral  principle, 
but  rather  to  repress  the  indulgence  of  one  evil  passion 
b}'  bringing  into  exercise  another,  that  was  perhaps 
worse  ;  as  when  they  wished  to  correct  intemperance 
or  profanity  by  an  appeal  to  the  love  of  money.  True 
morality  must  proceed  from  ■princiflc,  not  from  law  ; 
and  it  is  here  the  power  of  conscience  that  is  to  be 
invoked,  instead  of  that  of  the  magistrate. 

It  became  evident,  however,  during  the  progress  of 
affairs,  that  it  was  the  leading  object  of  these  societies 
to  establish  by  law  their  views  of  the  "Sabbath,"  and 
it  was  this  point  w'hich  occupied,  therefore,  the  larger 
share  of  the  discussion.  This  effort  to  replace  republi- 
can liberty  by  religious  thraldom,  would  appear  not 
less  strange  than  to  attempt  to  inspire  men  with  moral 
principles  by  means  of  fines,  were  it  not  a  familiar  fact 
in  history  that  representative  religious  bodies,  as  for- 
merly remarked,  have  an  inherent  tendency  to  exercise 
arbitrar}'  power  and  to  trample  under  foot  the  dearest 
piivileges  of  mankind.  In  the  case  under  considera- 
tion, the  so-called  -'Moral  Societies"  of  Washington 
county  could  by  no  means  plead  ignorance  of  the 
Constitution  and  laws  of  Pennsylvania  as  an  apology 
for  their  proceedings  :  for,  in  the  United  States,  nothing 
could  be  more  clearly  drawn  than  the  line  separating 
Church  and  State,  and  it  was  but  a  short  time  before 

45  * 


534       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


the  establishment  of  these  *' Societies"  that  a  case  had 
come  up  in  the  Washington  court,  which  brought  this 
particular  subject  prominently  before  the  minds  of  the 
pecple. 

It  happened  that  a  suit  for  slander  had  been  brought 
against  an  individual  who  was  charged  with  having 
circulated,  to  the  injury  of  a  political  candidate,  that 
the  latter,  in  contempt  for  religion,  had  "administered 
the  sacrament  to  a  dog."  This  brought  up  the  question 
whether  or  not  such  words  were  actionable,  and  Lawver 
Mountain,  in  his  speech  upon  the  occasion,  which  was 
published  in  the  Washington  Reporter ^  after  referring  to 
opinions  given  by  Lord  Chief  Justice  De  Grey  in  a 
similar  case  in  England  (Onslow  against  Horn,  3  Wil- 
son, 178),  went  on  to  lay  down  the  law  of  Pennsylvania 
in  regard  to  this  class  of  alleged  offences  : 

"  Could  a  man,"  he  said,  "be  indicted  under  the  Constitution 
and  laws  of  Pennsylvania  for  this  shameful  abuse  of  this  most 
sacred  ordinance?  The  counsel  for  the  plaintiff  allege  that 
Christianity  is  part  of  the  common  law,  and  in  this  they  are 
supported  by  a  maxim  of  law  and  by  opinions  of  the  judges 
of  England.  But  what  has  the  common  law  of  England,  in 
this  respect,  to  do  with  the  common  law  of  Pennsylvania.^ 
Does  the  Christian  religion  derive  any  support  from  our  Con- 
stitution or  our  laws.'*  No.  It  is  left  to  its  own  native  and 
intrinsic  excellence,  uncontaminated  by  the  constitutions  and 
laws  of  man,  with  whose  constitution  error  seems  to  have 
been  interwoven  by  an  immutable  law.  Religion  requires 
not  the  aid  of  legislatures  and  judges.  Like  our  gl(^be, 
llbrata  fonderlbus  suis^  poised  by  its  own  weight,  it  rises 
above  the  ruins  of  empires,  and,  like  the  lightning  of  heaven, 
pursues  the  direction  of  its  eternal  Founder.  Religion  loves 
its  own  chaste  simplicity.  Bind  it  to  the  State,  and  you  bind 
ihe  living  to  the  dead  ;  it  becomes  an  engine  in  the  hands  of 
fools  and  of  knaves,  and  leads  to  the  temporal  degradation 


SABBATH  QUESTION  IN  CONGRESS.  535 


of  every  man  of  candor  and  of  honesty.  History  shows  this 
important  truth.  Many  of  us  have  seen  the  effects  of  this 
unnatural  union  in  Europe,  and  we  have  all  seen  the  happy 
effects  of  their  separation  in  Pennsylvania — may  that  separa- 
tion be  perpetual ! 

"  Could  a  man  be  indicted  in  Pennsylvania  who  would 
declare  himself  in  favor  of  a  plurality  of  gods,  and  who 
would  worship  them  in  his  own  way.''  Could  a  man  be 
indicted  in  this  State  who  would  deny  the  divinity  of  Jesus 
Christ,  and  publish  a  book  in  opposition  to  the  same.^* 
Thomas  Paine  was  indicted  in  England  for  his  Age  of 
Reason  ;  could  he  have  been  indicted  in  Pennsylvania }  A 
statute  passed  in  the  first  year  of  the  reign  of  Edward  VI., 
repealed  in  the  first  year  of  the  reign  of  Mary,  and  revived 
in  the  first  of  the  reign  of  Elizabeth,  enacts  that  whosoever 
shall  deprave,  despise  or  contemn  the  most  blessed  sacra- 
ment of  the  Lord's  Supper,  in  contempt  thereof,  by  any  con- 
temptuous word  or  words  of  depraving,  despising  or  revil- 
ing ;  or  shall  advisedly  in  any  other  wise  contemn,  despise 
or  revile  the  same,  contrary  to  the  effects  and  declarations 
aforesaid,  shall  suffer  imprisonment  and  make  fine  and  ran- 
som at  the  king's  pleasure.  Is  this  statute  in  force  in  Penn- 
sylvania.'' No.  It  and  all  similar  statutes  are  swept  away 
like  cobwebs  by  the  Constitution  of  the  State.  The  man, 
then,  who  would  commit  this  act,  this  impious  act,  could 
not  be  indicted,  but  would  remain  a  monument  of  his  own 
folly,  of  his  own  indiscretion  and  impiety,  and  of  our  unex- 
ampled separation  of  Church  and  State,  of  things  human  and 
divine." 

Notwithstanding  the  failure  of  the  Presbyterians  to 
establish  by  law  in  Washington  county  their  views  of 
the  "Sabbath,"  as  above  related,  another  and  more 
general  effort  was  made,  a  few  years  later,  to  get  these 
notions  of  the  proper  observance  of  the  "Sabbath" 
sanctioned  ana  established.  For  this  purpose,  in  the 
year  1829,  Congress  was  suddenly  overwhelmed  with 


53^       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


numerous  petitions,  coming  in  from  all  parts  of  the- 
country,  and  from  various  ecclesiastical  bodies,  praying 
that  the  public  mails  might  all  be  stopped  upon  the 
Sabbath  day  ;  and  every  possible  influence  was  brought 
to  bear  upon  the  National  Legislature  in  order  to 
obtain  the  passage  of  an  act  to  this  effect.  The  matter 
assumed  so  important  a  phase  that  it  was  referred  to 
a  committee,  and  its  chairman,  Richard  M.  Johnson, 
after  some  time  made  a  report  which  was  regarded  at 
the  time  as  a  very  remarkable  document,  and  excited  so 
much  interest,  and  received  so  much  applause,  that  it 
was  published  throughout  the  country,  and  largely 
distributed  also  in  the  form  of  handbills,  which  were 
framed  and  hung  up  in  dwellings,  like  a  new  Declara- 
tion of  Independence. 

As  it  was  perfectly  well  known  that  Richard  M. 
Johnson  possessed  neither  the  education  nor  the 
ability  to  write  such  a  document,  a  great  desire  was 

*  manifested  by  the  people  to  discover  its  real  author ; 
and  public  sentiment  was  not  long  in  deciding  that  it 
could  be  no  one  else  than  Alexander  Campbell.  Those 
best  acquainted  with  him  recognized  it  at  once  b}'  its 

!  style,  as  well  as  by  the  character  of  the  arguments 
urged  against  granting  the  petition.  It  was  known 
that  Mr.  Campbell  was  on  terms  of  friendly  acquaint- 

\  ance  with  the  chairman  of  the  committee,  and  in  inti- 
mate religious  fellowship  with  his  brother,  John  T. 
Johnson  ;  so  that  nothing  appeared  more  natural  than 
that  Mr.  Campbell  should  have  been  privately  re- 
quested to  prepare  such  a  document  upon  a  subject  to 
which  it  was  well  known  he  had  already  devoted  great 
attention.  If  this  was  the  case,  it  was.  of  course,  a 
matter  entirely  confidential :  and  Mr.  Campbell  was  too 
honorable  ever  to  acknowledge  himself  the  author.  It 


SAFEGUARD  OF  CIVIL  FREEDOM. 


537 


is  proper  to  say,  however,  also,  that  when  the  author- 
ship was  charged  upon  him.  as  it  often  was,  by  his 
intimate  friends,  he  was  not  known  in  any  case  posi- 
tively to  deny  it,  but  always  evaded  giving  a  direct 
reply.  These  being  the  facts  in  the  case,  the  docu- 
ment in  question,  will  be  placed  in  the  Appendix,  in 
order  that  the  reader  may  judge  for  himself,  especially 
as  it  is  itself  worthv  of  preservation,  and  is  closely 
related  to  the  subject  of  the  present  chapter.  (See 
Appendix  B.  First  or  Library  edition.) 

It  is  not  to  be  supposed  that  the  failure  of  the  efforts 
above  spoken  of,  to  impose  religious  observances  upon 
the  people  by  law.  has  at  all  changea  the  principles  or 
purposes  of  any  religious  party  concerned  in  such 
movements  ;  and  it  is  doubtless  an  important  safeguard 
to  freedom  that  no  one  denomination  possesses  sufficient 
strength  and  unity  to  control  the  councils  of  the  nation. 
No  party  of  religionists,  who  have  already  yielded  up 
the  citadel  of  the  soul  to  spiritual  tyranny,  are  fit 'to 
legislate  for  a  free  people.  Hence,  there  was  nothing 
that  Mr.  Campbell  feared  more,  as  to  its  probable  effect 
upon  public  liberty,  than  the  preponderance  of  a  reli- 
gious sect,  and  especially  that  of  the  Roman  Catholic 
Church.  He  therefore  constantly  sought  to  weaken 
the  power  of  existing  hierarchies,  to  expose  the  schemes 
of  priestl}  ambition,  and  to  support  all  just  claims  of 
freedom  both  in  Church  and  State. 


MExMOIRS 


OF 

Alexander  Campbell, 

EMBRACING 


A  VIEW  OF  THE  ORIGIN,  PROGRESS  AND  PRINCIPLES 
OF  THE  RELIGIOUS  REFORMATION 
WHICH  HE  ADVOCATED. 


— y 

By  ROBERT  RICHARDSON. 


More  sweet  than  odors  caught  by  him  who  sails 
Near  spicy  shores  of  Araby  the  blest, 

A  thousand  times  more  exquisitely  sweet. 
The  freight  of  holy  feeling  which  we  meet. 
In  thoughtful  moments,  wafted  by  the  gales 
From  fields  where  good  men  walk,  or  bow'rs  wherein  they  rest. 

Wordsworth. 


VOL.  II. 


CINCINNATI. 
STANDARD  PUBLISHING  COMPANY. 
1913 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  ihe  year  1868,  by 

ROBERT  RICHARDSON, 

In  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  United  States, 
for  the  District  of  West  Virijinia. 


MEMOIRS 

OF 

Alexander  Campbell. 

 c>  

CHAPTER  I. 

Religious  dissensions,  how  to  be  ended— Public  oral  debates — Discussion 
with  Mr.  Walker — Its  origin — Its  progress — Its  results — First  faiuiiy  tx- 
reavement— The  family  cemetery— The  Holy  Spirit  the  true  seal  oi  the 
New  Covenant. 

TO  put  an  end  to  religious  controversy  had  been  one 
of  the  chief  aims  of  the  Reformation  proposed  by 
Thomas  Campbell.  It  was  his  conviction  that,  il  men 
would  adopt  the  Bible  as  the  only  standard  of  religious 
truth,  and  accept  the  meaning  of  its  words  as  tieter- 
mined  simply  by  the  rules  of  language,  its  true  sense 
would  be  sutHciently  obvious,  and  there  would  b-t  uni- 
versal agreement  in  relation  to  the  things  which  it  re- 
vealed. It  was  his  fond  hope  that  religious  dissensions 
miglit  be  thus  brought  to  a  close,  and  that  there  would 
be  thenceforward  no  occasion  whatever  for  controversy 
except  with  those  who  denied  the  divine  authority  of 
the  Bible.  Speaking  of  the  primitive  Church  as  de- 
scribed in  the  New  Testament,  he  said  :  "  Let  us  do  as 
we  are  there  expressly  told  l/iey  did  ;  say  as  lAcy  said; 
that  is,  profess  and  practice,  as  therein  expressly  en- 
joined by  precept  and  precedent,  in  every  possible 
instance  after  their  approved  example,  and  in  so  doing 
we  shall  realize  and  exhibit  all  that  unity  and  uni- 

11 


12         MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


formity  that  the  primitive  Church  possessed,  or  that  the 
law  of  Christ  requires." 

The  view  which  he  thus  adopted  was,  indeed,  sim- 
ply the  great  fundamental  principle  of  Protestantism 
itself,  as  well  stated  by  Chillingworth  in  the  following 
words : 

"  Let  all  men  believe  the  Scripture,  and  that  only,  and  en- 
deavor to  believe  it  in  the  true  sense,  and  require  no  more  of 
others,  and  they  shall  find  this  not  only  a  better,  but  the  only 
means  to  suppress  heresy  and  restore  unity.  For  he  that  be- 
lieves the  Scripture  sincerely,  and  endeavors  to  believe  it  in 
the  true  sense,  cannot  possibly  be  a  heretic.  And  if  no  more 
than  this  were  required  of  any  man  to  make  him  capable  of 
the  Church's  communion,  then  all  men,  so  qualified,  though 
they  were  diff^erent  in  opinion,  notwithstanding  any  such  dif- 
ference, must  be  of  necessity  one  in  communion." — The 
Religion  of  Protestants  a  Safe  Way  to  Salvation^  p.  25 
(Bohn's  edition). 

The  distinction  betw^een  faith  and  opinion  was  here 
clearly  indicated,  nothing  more  being  proposed  in  order 
to  communion  and  unit}^  than  to  believe  "  the  Scripture 
i?«/y,"  and  to  endeavor  "to  believe  it  in  the  trtie  sense** 
In  laying  down  this  principle,  the  intelligibility  of  Scrip- 
ture was  necessarily  implied,  and  it  was  not  for  a  mo- 
ment doubted  that  its  true  sense  could  be  gathered  from 
its  words  taken  according  to  their  established  use  and 
in  their  just  connection  ;  since  to  have  thought  other- 
wise would  have  been  to  regard  the  Bible  as  having  no 
determinate  meaning  at  all.  With  Thomas  Campbell, 
therefore,  and  all  who  really  adopted  this  principle,  a 
simple  appeal  to  Scripture  was  regarded  as  decisive  in 
relation  to  every  matter  on  which  it  treated ;  while,  on 
the  other  hand,  as  respects  the  innumerable  religious 
questions  which  have  been  or  might  be  started,  aside 


CONTROVERSY  OPPOSED. 


from  Revelation,  these,  as  merely  human  inferences 
and  opinions,  were  to  be  considered  as  without  authority 
over  the  conscience,  and  as  of  too  little  importance  in 
themselves  to  be  subjects  of  debate  or  strife.  During 
his  whole  life,  Thomas  Campbell  was  accordingly  most 
careful  to  avoid  all  untaught  questions.  He  did  not 
seem  indeed  to  regard  them  as  worthy  of  even  a  mo- 
ment's consideration,  and  it  was  usual  with  him  to  re- 
mark, in  reply  to  any  one  who  proposed  such  a  ques- 
tion, "Well,  sir,  if  you  will  show  me  how  your  inquiry 
affects  in  any  way  your  salvation,  I  will  endeavor  ta 
answer  it."  Nor  was  Alexander  less  firm  in  adhering 
to  the  principle  adopted,  though,  from  the  greater  dis- 
cursiveness of  his  mind  and  his  fondness  for  investiga- 
tion, he  seemed  somewhat  more  indulgent  to  such 
questioners. 

In  the  confident  expectation  that  controversy  might 
thus  be  wholly  dispensed  with,  among  believers,  it  had 
been  stated  by  Thomas  Campbell,  in  the  Address  of  the 
Christian  Association  of  Washington,  that  contro- 
versy formed  no  part  of  the  intended  plan,"  and  that 
*' though  written  objections  to  the  proposed  movement 
would  be  thankfully  received  and  seriously  considered, 
verbal  controversy  was  absolutely  refused."  The  utility, 
indeed,  of  friendly  discussion  in  order  to  elicit  truth  and 
bring  out  the  whole  Scripture  testimony  in  relation  to 
any  particular  subject,  was  always  admitted,  and,  in 
private,  constantly  experienced  ;  but  the  feelings  of  the 
Reformers  were  at  first  decidedly  opposed  to  ^public  oral 
debates  even  on  scriptural  themes,  as  being  not  favor- 
able to  the  promotion  of  Christian  union,  since  persons 
thus  publicly  committed  to  the  support  of  particular 
views  were  too  often  tempted  to  strive  for  victory,  rather 
than  for  truth,  and  to  refuse  to  sound  argument  and 


14         MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


Scripture  proof  that  candid  and  dispassionate  consider- 
ation which  they  deserved. 

Hence  it  was  that,  when  Alexander  Campbell  was 
urged  in  the  spring  of  1820,  to  engage  in  a  public  oral 
debate  with  Mr.  Walker,  on  the  question  of  Baptism, 
he  at  first  declined  to  consent,  "  not  regarding,"  as  he 
said,  ''public  debates"  to  be  "the  proper  method  of 
proceeding  in  contending  for  the  faith  once  delivered  to 
the  saints."  He  had  adopted  this  conclusion,  however, 
-tnore  from  deference  to  his  father's  feelings  on  the  sub- 
ject, than  from  his  own  matured  convictions  of  expe- 
diency or  from  his  natural  temperament.  Conscious  of 
dialectic  power,  and  possessed  of  unfaltering  courage, 
he  had  been  characterized  even  in  his  boyhood,  by  his 
readiness  to  maintain  the  right,  and  to  enter  the  lists  in 
debate  with  an}'  worthy  champion  among  his  school- 
mates. His  quick  perception  of  logical  relations  ;  his 
wide  range  of  thought ;  his  great  fluency  of  speech  and 
the  keenness  of  his  wit,  peculiarly  adapted  him  to  pub- 
lic discussion  ;  and  the  struggle  was  by  no  means  slight 
when,  from  respect  to  existing  circumstances,  he  felt 
obliged  to  repress  his  native  ardor,  and  to  keep  within 
the  lines  which  his  father's  caution  had  prescribed. 
His  peculiar  abilities  as  a  public  disputant  were  not, 
however,  destined  to  remain  inactive  in  the  field  of  the 
Reformation.  Already  had  the  aggressive  course  of 
the  "  Synod  of  Pittsburg"  led  him,  while  yet  a  mere 
youth,  to  appear  in  public  vindication  of  the  Christian 
Association,  and  the  time  had  now  arrived  when  a  fresh 
challenge  from  Presbvterianism  was  to  call  him  out 
fairly  and  fully  into  that  field  of  polemical  discussion 
in  which  he  was  to  find  a  proper  scope  for  his  abilities. 

It  had  happened,  during  the  fall  of  1819,  that  a  Mr. 
John  Rirch,  a  Baptist  preacher  at  Flat  Ruck,  near  Mt. 


MR.  WALKER'S  CHALLENGE. 


'5 


Pleasant,  Ohio,  had  baptized  an  unusual  number  of 
converts.  This  success,  awakening  the  zeal  of  the 
minister  of  the  Secession  church  at  Mt.  Pleasant,  Mr. 
John  Walker,  induced  him  to  deliver  a  series  of  ser- 
mons in  praise  of  infant  baptism,  and  in  contravention 
of  the  principles  entertained  by  the  Baptists.  On  one 
of  these  occasions,  Mr.  Birch  was  present,  and  as  Mr. 
Walker,  in  the  course  of  his  remarks,  made  some  quota- 
tions from  the  works  of  Dr.  Baldwin  which  seemed 
unfair,  he,  after  sermon,  took  the  liberty  of  asking  Mr. 
Walker  to  what  portion  of  Dr.  Baldwin's  works  he  re- 
ferred. Upon  this,  a  short  dispute  arose  as  to  the 
meaning  of  the  passage  quoted,  and  this  was  followed 
by  several  interviews  and  some  correspondence,  ending 
in  a  challenge  by  Mr.  Walker  to  Mr.  Birch,  or  any 
other  Baptist  preacher  of  good  standing  whom  Mr. 
Birch  might  choose,  to  come  forward  publicly  and  de- 
bate with  him  the  question  of  baptism.  Mr.  Birch 
readily  accepted  the  proposition,  and  from  his  high 
opinion  of  Mr.  Campbell's  ability,  at  once  wrote  to  him 
urging  him  to  undertake  the  discussion. 

To  this  appeal,  Mr.  Campbell,  in  the  circumstances 
in  which  he  was  placed,  was  unable  to  give  an  imme- 
diate reply.  He  kept  it,  therefore,  for  some  time  under 
advisement.  Mr.  Birch  meanwhile  renewed  the  appli- 
cation, and  finally  on  27th  of  March  addressed  to  Mr. 
Cam.pbell  the  following  note : 

Dear  Brother  :  I  once  more  undertake  to  address  you 
by  letter;  as  we  are  commamled  not  to  weary  in  well-doing, 
I  am  disposed  to  persevere.  I  am  coming  this  third  time 
unto  yon.  I  cannot  persuade  mvself  that  you  will  refuse  to 
attend  to  tlie  dispute  with  Mr.  Walker;  therefore  I  do  not 
feel  disposeil  to  complain  because  you  have  sent  me  no  an- 
swer.   True,  1  have  expected  an  answer,  signifying  your  ac- 


1 6         MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


ceptance  of  the  same.  I  am  as  yet  disappointed,  but  am  not 
offended  nor  discouraged.  I  can  truly  say  it  is  the  unanimous 
wish  of  all  the  church  to  which  I  belong  that  you  should  be 
the  disputant.  It  is  Brother  Nathaniel  Skinner's  desire  ;  it  is 
the  wish  of  all  the  brethren  with  whom  I  have  conversed 
that  you  should  be  the  man.  You  will,  I  hope,  send  me  an 
answer  by  Brother  Jesse  Martin,  who  has  promised  to  bear 
this  unto  you.  Come,  brother ;  come  over  into  Macedonia 
and  help  us.  Yours,  in  the  best  of  bonds, 

"John  Birch.** 

Being  thus  called  upon  by  the  church,  and  urged  by 
J  personal  friends,  he  could  no  longer  refuse  to  yield  to 
his  convictions  of  public  duty.  His  devotion  to  the 
cause  of  truth,  and,  as  he  says,  his  "unwillingness  to 
appear,  much  more  to  feel,  afraid  or  ashamed  to  defend 
it,"  overcame  the  scruples  arising  from  his  aversion  to 
do  anything  which  might  be  construed  into  a  sanction 
of  modern  religious  controversy.  Having  succeeded, 
accordingly,  in  convincing  his  father  that,  however 
much  the  usual  unprofitable  debates  upon  human  theo- 
ries and  opinions  were  to  be  deplored  and  avoided,  no 
valid  objection  could  lie  against  a  public  defence  of  re- 
vealed truth,  for  which  the  Scripture  afforded  abundant 
precedent,  he  at  length  informed  Mr.  Birch  of  his  will- 
ingness to  meet  Mr.  Walker. 

These  facts  are  of  some  importance,  because  Mr. 
Campbell,  from  the  numerous  public  discussions  in 
which  he  was  subsequently  engaged,  came  to  be  re- 
garded by  many  as  a  person  disposed  to  provoke 
debate,  and  as  seeking  opportunity  to  assail  the  relig- 
ious views  of  others.  The  history  of  the  case  shows, 
however,  that  here,  as  heretofore,  he  was  acting  en- 
tirely on  the  defensive  ;  that  he  was  placed  under  an 
imperious  necessity  to  appear  in  behalf  of  the  interests 


RULES  OF  THE  DEBATE. 


17 


of  truth,  and  that  he  had  not  in  any  respect  provoked 
or  originated  controversy  with  the  Paedobaptists. 

As  soon  as  Mr.  Walker  heard  of  Mr.  Campbell's  ac- 
ceptance, he  addressed  to  him  the  following  note,  which, 
in  its  style  and  spirit,  shows  sufficiently  who  was  the 
dictating  and  leading  party  : 

"New  Athens,  May  30,  1820. 
"Mr.  Alexander  Campbell,  Buffalo  Seminary: 

I  think  proper  to  intimate  to  you  that  I  have  chosen  the 
Rev.  Samuel  Findley  to  preside  at  the  time  of  our  public  dis- 
pute :  you  have  the  privilege  of  choosing  another  ;  you  will 
please  to  make  such  choice,  and  let  him  meet  with  Mr.  Findley 
prior  to  the  day  of  public  dispute,  that  we  may  not  be  de- 
tained. They  should  determine  the  manner  of  dispute,  and 
fix  rules  by  which  we  should  proceed,  and  preside,  not  to 
give  judgment,  but  to  keep  order. 

"  Yours,  with  respect, 

"John  Walker." 

Mr.  Walker,  it  thus  appeared,  had  decided  that  the 
moderators  should  refrain  from  giving  judgment  upon 
the  merits  of  the  discussion,  and  had  selected  on  his 
side  Mr.  Findley,  who  had  already,  as  has  been  seen, 
signalized  on  various  occasions  his  intense  hostility  to 
Mr.  Campbell.  The  latter  chose,  on  his  part,  Mr.  Jacob 
Martin,  and  the  following  rules  for  the  discussion  were 
adopted : 

"  I.  Each  speaker  shall  have  the  privilege  of  speaking  forty 
minutes  without  interruption,  if  he  thinks  proper  to  use  them 
all.  2.  Mr.  Walker  shall  open  the  debate  and  Mr.  Campbell 
shall  close  it.  3.  The  moderators  are  merely  to  keep  order, 
not  to  pronounce  judgment  on  the  merits  of  the  debate.  4. 
The  proper  subject  of  the  ordinance  of  baptism  is  first  to  be 
discussed,  then  the  mode  of  baptism.  5.  The  debate  must 
be  conducted  with  decorum,  and  all  improper  allusions  or 
passionate  language  guarded  against.  6.  The  debate  shall 
TOL.  n.— B  2  * 


1 8         MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 

be  continued  from  day  to  day  till  tlie  people  are  satisfied,  or 
till  the  moderators  think  that  enough  has  been  said  on  each 
topic  of  debate." 

Monday  morning,  the  19th  of  June,  having  been  ap- 
pointed as  the  time  for  the  commencement  of  the  dis- 
cussion, the  parties  assembled,  accordingly,  early  on 
that  day  at  the  place  agreed  upon,  Mr.  Campbell  being 
accompanied  by  his  father  and  a  few  friends  who  felt  a 
particular  interest  in  the  result.  The  place  selected 
was  Mt.  Pleasant,  in  Ohio,  a  village  some  twenty-three 
miles  distant  from  Mr.  Campbell's  residence,  and  situ- 
ated in  the  midst  of  a  very  beautiful  and  fertile  country, 
gently  undulating  and  greatly  improved  by  the  care- 
ful culture  and  industry  characteristic  of  the  Quaker 
farmers  who  constituted  a  large  portion  of  the  surround- 
ing population.  Comfortable  dwellings,  rich  fields  of 
clover,  substantial  fences  and  thrifty  orchards  greeted 
the  eye  on  every  side,  with  here  and  there  luxuriant 
groves  or  smaller  clumps  of  stately  forest  trees.  This 
region  was  quite  thickly  settled,  and  as  considerable 
interest  in  the  subject  had  been  already  created,  and 
public  polemical  discussions  were  at  this  time  quite  a 
novelty,  a  large  and  attentive  assembly  was  in  attend- 
ance. 

Immediately  upon  his  arrival,  Mr.  Campbell  was 
privately  informed  by  several  persons  that  Mr.  Walker, 
under  the  impression  that  he  was  of  an  irascible  tem- 
perament, had  intimated  his  intention  to  throw  him  off 
his  guard  by  irritating  language,  so  as  to  gain  the  ad- 
vantage over  him.  Mr.  Walker,  however,  had  been 
entirely  misinformed,  as  Mr.  Campbell,  though  of  an 
earnest  and  ardent  nature,  was  remarkably  self-pos- 
sessed and  firm  ;  and  if  he  really  intended  to  pursue  the 
course  stated,  he  thought  it  best  to  abandon  his  purpose 


ARGUMENT  FROM  CIRCUMCISION. 


19 


An  interview  of  more  than  an  hoar  which  he  had  with 
Mr.  Campbell  before  the  debate  began  may  perhaps 
have  undeceived  him  ;  but,  however  this  may  have  been, 
it  is  certain  that  he  made  no  such  attempt,  but  acted 
from  the  beginning  to  the  end  of  the  discussion  in  a 
much  more  gentlemanly  manner  than  Mr.  Campbell 
anticipated,  so  that  the  debate  was  conducted  through- 
out with  a  commendable  degree  of  coolness  and  moder- 
ation. 

Mr.  Walker's  first  speech  was  very  short,  simply 
stating  the  argument  upon  which  throughout  he  chiefly 
relied. 

"  My  friends,"  said  he,  I  don't  intend  to  speak  long  at  one 
time,  perhaps  not  more  than  five  or  ten  minutes,  and  will 
therefore  come  to  the  point  at  once:  I  maintain  that  baptism 
came  in  the  room  of  circumcision  ;  that  the  covenant  on 
which  the  Jewish  Church  was  built,  and  to  which  circum- 
cision is  the  seal,  is  the  same  with  the  covenant  on  which  the 
Christian  Church  is  built,  and  to  which  baptism  is  the  seal ; 
that  the  Jews  and  the  Christians  are  the  same  body  politic 
unvler  the  same  lawgiver  and  husband  ;  hence  the  Jews  were 
called  the  congregation  of  the  Lord  ;  and  the  Bridegroom  of 
the  Church  says,  *  My  love,  my  undefiled  is  one' — conse- 
quently the  infants  of  believers  have  a  right  to  baptism." 

Mr.  Campbell,  upon  rising,  after  a  modest  exordium 
which  was  well  calculated  to  gain  the  favorable  atten- 
tion of  the  audience,  went  on  to  add  some  remarks  in 
justification  of  the  practice  of  public  discussion  which 
had  been  recently  with  himself  and  his  father  a  subject 
of  careful  inquiry.  After  then  referring  to  his  own 
change  of  views  in  reference  to  baptism,  he  entered 
upon  the  refutation  of  the  argument  stated  by  Mr. 
Walker,  showing  that  Paedobaptists  acted  as  if  they  did 
not  themselves  believe  it  true,  since,  in  point  of  fact. 


20         MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


they  did  not  put  baptism  in  the  room  of  circumcision, 
as  they  did  not  confine  it  to  males  only  and  extend  it  to 
servants  as  well  as  children  ;  perform  it  on  the  eighth 
day,  etc.  ;  and  then  proceeded  to  point  out  various  dif- 
ferences between  the  two  institutions  which  rendered 
the  supposed  substitution  of  the  one  for  the  other  im- 
possible. Among  these,  he  particularizes  the  fact  that 
circumcision  required  only  carnal  descent  from  Abra- 
ham, or  covenant  relation  to  Abraham,  but  that  baptism 
demanded  faith  in  Christ  as  its  indispensable  prerequi- 
site :  and  that  baptism  differed  from  circumcision  in  the 
nature  of  the  blessings  it  conveyed,  which  were  spirit- 
ual and  not  temporal,  etc. 

**  Baptism,"  said  he,  "is  connected  with  the  promise 
of  the  remission  of  sins  and  the  gift  of  the  Holy  Spirit.** 
This  utterance  is  worthy  of  notice  as  his  first  definite 
and  public  recognition  of  the  peculiar  office  of  baptism. 
While,  however,  he  thus,  in  1820,  distinctly  perceived 
and  asserted  a  scriptural  connection  between  baptism 
and  remission  of  sins,  he  seems  at  this  time  to  have 
viewed  it  only  in  the  light  of  an  argument^  and  to  have 
had  but  a  faint  appreciation  of  its  great  practical  im- 
portance. A  momentary  and  passing  glance  only 
seems  as  yet  to  have  been  directed  to  the  great  purpose 
of  baptism,  which  subsequently  assumed  so  conspicuous 
a  position  in  the  restoration  of  the  primitive  gospel. 

As  to  the  differences  alleged  between  baptism  and  cir- 
cumcision, Mr.  Walker  affected  to  regard  them  as  of 
little  consequence,  saying  in  general  that  Christ  had  a 
right  to  add  or  alter  as  he  pleased,  and  giving  as  a 
reason  for  the  selection  of  the  eighth  day  for  circum- 
cision that  the  Jewish  mother  was  ceremonially  unclean 
seven  days,  and  was  not  permitted  to  accompany  the 
child  to  the  sanctuary  at  an  earlier  period.    Mr.  Camp- 


ARGUMENT  FROM  THE  COVENANTS. 


21 


hell's  superior  knowledge  of  the  Bible  enabled  him  at 
once  to  confute  this  assertion  and  to  show  from  Lev. 
xii.  2-4,  that  the  mother  was  not  permitted  to  come  into 
the  sanctuary  until  the  end  of  forty  days,  and  further- 
more that  the  eighth  day  had  been  appointed  four  hun- 
dred years  before  the  giving  of  the  law  which  desig- 
nated the  periods  of  purification.  The  chief  point 
debated,  however,  was  the  identitv  of  the  covenants  on 
which  the  Jewish  and  Christian  institutions  rested,  as 
asserted  by  Mr.  Walker.  In  refutation  of  this,  Mr. 
Campbell  adduced  Paul's  account  of  the  "  new"  cove- 
nant, founded  upon  "better  promises,"  and  the  subject 
was  discussed  at  considerable  lengrth. 

Such  were  some  of  the  principal  points  brought  for- 
ward during  the  first  day.  As  Mr.  Walker  used  con- 
siderable repetition  and  often  recurred  to  his  argument 
from  the  covenants  without  considerinof  the  refutation 
given  by  Mr.  Campbell,  the  latter  employed  a  portion  of 
his  time  in  directing  the  attention  of  the  audience  to 
some  of  the  general  principles  of  the  Reformation  he 
was  laboring  to  establish;  which,  if  admitted,  must 
sweep  away  the  entire  foundation  of  Mr.  Walker's 
system.  Some  of  these  were  :  the  supreme  authority 
of  Scripture,  and  the  necessity  of  a  positive  command 
for  every  religious  institution,  which  in  no  case  could  be 
based  upon  mere  reasoning  or  upon  human  tradition. 

On  the  following  morning,  Mr.  Walker  reiterated  his 
views  concerning  the  covenants,  and  appealed  to  the 
four  cases  of  household  baptism  mentioned  in  the  New 
Testament  as  evidence  that  infants  were  baptized  in 
apostolic  times.  Mr.  Campbell,  however,  sho\\"ed  it  to 
be  wholly  without  proof  that  there  were  infants  in  any 
rf  these  families.  He  proved,  on  the  contrary,  from 
incidental  circumstances  stated  in  each  case,  that  there 


22         MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


could  have  been  none.  "  All  the  house  of  Cornelius,'* 
as  McLean  concisely  remarks,  feared  God  and  re- 
ceived the  Holy  Spirit.  Lydia's  household  were  com- 
forted as  brethren.  The  word  of  the  Lord  was  spoken 
to  all  in  the  jailer's  house,  and  they  all  rejoiced,  bellev- 
ing  in  God  as  well  as  himself.  All  the  house  of  Cris- 
pus  believed  on  the  Lord,  and  the  house  of  Stephanas 
are  said  to  have  addicted  themselves  to  the  ministry  of 
the  saints.  Now,  if  these  things  which  are  affirmed 
of  all  the  baptized  will  not  apply  to  infants,  then  it  is 
plain  there  were  no  infants  baptized  in  those  houses." 

Finding  that  Mr.  Walker  continued  to  repeat  his 
argument  from  the  covenants,  Mr.  Campbell  resolved 
to  give  it  a  more  thorough  sifting,  especially  as  Mr. 
Walker  seemed  to  labor  under  the  impression  that  he 
desired  to  evade  it.  Intimating,  therefore,  that  it  was 
his  purpose  to  publish  the  debate,  he  propounded  cer- 
tain queries  to  Mr.  Walker,  in  order  that  he  might  have 
a  precise  statement  of  the  ground  he  occupied  and  fore- 
stall any  charges  of  misrepresentation.  Mr.  Walker, 
admitting  that  the  positions  attributed  to  him  were  cor- 
rectly stated  as  written  down  by  Mr.  Campbell,  pro- 
posed to  him  in  turn  certain  questions,  which  he  an- 
swered in  his  next  speech,  in  which  he  again  proposed 
questions  to  Mr.  Walker.  At  this  juncture  he  was  inter- 
rupted by  Mr.  Findley,  who  objected  to  this  mode  of 
proceeding.  He  said  that,  "  as  the  object  of  this  meet- 
ing was  the  edification  of  the  public,  he  could  not  con- 
ceive how  the  asking  and  answering  of  questions  could 
promote  their  edification.  He  desired  that  we  should 
proceed  in  some  way  more  conducive  to  their  edifica- 
tion." To  this  Mr.  Campbell  replied:  Mr.  Findley, 
you  are  doubtless  an  advocate  for  the  Westminster 
Creed  and  Catechism,  and,  I  presume,  as  such,  must 


THE  SPIRITUAL  COVENANT. 


23 


a^ree  with  your  brethren  that  the  catechetical  mode  of 
instruction  is  the  best.  As  we  are  now  proceeding  as 
the  Westminster  divines  direct,  I  think  you  cannot  with- 
out a  derehction  of  principle  object."  This  effectually 
silenced  Mr.  Findley's  objections,  and  Mr.  Walker  went 
on,  in  reply  to  Mr.  Campbell's  queries,  to  assert : 

'"•That  temporal  and  spiritual  blessings  were  enjoyed 
under  both  covenants  through  the  righteousness  of  Christy 
and  that  the  covenants  were  therefore  the  satne  in  this  re- 
spect. He  added  that  all  the  blessings  mankind  ever  enjoyed, 
even  the  very  least,  were  enjoyed  through  Christ's  righteousness." 

This  thesis,"  said  Mr.  Campbell  in  reply,  the  Cov- 
enanters of  Europe  maintained,  and  the  Seceders  opposed 
it.  The  Seceders  in  Scotland  maintained  that  it  was  derog- 
atory to  the  redemption  of  Christ  to  suppose  that  he  died  '  to 
purchase  food  and  raiment  for  mankind,  which  the  Almighty 
had  given  to  the  brutes  that  perish.'  Moreover,  the  Seceders 
affirmed  that  it  was  an  error  of  a  very  pernicious  tendency  to 
say  that  wicked  men,  dying  impenitent,  had  enjoyed  any  part 
of  the  purchase  of  Christ,  which,  upon  the  Covenanters'  hy- 
pothesis, they  must,  if  their  food  and  raiment,  houses,  lands 
and  tenements  were  a  part  of  his  purchase.  Mr.  W.,  then, 
abandons  the  '  Mother  Kirk '  of  Scotland  and  joins  the  Cov- 
enanters, in  order  to  maintain  that  the  covenant  of  circum- 
cision is  the  same  as  the  covenant  of  grace.  This,  with  me, 
however,  is  a  small  matter,  if  he  did  not  also  oppose  Moses 
and  Paul."  He  then  showed  that  the  claim  of  privilege  under 
the  covenant  of  circumcision  was  simply  carnal  descent  from 
Abraham.  ^' We  have  Abraham  to  our  father."  was  the 
claim  urged  by  the  Jews.  On  the  other  hand,  the  spiritual 
covenant  placed  the  enjoyment  of  its  blessings  on  a  very  dif- 
ferent basis.  "  If  ye  be  Christ's,  then  are  ye  Abraham's  seed 
and  heirs,  according  to  the  promise." 

Mr.  Walker  asserted  also. 
That  the  duties  incumbent  upon  the  subjects  of  both  cov- 
enants were  the  same" 


24         MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


"That  is,"  said  Mr.  Campbell,  "  'an  eye  for  an  eye*  and 
*a  tooth  for  a  tooth'  is  the  same  as  'resist  not  evil' — Miate 
your  enemy'  is  the  same  as  '  love  your  enemies.'  .  .  .  The 
paying  of  tithes  to  the  Levites,  the  buying  and  selling  slaves 
of  the  heathen,  etc.,  are  all  the  same  in  substance  with  pay- 
ing stipends  to  the  clergy,  buying  and  selling  slaves  in  the 
United  States,  etc." 

Mr.  Walker  affirmed  further, 

''  That  there  "jjere  no  penalties  under  either  covenant T 
This  extraordinary  declaration  w^as  readily  exposed  by  a 
reference  to  the  numerous  penalties  denounced  against  viola- 
tions of  the  Mosaic  law  (Deut.  xxviii.),  and  to  the  punish- 
ments attached  to  the  New,  as  in  i  Cor.  xi. 
Mr.  Walker  then  finally  urged, 

''''That  Abraha7n  was  not  the  father  of  a  twofold  seed., 
but  of  the  faithful  alone,'' 

That,"  said  Mr.  Campbell,  "  is  the  most  flat  contradiction 
of  plain  Scripture  testimony  I  have  heard  from  the  lips  of  a 
professed  teacher  of  religion.  '  I  have  made  thee  (by  cov- 
enant) the  father  of  many  nations,'  Rom.  iv.  17;  and  verses 
II,  12.  'And  he  received  the  sign  of  circumcision,  .  .  .  that  he 
might  be  the  father  of  all  them  that  believe,  though  they  be 
not  circumcised  ;'  and  '  the  father  of  the  circumcision,'  not 
only  as  their  natural  father,  but  to  such  of  them  '  as  walk  in 
the  steps  of  that  faith  of  our  father  Abrahajn.'  .  .  .  That 
he  was  the  natural  father  of  the  whole  Jewish  nation  and  the 
spiritual  father  of  all  true  believers,  whether  Jews  or  Gentiles, 
Mr.  Walker  himself,  I  am  convinced,  has  often  observed  ;  and 
it  is  now  owing  to  the  confusion  of  his  mind  and  the  per- 
nicious tendency  of  a  corrupt  system  that  he  does  not  con- 
fess it." 

Mr.  Walker  now  abandoned,  somewhat  hastily,  his 
favorite  argument  from  the  covenants,  which,  under  Mr. 
Campbell's  inquisition,  had  led  him  to  make  assertions 
so  unwarrantable  ;  and  passing  to  the  argument  from 
antiquity,  adduced  some  of  the  primitive  fathers  to  prove 


ARGUMENT  FROM  ANTI^UITT, 


25 


the  existence  of  the  practice  of  infant  baptism  in  the 
early  Church. 

Admitting  that  both  infant  baptism  and  infant  sprink- 
ling were  very  ancient  practices,  Mr.  Campbell  denied 
that  mere  antiquity  could  prove  them  to  be  right,  since 
many  things  were  introduced,  even  in  the  first  and 
second  centuries,  which  are  admitted  to  be  corruptions, 
and  which  would  have  to  be  received  upon  the  same 
ground  ;  as,  for  instance,  the  divine  right  of  episcopacy, 
the  observance  of  Easter,  the  celibacy  of  the  clergy, 
the  doctrine  of  purgatory,  etc.  He  affirmed,  however, 
that  infant  baptism  was  not  taught  or  practiced  for  many 
years  after  the  apostolic  age,  there  being  no  record  ex- 
tant that  mentions  it  for  at  least  one  hundred  and  fifty 
years  after  the  Christian  era,  the  testimony  of  the  primi- 
tive fathers  being,  up  to  this  time,  exclusively  in  favor 
of  believers'  baptism.  "The  first,  indeed,  who  men- 
tions infant  baptism,"  said  he,  *'  is  Tertullian,  who 
flourished  from  A.  D.  194  to  216,  and  is  ranked  among 
the  writers  of  the  third  century.  And  even  he  speaks 
of  it  to  disapprove  of  it,  and  says  of  it,  along  with  other 
things  of  a  similar  nature,  '  If  you  demand  a  law  for 
these  practices  taken  from  the  Scriptures,  we  cannot 
find  one  there^  but  we  must  answer  that  it  is  tradition 
that  has  established  them,  custom  that  has  authorized 
them  2ind/aitk  that  has  made  them  to  be  observed.'" 

During  this  part  of  the  discussion,  Mr.  Findley  again 
interrupted  Mr.  Campbell,  and  objected  to  his  reading 
passages  from  Robinson,  on  the  ground  that  the  latter 
had  impugned  the  character  of  St.  Cyprian.  After 
some  delay,  the  question  was  referred  to  the  assembly, 
which  decided,  by  a  large  majority,  that  the  extracts 
should  be  read.  The  testimony  of  the  fathers  having 
been  fully  examined  upon  the  subject  of  the  origin  of 

3 


z6 


MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


infant  baptism,  the  debate  was  adjourned  for  half  an- 
hour  at  two  o'clock  on  Tuesday,  with  the  understanding 
that,  on  reassembling,  the  action^  or,  as  it  is  termed,  the 
mode^  of  baptism  was  to  be  discussed.  Mr.  Campbell 
was  surprised  to  find,  when  the  time  arrived,  that  Mr. 
Findley,  at  the  instance  of  Mr.  Walker,  wished  to  limit 
the  further  discussion  to  one  speech  on  each  side. 
This  desire  for  so  abrupt  a  termination  he  had  not  ex- 
pected from  those  who  in  the  beginning  had  proposed 
to  adjourn  from  day  to  day  until  everything  was  fully 
discussed,  but  he  consented  to  close  with  two  speeches 
on  each  side,  on  the  ground  that  if  it  was  sufficient  for 
them  it  was  quite  sufficient  for  him. 

Mr.  Walker  then  went  on  to  adduce  the  usual  argu- 
ments to  prove  that  "  pouring  and  sprinkling  are  scrip- 
tural modes  of  baptism,  urging  that  the  expression  '  in 
water'  might  be  rendered  with  wate?',  and  that  ^ia-rt^co 
did  not  necessarily  signify  to  dip,  but  to  sprinkle  or 
pour,  because  in  some  cases  it  implies  '  to  wash.' "  In 
reply,  Mr.  Campbell  quoted  the  eminent  Presbyterian 
translator  and  critic,  Dr.  George  Campbell,  affirming 
that  ^o-TiZo)  should  be  rendered  immerse  or  dip,  and 
that  in  construction  w^ith  it  the  preposition  £v  should  be 
translated  tn^  and  not  with.  These  concessions  he  cor- 
roborated by  the  authority  of  a  number  of  the  most 
eminent  scholars  and  by  the  standard  lexicons  of  the 
Greek  language.  To  this  Mr.  Walker  made  but  a  fee- 
ble rejoinder,  closing  with  a  few  remarks  to  the  audi- 
ence. Mr.  Campbell  then  adduced  some  additional  and 
overw^helming  proofs  with  regard  to  the  action  signified 
by  baptism,  and  in  concluding  the  debate  took  occasion 
to  speak  thus  of  the  course  pursued  by  Mr.  Findley : 

"  I  am  sorry  I  cannot  compliment  Mr.  Findley,  Mr 
Walker's  moderator,  for  his  impartiality  on  this  occasion.^ 


OPINION  OF  THE  CLERGY. 


27 


His  partiality  has  been  so  manifest  to  you  all  as  to  require, 
no  comment  from  me.  I  merely  wish  to  let  you  know  that  I 
am  conscious  of  it,  and  that  my  not  speaking  of  it  sooner  was 
not  from  the  want  of  perception,  but  to  preserve  that  decorum 
in  the  course  of  the  debate  which  I  considered  comely,  and 
from  which  I  was  determined  not  to  be  forced,  even  by  treat- 
ment still  more  flagrant.  ...  I  freely  forgive  him,  however, 
attributing  ifto  a  misguided  zeal,  and  hope  you  also  will  for- 
give him." 

After  noticing  some  other  matters,  he  then  thus,  in  the 
presence  of  Mr.  Walker  and  Mr.  Findley,  fearlessly 
expressed  his  opinion  of  the  clergy  : 

"You  have  heard,"  said  he  to  the  audience,  "  and  patiently 
attended  to  this  tedious  debate.  What  are  you  now  to  do.? 
I  will  answer  this  question  for  3''ou  :  Go  home  and  read  your 
Bibles;  examine  the  testimonies  of  those  holy  oracles;  judge 
for  yourselves,  and  be  not  implicit  followers  of  the  clergy. 
Amongst  the  clergy  of  different  denominations,  I  charitably 
think,  there  are  a  few  good  men  ;  but,  as  a  body  of  men, 
'  they  have  taken  away  the  key  of  knowledge  from  the  people.* 
And  do  you  say By  teaching  you  to  look  to  them  for 

instruction  as  children  to  a  father  ;  by  preventing  you  from 
judging  for  yourselves,  through  an  impression  that  you  are 
not  competent  to  judge  for  yourselves.  This  is  a  prevailing 
opinion  with  many.  Of  what  use,  then,  is  the  Bible  to  the 
bulk  of  mankind,  if  you  are  not  to  presume  to  examine  it  for 
yourselves,  or  to  think  yourselves  capable  of  judging  of  it.? 
This  is  to  make  you  the  dupes  of  haughty  leaders,  who  will 
cause  you  to  err.  To  attempt,  directly  or  indirectly,  to  dis- 
suade you  from  thinking  and  examining  for  yourselves,  by 
putting  creeds  already  framed  into  your  hands,  or  the  works 
of  men  instead  of  the  pure  Word,  is,  in  my  opinion,  so  far 
depriving  you  of  the  key  of  knowledge.  I  do  not  say  that  all 
the  clergy  are  doing  so,  but  I  am  sure  that  a  vast  majority  of 
them  are  doing  so." 

It  must  be  confessed  that  Mr.  CampbeH's  knowledge 


28         MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


of  the  existing  state  of  religious  society,  and  his  ac- 
quaintance with  the  clergy  heretofore,  in  a  good  degree 
justified  the  conceptions  he  had  formed  of  them.  He 
had  found  them,  both  in  Europe  and  America,  opposed 
to  reforms  ;  ever  on  the  alert  to  repress  inquiry ;  ever 
seeking  to  exercise  complete  control  over  men's  opinions, 
and  ever  ready  to  employ  against  any  who  presumed  to 
dispute  their  authority  the  unchristian  weapons  of  de- 
traction and  persecution.  In  vain  had  Luther  placed 
the  Bible  in  the  hands  of  the  people,  if  the  clergy  alone 
could  comprehend  it,  and  were  allowed  the  exclusive 
privilege  of  explaining  it.  It  was,  therefore,  necessary 
that  men  should  be  exhorted  to  break  the  seal  thus  im- 
posed upon  the  sacred  volume,  and  to  read  and  examine 
it  for  themselves. 

"  Because  I  have  taken  this  course,"  he  continued,  "  which 
I  recommend  to  you,  I  have  been  stigmatized  with  many  op- 
probrious epithets.  Sometimes  as  being  very  '  changeable,* 
although  I  have  to  this  day  undeviatingly  pursued  the  same  course 
which  I  commenced  nearly  as  soon  as  I  was  of  age,  and  have 
now  prosecuted  it  for  almost  ten  years — viz.,  to  teach,  to  be- 
lieve, to  practice  nothing  in  rehgion  for  which  I  cannot  pro- 
duce positive  precept  or  approved  precedent  from  the  word 
of  God.  .  .  .  And  because  I  maintain  that  the  New  Testa- 
ment Scriptures  are  a  perfect,  complete  and  perspicuous  rule 
of  faith  and  practice,  as  far  as  respects  Christianit}*,  I  am 
called  an  Antinomian  and  am  impeached  with  utterly  throw- 
ing away  the  Old  Testament  Scriptures.  These,  and  many 
other  insinuations  as  malicious  and  unfounded,  have  been 
suggested  against  me,  which  are  as  far  from  my  sentiments  as 
the  east  is  distant  from  the  west.  These  vile  slanders  may 
serve  the  cause  of  a  party  for  a  little  while,  but  will  ultimately 
fall  upon  the  heads  of  the  fabricators  of  them.  If  you,  then, 
should  think  of  judging  for  yourselves,  and  of  following  the 
dictates  of  the  Divine  word  and  your  own  consciences  en- 


MR.  CAMPBELL'S  CHALLENGE, 


29 


lightened  by  it,  you  must  not  think  that  any  strange  thing  has 
happened  unto  you  if  you  should  become  the  objects  of  re- 
proach. But  remember,  '  the  triumph  of  the  wicked  is  short,' 
and  '  if  ye  be  reproached  for  the  name  of  Christ,  happy  are 
ye.'" 

During  the  progress  of  this  discussion  he  seems  to 
have  become  more  and  more  favorable  to  such  methods 
of  public  disputation — a  result  partly  due,  perhaps,  to 
his  easy  triumph  over  his  opponent,  and  his  growing 
consciousness  of  the  possession  of  powers  peculiarly 
adapted  to  such  encounters,  but  still  more  to  the  con- 
viction that  they  afforded  a  favorable  means  of  diffusing 
amongst  the  people  a  knowledge  of  those  religious 
principles  to  which  he  was  himself  devoted.  On  this 
occasion  he  felt,  moreover,  that  as  the  challenge  had 
come  from  the  Paedobaptist  ranks,  and  Mr.  Walker  had 
so  signally  failed  to  prove  infant  baptism  a  divine  ordi- 
nance, it  was  becoming  in  him  to  return  the  compliment, 
and  to  invite  any  other  Paedobaptist  teacher  to  try  to 
do  what  Mr.  Walker  had  attempted  in  vain.  He, 
therefore,  in  concluding,  gave  the  following  general 
invitation  : 

I  this  day  publish  to  all  present  that  I  feel  disposed  to 
meet  any  Paedobaptist  minister  of  any  denomination,  of  good 
standing  in  his  party,  and  I  engage  to  prove  in  a  debate  with 
him,  either  vivd  voce  or  with  the  pen,  that  infant  sprinkling 
is  a  human  tradition  and  injurious  to  the  well-being  of  society, 
religious  and  political." 

Such  a  challenge  as  this  was  well  calculated  to  arrest 
forcibly  the  attention  of  society.  This  was  what  Mr. 
Campbell  chiefly  designed  by  it,  though  he  was  him- 
self fond  of  bold  and  strongly-stated  propositions.  This 
was  in  harmony  with  the  character  of  his  mind,  which 
was  disposed  to  take  a  wide  and  exhaustive  view  of 

3  » 


30         MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


every  subject  and  seize  at  once  upon  principles  and 
results.  He  could  not  be  content  with  the  simple  and 
common  theme,  that  "  infant  sprinkling  is  a  human 
tradition."  He  could  not  confine  his  thoughts  merely 
to  the  validity  or  invalidity  of  that  ordinance,  as  was 
customary.  He  must  take  a  wider  view,  and  believing 
that  this  "human  tradition  carnalized  and  secularized 
the  Church,"  "  introduced  an  ungodly  priesthood  into 
it"  and  "  prevented  the  union  of  Christians,"  he  could 
well  affirm  it  to  be  "  injurious"  to  religious  *'  society." 
And  not  only  so,  but  knowing  that  the  confounding  of 
the  Jewish  and  Christian  institutions  which  it  required 
led  to  national  religious  establishments,  and  filled  the 
clergy  with  an  eager  thirst  for  political  power,  and  that 
persecutions  had  generally  proceeded  from  Psedobaptist 
parties,  he  would  assert  still  further  that  it  was  "  injuri- 
ous" to  political  "  society"  and  inimical  to  public  liberty. 

In  the  frankness  and  fearlessness  of  his  independent 
spirit,  he,  from  this  time  forward,  held  himself  in  readi- 
ness, accordingly,  to  meet  within  the  lists  of  public  dis 
cussion  any  worth}'  champion  who  might  appear  in 
opposition  to  the  truths  he  taught,  or  in  defence  of 
popular  religious  error.  Such  was  his  love  for  truth 
that  to  it  he  was  ever  ready  to  sacrifice  ease  and  repu- 
tation, fortune,  and  even  life. 

"We  ardently  wish  for,"  said  he — "we  court  discussion. 
Great  is  the  truth  and  mighty  above  all  things,  and  shall  pre- 
vail. We  constantly  pray  for  its  progress  and  desire  to  be 
valiant  for  it.  Truth  is  our  riches.  Blessed  are  they  that 
possess  it  in  their  hearts,  who  know  its  value,  who  feel  its 
power,  who  live  under  its  influence.  They  shall  lie  down  in 
the  dust  in  peace,  they  shall  rest  from  their  labors  in  hope,  and 
in  the  morning  of  the  resurrection  they  shall  rise  in  glory  and 
be  recompensed  for  all  their  trials  and  sufferings  in  its  support." 


EFFECT  OF  THE  DISCUSSION. 


31 


As  soon  as  Mr.  Campbell  had  taken  his  seat,  Mr. 
Findley  took  it  upon  himself  to  give  his  opinion  of  the 
discussion,  and  when  Judge  Martin,  the  other  modera- 
tor, attempted  to  express  his  disapprobation  of  this  viola- 
tion of  the  rules  agreed  upon,  Mr.  Findley  prevented 
him  by  telling  the  audience  that  the  debate  was  over 
and  that  they  might  now  retire.  He  then  took  his  hat 
and  passed  out  through  the  crowd  amidst  some  hisses 
and  other  marks  of  disapprobation.  The  people,  how- 
ever, with  the  exception  of  some  two  or  three  persons, 
kept  their  places  until  Thomas  Campbell,  being  called 
upon  to  close  the  meeting,  rose  and  dismissed  tliem  in 
the  usual  form. 

Such  were  the  circumstances  and  general  features  of 
Mr.  Campbell's  first  oral  debate,  which  greatly  in- 
creased his  reputation,  and  made,  at  the  time,  a  pro- 
found impression  on  the  community  around  Mount 
Pleasant.  Even  the  Paedobaptists  felt  that  he  had 
gained  the  victory,  and  being  greatly  chafed  at  this 
result,  they  made  various  efforts  to  palliate  or  remedy 
the  deteat.  Mr.  Findley  was  understood  to  excuse  Mr. 
Walker  on  the  ground  of  "insufficient  preparation." 
Many,  however,  were  disposed,  rather  ungenerously, 
to  impute  the  failure  of  their  cause  in  his  hands  to  in- 
competency, and  in  consequence  of  the  impressions 
made,  Mr.  Walker  suddenly  lost  the  reputation  he  had 
previously  enjoyed  as  a  man  of  superior  abilities.  The 
efiects  of  the  discussion  were  much  more  widely  ex- 
tended by  its  publication  soon  afterward  from  notes  of 
the  speeches  taken  down  at  the  time  by  Salathiel  Curtis, 
who  acted  as  clerk,  and  who  belonged  to  neither  party. 
Mr  Campbell  added  also  a  variety  of  curious  and  in- 
teresting matter  in  the  form  of  an  appendix,  in  which, 
with  his  accustomed  liberality,  he  invited  Mr.  Walker 


32         MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


\>y  letter  to  take  part,  in  order  that  he  might  have  an 
opportunity  of  supplying  any  deficiencies  in  his  portion 
of  the  debate.  To  this,  however,  Mr.  Walker  made  no 
response. 

^  It  was  while  awaiting  a  reply  from  Mr.  Walker  j 
during  the  month  of  August  (1820),  that  Mr.  Camp- 
bell was  called  to  suffer  the  loss  of  his  youngest  child, 
Amanda  Corneigle,  who  had  been  born  on  the  i6th  of 
the  preceding  February.  This  was  the  first  death  in 
his  family,  and  was  deeply  felt,  for  Mr.  Campbell  was 
possessed  of  warm  sympathies  and  strong  natural  at- 
tachments. He  found  consolation,  however,  not  in 
dependence  upon  any  religious  rite  of  human  invention, 
but  in  his  firm  conviction  that  the  redemption  of  Christ 
extended  to  all  dying  in  infancy  and  childhood,  who 
were  alike  incapable  of  faith  and  of  transgression,  but 
were  related  to  Christ  through  that  humanity  which  he 
bore  in  triumph  from  the  grave,  and  who  were  by  him 
even  proposed  as  models  to  those  who  sought  to  enter 
the  kingdom  of  heaven.  Nothing  indeed  was  more 
striking  in  Mr.  Campbell  than  his  perfect  trust  in  the 
wisdom,  power  and  goodness  of  God,  so  that  in  all  the 
numerous  bereavements  he  experienced  he  could  say 
with  resignation,  "Thy  will  be  done" — a  petition  which, 
when  uttered  in  humility  and  faith,  renders  all  ordinary 
means  of  consolation  quite  unnecessary.  Fond  as  he 
was  of  life,  and  of  those  around  him  in  the  family  circle, 
no  one  could  be  more  deeply  impressed  with  the  uncer- 
tainty and  transitory  nature  of  earthly  ties.  Upon  this 
theme  he  often  dwelt  with  much  feeling,  both  in  socia^ 
converse  and  in  his  prayers,  as  well  as  in  his  public 
addresses,  quoting  those  touching  passages  of  Scripture 
which  describe  man's  earthly  destiny,  with  a  peculiar 
emphasis  and  intonation,  which  showed  how  fully  he 


FAMILY  CEMETERT. 


33 


realized  their  import,  and  how  familiar  such  reflections 
were  to  his  own  heart. 

It  was  in  harmony  with  these  convictions,  and  with 
the  event  which  had  just  occurred,  that  he  at  this  time 
selected  a  piece  of  ground  upon  the  farm  for  a  family 
burial-place.  Immediately  from  the  public  road  in 
front  of  the  house  there  rose  a  sloping  hill  covered  in 
front  by  the  trees  of  the  orchard  and  passing  at  its  sum- 
mit into  a  broad  tract  of  level  table-land.  A  little  to 
the  south  of  the  orchard,  where  the  winding  Buffalo 
swept  along  the  base  of  a  precipitous  part  of  the  hill,  a 
slightly-isolated  eminence,  flanked  upon  the  west  by  a 
beautiful  clump  of  native  oaks  and  maples,  presented 
itself  as  well  adapted  to  the  purpose,  commanding  a 
charming  landscape,  and  by  its  elevation  and  distance 
being  sufficiently  retired  from  the  public  road  below. 
Upon  the  side  of  the  orchard,  however,  it  could  be 
readily  reached  by  a  pleasant  pathway,  or  farther  to 
the  right  by  vehicles,  by  means  of  the  winding  farm- 
road  which  ascended  gradually  to  the  cultivated  table- 
land. This  spot,  being  accordingly  selected  and  en- 
closed, became  a  favorite  place  of  resort  for  medita- 
tion in  the  evening  hour,  and  the  favorite  place  of  inter- 
ment for  all  the  branches  of  the  family. 

During  this  year  various  individuals  continued  to 
present  themselves  for  baptism,  and  were  subsequently 
recognized  as  members  of  the  church  at  Brush  Run, 
though  some  lived  at  too  great  a  distance  to  attend 
regularly.  Among  these  may  be  mentioned  Mrs. 
Bakewell,  an  English  lady  at  Wellsburg,  who  was  bap- 
tized in  the  fall  of  1820.  On  the  21st  of  May  follow- 
ing, her  daughter,  Selina  Hunting-tion  _Kakewell,  came 
forward  and  was  baptTzed  by  Mr.  Campbell  at  the 
mouth  of  Buffalo  Creek,  the  Ohio  being  very  high  at 

VOL.  11. — C 


34         MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


the  time.  This  young  lady  had,  some  years  before, 
become  acquainted  with  John  Brown,  from  seeing  him 
at  Mr.  Campbell's  meetings  in  Wellsburg.  On  one  oc- 
casion he  had  invited  her  to  accompany  him  home  to 
see  his  family,  and  a  warm  mutual  attachment  had 
grown  up  between  her  and  Mrs.  Campbell,  which,  a 
few  years  later,  led  to  events  not  less  interesting  than 
unexpected. 

The  first  edition  of  the  Debate  with  Mr.  Walker,  con- 
sisting of  one  thousand  copies,  printed  at  Steubenviile, 
being  after  some  months  exhausted,  a  second  one  of 
three  thousand  copies  was  published  at  Pittsburg,  to 
which  were  appended  some  severe  strictures  upon 
three  letters  published  in  the  Presbyterian  Magazine  at 
Philadelphia,  and  written  by  the  Rev.  Samuel  Ralston. 
These  letters  professed  to  review  the  debate  at  Mount 
Pleasant,  and  labored  to  defend  and  maintain  the  cause 
of  Paedobaptism,  but  were  shown  by  Mr.  Campbell  to 
contain  many  misrepresentations  of  his  views,  and  to 
abound  in  false  criticisms  and  assertions  without  proof. 
To  these  strictures  Mr.  Ralston  subsequently  replied  in 
a  second  series  of  letters,  which,  together  with  the  first, 
were  published  afterward  in  pamphlet  form,  and  circu- 
lated diligently  throughout  the  region  of  country  in 
which  the  debate  was  held.  It  was  soon  after  this  per- 
formance that  Mr.  Ralston  received  from  Washington 
College  the  title  of  Doctor  of  Divanity. 

Mr.  Campbell's  earnestness  to  establish  correct  views 
of  baptism  did  not  proceed  from  any  over-estimate  of 
its  importance,  but  simply  from  his  love  of  truth  and 
his  desire  that  this  institution  should  be  allowed  to  oc- 
cupy its  proper  place  in  the  economy  of  the  gospel. 
Nor  did  his  pointed  exposures  of  error,  or  keen  retorts 
in  'his  public  discussions  of  the  subject,  arise  from  any 


THE  SEAL   OF  THE  COVENANT. 


35 


want  of  kindly  feeling  for  his  opponents,  but  from  his 
native  vivacity  and  his  sincere  conviction  that  the 
errors  he  was  combating  had  the  most  injurious  influ- 
ence upon  the  interests  of  religion  and  of  society  itself. 
Upon  this  point  he  himself  remarked  in  his  printed 
debate  with  Mr.  Walker  : 

"With  regard  to  the  spirit  and  temper  of  mind  in 
which  this  work  was  written,  I  can  conscientiously  say 
it  was  that  of  benevolence  and  candor.  If  any  things 
ironical  or  acrimonious  have  been  said,  it  has  been 
owing  more  to  a  genius  naturally  inclined  to  irony, 
which  I  have  often  to  deny,  than  to  a  spirit  of  rancor 
or  bitterness,  which  I  am  not  conscious  of  possessing 
toward  an}'  party  in  Christendom.  I  sincerely  pity  and 
cordially  deplore  the  errors  of  my  Psedobaptist  brethren 
in  this  important  ordinance  ;  not  only  on  account  of  the 
perversion  of  the  ordinance,  but  also  on  account  of  its 
obscuring  influence  and  beclouding  effect  upon  their 
views  of  the  Church  of  Christ,  its  government,  its  dis- 
cipline, and,  I  might  add,  some  of  its  doctrines." 

Among  the  errors  involved  in  Paedobaptist  views, 
which  he  discusses  in  the  appendix  to  the  debate,  he 
calls  attention  particularly  to  that  extravagant  concep- 
tion of  baptism  which  makes  it  the  seal  of  the  covenant 
of  grace.  This  had  been  repeatedly  asserted  by  Mr. 
Walker,  as  well  as  by  Mr.  Ralston  in  his  letters,  and, 
indeed,  was  the  main  position  of  the  Paedobapdst  sys- 
tem. Adopting  the  definition  of  di'scal  as  "  a  confirm- 
ative mark  or  attestation  of  some  covenant  agreement," 
he  shows  that  baptism  could  not  possibly  fulfill  this  office, 
and,  aware  that  the  best  method  of  confuting  error  is  to 
present  truth,  he  goes  on  to  exhibit  the  true  seal  of  the 
Christian  covenant : 

Under  the  New  Testament,"  says  he  (Appendix  to  De- 


3^         MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


bate,  p.  169-171),  the  only  seal  is  that  mark  or  impression 
which  the  spirit  of  God  makes  upon  the  heart  of  the  believer; 
because  the  subjects  of  this  convenant  ?ire  personally  and  not 
nationally  considered.  The  object  of  this  seal  is  the  per- 
sonal satisfaction  of  the  individual,  and  not  an  external  mark 
set  upon  him  for  the  confirmation  of  others,  as  circumcision 
was  designed  more  for  the  satisfaction  of  others  than  for  the 
subject  of  it — to  convince  the  world  that  God  had  actually 
fulfilled  his  covenant  in  raising  up  a  Saviour  in  the  family 
of  Abraham.  Hence  the  seal  which  is  stamped  under  the 
New  Testament  is  altogether  confirmative  of  the  faith  of  the 
subject,  and  is  beautifully  described  in  these  words :  '  To  him 
that  overcometh  will  I  give  of  the  hidden  manna,  and  will 
give  him  a  white  stone,  and  on  the  stone  a  name  written 
which  no  ?nan  knoweth  saving  he  that  receiveth  it* 

"  The  only  seal  spoken  of  in  the  New  Testament  as  the 
guarantee  and  property  of  all  Christians  is  '  this  seal  of  the 
Holy  Spirit.*  Neither  baptism  nor  the  Lord's  Supper  is 
ever  so  called,  nor  can  it  be  so  called  in  conformity  to  the 
meaning  of  words ;  yet  we  admit  that  both  are  confirm- 
ative of  the  faith  and  hope  of  the  Christian.  These  ordi- 
nances have,  for  a  long  time,  been  called  •  seals  of  the  cove- 
nant of  grace  with  what  propriety,  I  confess,  I  never  yet 
could  see.  One  thing  is  certain  :  there  is  no  authority  from 
the  Scriptures  for  so  calling  them.  Nor  can  I  understand 
how  any  human  being  could  use  them  as  seals,  or  as  '  sealing 
ordinances*  I  should  be  glad  to  see  a  scriptural  and  rational 
explanation  of  them  as  such.  I  do  not  wish  to  derogate,  nor 
do  I.  in  mv  opinion,  derogate,  anything  from  either  their 
solemnitv  or  importance  by  saying  that  I  do  not  conceive 
how  thev  can  be  called  •  sealing  ordinances.'  Baptism  is  an 
ordinance  bv  which  we  formally  profess  Christianity.  It  is 
the  first  constitutional  act  in  the  profvission  of  Christianity. 
It  confirms  nothing  in  the  covenant  of  Christ  that  was  not 
confirmed  before.  It  is  no  stamp  nor  confirmative  mark  of 
that  covenant,  for  was  ratified  by  the'blood  of  Christ.  The 
baptized  person  carries  no  mark,  no  seal  of  confirmation,  that 


THE  EARNEST  OF  THE  SPIRIT. 


37 


is  visible  to  himself  or  to  others,  in  consequence  of  his  obe- 
dience to  this  rite.  The  Lord's  Supper  is  commemorative  of 
the  death  of  Christ,  and  an  expression  of  our  faith  in  his 
atoning  sacrifice,  by  which  he  has  made  peace,  and  by  which 
we  enjoy  the  peace  of  God  in  our  hearts.  It  confirms  our 
faith,  it  promotes  our  love,  it  cherishes  our  hope,  and  pro- 
duces benevolence  and  brotherly  kindness.  But  our  partici- 
pation of  it  confirms  nothing  in  the  covenant  of  Christ  that 
was  not  confirmed  before.  We  might,  with  as  much  pro- 
priety, call  all  the  ordinances  of  the  gospel  seals  of  the  cove- 
nant of  grace  as  these.  The  whole  blessings  of  this  covenant 
have  been  as  much  enjoyed  by  many  who  are  now  in  heaven, 
who  could  not,  who  did  not  receive  these  ordinances,  as  by 
any  other  saints  in  heaven  or  on  earth.  The  thief  upon  the 
cross  had  as  full  an  enjoyment  of  them  as  any  other  in  an- 
cient or  modern  times.  And  many,  both  under  the  patri- 
archal ar?d  Christian  age,  have  had  all  the  blessings  of  re- 
demption as  fully  bestowed  upon  them  as  any  who  have  been 
baptized  and  have  participated  of  the  Lord's  Supper.  Now, 
if  baptism  and  the  Lord's  Supper  were  the  seals  of  this 
covenant,  it  would  follow  that  those  who  never  had  received 
them  were  deprived  of  the  security  for  the  enjoyment  of  this 
covenant ;  and,  of  course,  had  no  confirmation  of  it  to  them. 
How  much  more  rationally  does  the  apostle  speak  of  that 
seal  which  all  true  Christians  enjoy  (Eph.  i.  13)  ! — '  In  whom 
also  after  that  ye  believed  ye  were  sealed  with  that  holy 
spirit  of  promise  which  is  the  earnest  of  our  inheritance 
until  the  redemption  of  the  purchased  possession  unto  the 
praise  of  his  glory.'    On  these  words  let  it  be  observed  : 

1.  That  all  believers,  after  believing  the  gospel,  are  sealed 
by  the  Holy  Spirit. 

2.  That  this  seal  or  impression  of  the  Spirit  is  their  sole 
earnest  or  pledge  until  they  enter  into  the  enjoyment  of  the 
inheritance  of  the  saints. 

**  3.  That  this  seal  is  a  sufficient  guarantee  and  earnest,  and 
requires  not  any  external  ordinance  to  perfect  it. 

*'  This  testimony  is  further  confirmed  by  the  same  apostle  and 

4 


38 


MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


in  the  same  epistle  (Eph.  iv.  30)  :  '  Grieve  not  the  Holy 
Spirit  of  God,  vjliereby  ye  arc  sealed  unto  the  day  of  re- 
demption.' 

"  So  full,  so  uniform  in  his  testimony,  and  so  explicit  is  the 
apostle  upon  this  topic,  that  in  his  First  Epistle  to  the  Corin- 
thians (i.  22)  he  expresses  it  very  clearly  in  these  words  :  '  God 
who  hath  also  sealed  us  and  given  us  the  earnest  of  the  Spirit 
in  our  hearts.'  This  inward  mark  or  seal  is  explained  to  be 
an  impressing  of  the  image  of  Him  who  hath  created  us 
anew.  2  Cor.  iii.  18. 

"  Such  is  the  seal  of  which  the  New  Testament  speaks. 

This  is  sufficient  without  oux  factitious  seals ^  which  at  best 

are  a  prostitution  of  language  unwarrantable  in  the  highest 

degree,  and  tending  to  perplex  and  confuse,  rather  than  to 

compose  and  enlighten  the  mind  of  the  Christian. 

******* 

"  I  expect  to  hear  it  said  that  I  have  denied  the  '  seals  of 
the  covenant  of  grace'  to  maintain  my  cause.  Yet  the  truth 
is,  I  have  merely  volunteered  these  remarks.  My  views  are 
established  long  since  in  respect  to  the  subject  under  discus- 
sion ;  and  I  deny  not,  but  contend  for  the  true  seal  of  the 
covenant  of  Christ,  which  I  maintain-in  a  few  words  to  have 
ever  been  the  same  in  substance^  it  never  having  had  any 
other  seal  than  that  of  the  Spirit^ 

It  was  thus  that  Mr.  Campbell  ever  sought  for  truth 
alone,  and  ever  preferred  to  be  "  taught  of  God"  in  the 
infallible  revelations  of  the  inspired  Word,  rather  than 
to  adopt  the  assumptions  and  dogmas  of  sectarian  the- 
ology. Had  he  sought,  indeed,  mertjly  to  expose  the 
existing  errors  of  religious  societys  his  work  would  have 
been  defective,  and  might  have  tended  to  promote  infi- 
delity rather  than  religion,  since  it  is  in  these  errors 
that  unbelief  seeks  its  chief  apology.  But  from  the 
first  his  work  \y?is  positive.  The  process  of  demolition 
was  not  with  him  an  ultimate  end,  for  if  he  sought  to 
remove  the  awkward  and  rickety  structures  of  partyism, 


A  POSITIVE  CHANGE. 


39 


or  the  broken  and  accumulated  rubbish  of  human  tra- 
dition, it  was  that  he  might  build  again  upon  their 
ancient  sites  the  bulwarks  and  towers  of  Zion.  He  en- 
deavored, therefore,  to  replace  human  creeds  and  con- 
fessions b}^  the  Divine  Testimony  ;  sectarian  division  by 
brotherly  union  ;  clerical  tyranny  by  Christian  liberty  ; 
and  the  pretended  seal"  of  infant  sprinkling  by  the 
reception  of  that  "  Holy  Spirit  of  promise"  which  is,  to 
every  true  believer,  the  abiding  earnest  of  a  heavenly 
inheritance. 


CHAPTER  II. 


The  Bible  and  the  clergy — Mr.  Campbell's  chief  aim — An  important  inter- 
view—Ministers' meetings— Sidney  Rigdon— Seminary  discontinued— Mr. 
McCalla— Christian  Baptist— Its  character — The  clergy  and  their  meas- 
ures— Redstone  Association  foiled. 


HE  Bible  which  set  the  soul  of  Luther  free  was 


itself  fastened  by  a  chain  in  the  cloister  at  Erfurth. 
In  like  manner,  each  religious  party  had  sought  to 
secure  the  Bible  within  its  own  narrow  sectarian  cell, 
not  indeed  by  a  metal  or  material  chain,  but  by  the 
spiritual  tetters  of  partisan  interpretation.  The  clergy 
of  each  denominadon,  arrogating  to  themselves  the 
claim  of  being  its  divinely-authorized  expounders, 
caused  it  to  speak  only  in  the  interests  of  their  sect, 
and  the  sacred  volume  was  made,  in  effect,  an  armory 
of  proof-texts  for  the  defence  of  each  particular  creed. 
Detached  sentences,  relating  to  matters  wholly  distinct 
and  irrelevant,  were  placed  in  imposing  array  in  sup- 
port of  positions  assumed  by  human  leaders ;  while  in 
the  pulpit  a  single  clause  of  a  text  would  often  be 
elaborated  into  a  speculation  or  fanciful  theory  which 
would  spread  itself  abroad  in  a  form  as  expanded  and 
misty  as  that  of  the  Genius  who,  in  Arabian  story, 
issued  from  the  fabled  vase  of  Solomon. 

The  people,  on  the  other  hand,  seemed  to  have 
quietly  surrendered  into  the  hands  of  the  clergy  all 
power  of  discrimination  and  all  independence  of  thought 
in  religious  matters.    It  seemed  in  vain  that  Luther  had 


40 


BIBLE  FULLY  RESTORED.  41 


released  the  Bible  from  imprisonment  and  given  it  into 
the  hands  of  the  people  in  their  mother  tongue.  Cleri- 
cal art  had  succeeded  in  imposing  upon  it  a  seal  which 
the  laity  dared  not  break,  so  that  while  Protestants  were 
amused  with  the  idea  that  they  were  in  possession  of 
the  Bible,  this  cherished  distinction  became  little  else 
than  an  empty  boast,  so  long  as  they  could  be  per- 
suaded that  they  were  unable  to  understand  it. 

"  What  is  the  great  difference,"  asked  Thomas  Campbell, 
"between  withholding  the  Scriptures  from  the  laity,  as  the 
Romanists  do,  and  rendering  them  unintelligible  by  arbitrary 
interpretation,  forced  criticisms  and  fanciful  explanations,  as 
many  Protestants  do,  or  making  the  people  believe  that  they 
are  nearly  unintelligible  by  urging  the  necessity  of  what  is 
called  a  learned  clergy  to  explain  them  ?  If  a  translation  can 
only  be  understood  through  the  originals,  might  it  not  as  well 
have  been  withheld?  If  the  labors  of  a  learned  clergy  be 
still  necessary  to  render  a  translation  intelligible,  upon  whose 
skill  and  fidelity  as  translators  and  upon  whose  judgment  as 
expositors  the  people  must  still  rely,  and  to  whom  they  must 
still  look  up  as  their  religious  guides  and  dictators,  of  what 
use  is  a  translation?" 

The  sacred  volume,  thus  trammeled  as  it  was  among 
Protestant  parties,  had,  nevertheless,  as  in  the  case  of 
Luther,  set  free  from  spiritual  bondage  individuals  here 
and  there,  who  were  more  or  less  successful  in  their 
pleadings  for  reform.  Among  them  all,  however,  there 
had  been  no  one  who  took  hold  of  the  leading  errors  of 
the  time  with  so  bold  and  vigorous  a  grasp  as  Alexander 
Campbell.  It  was  his  great  aim  to  liberate  those  to 
whom  he  had  access  from  the  thraldom  of  human  tra- 
dition ;  to  restore  the  gospel  to  its  primitive  simplicity 
and  the  Church  to  its  pristine  unity ;  and  he  sought  to 
accomplish  these  noble  purposes  by  putting  men  really 
and  fully  into  possession  of  the  Bible.    In  this  respect 

4  » 


42         MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL, 


his  work  was,  as  it  were,  complementary  to  that  of 
Luther.  The  German  Reformer  gave  to  the  people  the 
opportunity  of  reading  the  Scripture.  It  was  the  part 
of  Mr.  Campbell  to  convince  them  that  they  could  com- 
■prehend  it — a  truth  which,  however  plainly  asserted  in 
Protestant  standards,  the  clergy  of  no  prominent  Pasdo- 
baptist  party  were,  at  this  period,  "w'lWmg  f  radically  to 
concede. 

Acting  himself  upon  the  principles  he  taught  to 
others,  he  was  accustomed  to  contemplate  the  Bible  as 
if  it  had  just  fallen  into  his  hands  from  heaven  ;  and 
utterly  disregarding  all  systems  and  theories,  and  even 
his  own  previous  conclusions,  he  was  wont  to  study  it 
constantly  with  a  free  and  unbiased  mind.  He  had  thus 
made  surprising  attainments  in  his  knowledge  of  the 
word  of  God.  Contemplating  the  Bible  as  a  connected 
whole,  and  classifying  its  facts,  precepts  and  promises 
under  the  diflerent  institutions,  Patriarchal,  Jewish  and 
Christian,  he  reached  enlarged  and  clear  views  of  their 
mutual  relations  and  dependence,  and  was  enabled  to 
eliminate  from  the  gospel  the  errors  with  which  modern 
Judaizing  teachers  had  corrupted  it.  Hence  his  views 
of  the  ''Sabbath"  and  his  ''Sermon  on  the  Law." 
Hence  those  wide  and  comprehensive  views  of  the 
divine  plan  of  salvation  which  constantly  confounded 
mere  textuary  preachers.  Hence  that  freshness  and 
even  startling  novelty,  and  that  persuasive  truthfulness, 
which  pervaded  all  his  public  efforts,  and  which  every- 
where incited  men  to  religious  inquiry  and  diligent 
searching  of  the  Scriptures. 

His  debate  with  Mr.  Walker,  though  mainly  confined 
to  a  special  subject,  was  by  no  means  wanting  in  these 
characteristic  traits.  In  his  exposition  of  the  covenants  ; 
the  temporal  and  temporary  nature  of  the  Jews'  religion  ; 


ADAMS  ON  BENTLET. 


43 


the  spirituality  and  glory  of  Christ's  kingdom  ;  the  dis- 
tinctions between  moral  and  positive  institutions ;  the 
definite  purpose  of  Christian  baptism  ;  the  inanity  of  hu- 
man traditions  and  opinions,  and  the  supreme  authority 
of  the  word  of  God,  he  threw  into  the  discussion 
thoughts  and  facts  as  new  to  the  religious  mind  of  that 
period  as  they  were  essential  to  true  conceptions  of  the 
gospel  of  Christ.  It  was  on  account  of  this  freedom  of 
investigation — tliis  undenominational  independence  of 
belief- — that  man\',  even  of  the  Baptists,  when  the  de- 
bate was  published,  though  pleased  with  the  triumph  of 
tlieir  cause,  remained  extremely  dubious  in  regard  to 
tlie  ortliodoxy  of  their  champion.  Quite  a  number  of 
tliem,  however,  less  enslaved  to  party  principles  and 
more  earnest  in  pursuit  of  truth,  were  greatly  struck 
with  tlie  new  views  presented  and  the  new  spirit  in 
which  their  favorite  tenet  had  been  so  successfully 
defended. 

Among  these,  Adamson  Bentley,  of  Warren,  Ohio, 
deserves  particuhir  mention.  He  had,  eleven  years  be- 
fore, accidentally  met  with  Thomas  Campbell  and  his 
family,  as  formerly  related,  on  the  way  from  Phila- 
delphia, but  without  receiving  any  personal  introduction. 
Being  a  preacher  of  considerable  ability,  a  man  of  piety 
and  of  thoughtful,  inquiring  mind,  a  sincere  lover  of  the 
Bible  and  of  good  men,  he  had  attained  great  influence 
among  the  Baptist  churches  on  the  Western  Reserve — 
a  term  applied  to  a  large,  fertile  and  remarkably  level 
portion  of  Northern  Ohio,  which  had  been  reserved  in 
the  original  grant  of  territory  by  the  Government  in 
reference  to  certain  military  claims. 

Through  this  now  thickly-settled  region  quite  a  num- 
ber of  Baptist  churches  had  already  been  formed,  and 
Mr.  Bentley  had  recently  induced  a  number  of  their 


^4         MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


preachers  to  hold  annually  what  were  called  ministers^ 
meetings,"  for  the  purpose  of  conversing  upon  the 
Scriptures  and  upon  their  own  religious  progress,  and 
improving  each  other  by  criticisms  upon  each  other's 
sermons.  In  these  meetings  he  acted  as  secretary,  and 
contributed  largely  to  render  them  profitable  and  inter- 
esting. It  was  also  agreed  upon  that  the  churches 
should  unite  to  form  an  association,  and  on  the  30th  day 
of  August,  1820,  a  little  more  than  two  months  after  the 
Walker  Debate,  the  messengers  appointed  by  the 
churches  met  and  constituted  the  "  Mahoning  Baptist 
Association."  In  the  spring  of  182 1,  Mr.  Bentley  ob- 
tained a  copy  of  the  published  Walker  Debate,  with 
which  he  was  highly  pleased  ;  and  learning  that  the  Red- 
stone Association  was  opposed  to  Mr.  Campbell  and  was 
endeavoring  to  injure  him,  he  said  to  his  friends  that,  in 
his  opinion,  Mr.  Campbell  had  done  more  for  the  Bap- 
tists than  any  man  in  the  West,  and  that  he  intended, 
on  the  first  opportunity,  to  go  and  pay  him  a  visit. 
This  intention  he  shortly  fulfilled,  and  the  interview  led 
to  very  important  consequences.  It  is  thus  detailed  by^ 
Mr.  Campbell  (Mil.  Harb.  for  1848,  p.  523)  : 

"In  the  summer  of  1821,  while  sitting  in  my  portico  after 
dinner,  two  gentlemen  in  the  costume  of  clerg3^men,  as  then 
technically  called,  appeared  in  my  yard,  advancing  to  the 
house.  The  elder  of  them,  on  approaching  me,  first  intro- 
duced himself,  saying,  'My  name,  sir,  is  Adamson  Bentley; 
this  is  Elder  Sidney  Rigdon,  both  of  Warren,  Ohio.*  On 
entering  my  house,  and  on  being  introduced  to  my  family, 
after  some  refreshment,  Elder  Bentley  said,  '  Having  just 
read  your  debate  with  Mr.  John  Walker  of  our  State  o^Ohio, 
with  considerable  interest,  and  having  been  deputed  Dy  the 
Mahoning  Baptist  Association  last  year  to  ordain  some  elders 
and  to  set  some  churches  in  order,  which  brought  us  within 


MAHONING  ASSOCIATION. 


45 


little  more  than  a  day's  ride  of  you,  we  concluded  to  make  a 
special  visit,  to  inquire  of  you  particularly  on  sundry  matters 
of  much  interest  to  us  set  forth  in  the  debate,  and  would  be 
glad,  when  perfectly  at  your  leisure,  to  have  an  opportunity 
to  do  so.*  I  replied  that,  as  soon  as  the  afternoon  duties  of 
my  seminary  were  discharged,  I  would  take  pleasure  in 
hearing  from  them  fully  on  such  matters. 

"  After  tea,  in  the  evening,  we  commenced,  and  prolonged 
our  discourse  till  the  next  morning.  Beginning  with  the  bap- 
tism that  John  preached,  we  went  back  to  Adam  and  forward 
to  the  final  judgment.  The  dispensations — Adamic,  Abra- 
hamic,  Jewish  and  Christian — passed  and  repassed  before  us. 
Mount  Sinai  in  Arabia,  Mount  Zion,  Mount  Tabor,  the  Red 
Sea  and  the  Jordan,  the  Passovers  and  the  Pentecosts,  the 
Law  and  the  Gospel,  but  especially  the  ancient  order  of  things 
and  the  modern,  occasionally  engaged  our  attention. 

On  parting  the  next  day,  Sidney  Rigdon,  with  all  appar- 
ent candor,  said,  if  he  had  within  the  last  year  taught  and  pro- 
mulgated from  the  pulpit  one  error,  he  had  a  thousand.  At 
that  time  he  was  the  great  orator  of  the  Mahoning  Associa- 
tion, though  in  authority  with  the  people  second  always  to 
Adamson  Bentley.  I  found  it  expedient  to  caution  them  not 
to  begin  to  pull  down  anything  they  had  builded  until  they 
had  reviewed  again  and  again  what  they  had  heard  ;  nor  even 
then  rashly  and  without  much  consideration.  Fearing  they 
might  undo  their  influence  with  the  people,  I  felt  constrained 
to  restrain  rather  than  to  urge  them  on  in  the  work  of  refor- 
mation. 

"  With  many  an  invitation  to  visit  the  Western  Reserve, 
and  with  many  an  assurance  of  a  full  and  candid  hearing  on 
the  part  of  the  uncommitted  community,  and  an  immediate 
access  to  the  ears  of  the  Baptist  churches  within  the  sphere 
of  their  influence,  we  took  the  parting  hand.  They  went  on 
their  way  rejoicing,  and  in  the  course  of  a  single  year  pre- 
pared their  whole  Association  to  hear  us  with  earnestness  and 
candor. 

"  Ministers'  meetings  once  a  year  in  diflferent  parts  of  that 


46         MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


section  of  Ohio,  for  the  purpose  of  making  public  discourses 
before  the  people,  and  then  for  criticising  them  in  coftcione 
clerum^  and  for  propounding  and  answering  questions  on  the 
sacred  Scriptures,  were  about  this  time  instituted  and  conducted 
with  great  harmony  and  much  advantage.  I  became  a  regu- 
lar attendant,  and  found  in  them  much  pleasure  and  profit. 

They  were  conducted  in  the  following  manner :  A,  B,  C, 
and  D  were  appointed  to  address  the  public  assembled  on  the 
occasion.  A  at  a  given  time  delivered  a  discourse,  B  suc- 
ceeded him.  In  the  evening  all  the  speakers  and  other  min- 
isters met  in  an  appointed  room,  and  in  the  presence  of  the 
more  elderly  and  interested  brethren,  and  those  looking  for- 
ward to  public  stations  in  the  Church,  the  discourses  of  A  and 
B  were  taken  up  and  examined  by  all  the  speakers  present, 
and  sometimes  strictly  reviewed  as  to  the  matter  of  them,  the 
form  of  them  and  the  mode  of  delivering  them.  Doctrinal 
questions  and  expositions  of  Scripture  occasionally  were  in- 
troduced and  debated.  The  next  day  C  and  D  addressed  the 
assembled  audience,  and  so  on,  until  all  were  heard  and  all 
had  passed  through  the  same  ordeal.  These  meetings  were 
not  appreciated  too  highly,  as  the  sequel  developed,  inasmuch 
as  they  disabused  the  minds  of  the  Baptist  ministry  in  the 
Mahoning  Association  of  much  prejudice,  and  prepared  the 
way  for  a  very  great  change  of  views  and  practice  all  over 
those  3,000,000  acres  of  nine  counties  which  constitute  the 
Western  Reserve." 

On  the  14th  of  July  of  this  year  (1821),  about  the 
time  of  Mr.  Bentley's  visit,  another  daughter  was  born 
to  Mr.  Campbell.  As  her  mother  greatly  admired  the 
articles  he  had  written  against  social  and  fashionable 
follies  on  his  first  arrival  at  Washington,  and  to  which 
he  had  appended  the  signature  of  Clarinda,  she  de- 
sired that  this  name  should  be  given  to  the  child,  which 
was  accordingly  done.  This  little  incident  furnishes  a 
good  index  to  the  character  of  this  excellent  woman, 
who  highly  approved  of  plainness  and  simplicity  in 


SID  NET  RIG  DON. 


47 


dress  and  manners,  and  who,  like  her  father,  was  utterly 
opposed  to  the  innovations  which  society  was  gradually 
making  in  the  simple  customs  and  modes  of  life  of  the 
early  settlers. 

Mr.  Campbell's  attendance  at  the  ministers*  meet- 
ings" referred  to  above  gave  to  them  a  new  and  a 
peculiar  interest.  His  extensive  knowledge  of  the  Scrip- 
tures, and  his  clear  views  of  the  gospel  and  its  institu- 
tions, enabled  him  to  resolve  many  difficulties  presented 
by  the  preachers.  He  led  them  to  perceive  that  by 
abandoning  the  fragmentary  and  textuary  plan  of  con- 
sulting and  expounding  Scripture,  and  by  taking  it  in 
its  proper  connection,  it  became  its  own  interpreter  and 
revealed  all  its  truth  to  the  honest  heart.  Especially 
did  he  mark  out  clearly  the  important  distinction  be- 
tween faith  and  opinion,  previously  but  dimly  perceived, 
showing  that  men's  conjectures  and  theories  respecting 
matters  of  which  the  Bible  does  not  speak  should  never 
be  made  terms  of  communion  or  be  allowed  to  create 
reli<xious  differences. 

During  this  period,  Mr.  Campbell  continued  to  visit 
Pittsbur<x  occasional) V,  and  beini^  still  connected  with 
the  Redstone  Association,  was  accustomed  to  preach 
for  the  Baptist  church  there,  which  had  now  increased 
to  more  tlian  one  hundred  members,  many  of  whom 
were  favorable  to  reformation.  In  1822,  throu<jrh  Mr.^ 
Campbell's  influence,  Sidney  Rigdon  was  induced  to 
accept  a  call  from  tiiis  church  to  become  its  pastor. 
He  was  a  man  of  more  than  ordinary  ability  as  a  speaker, 
possessing  great  fluency  and  a  lively  fancy  wliich  gave 
him  great  popularity  as  an  orator.  He  was  brother-in- 
law  to  Adamson  Bentlev,  botli  liavintr  married  dau«rhlers 
of  a  Mr.  Brooks,  of  Warren.  As  he  professed  to  be 
favorable  to  the  Reformation,  Mr.  Campbell  was  desir- 


48         MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


ous  of  introducing  him  to  Walter  Scott,  who,  at  this 
time,  was  still  delivering  weekly  lectures  on  the  New 
Testament  to  the  little  church  over  which  Mr.  Forrester 
had  presided.  Mr.  Campbell  desired  that  the  two 
churches  should  become  united,  but  these  communities 
continued  for  a  considerable  time  rather  shy  of  each 
other,  each  being  sensitive  with  regard  to  its  own 
peculiarities. 

On  the  loth  November  of  this  year  (1822),  Mrs. 
Campbell  presented  her  husband  with  a  son,  who  was 
named  John  Brown,  but  who  died  upon  the  day  of  his 
birth.  Soon  after,  Mr.  Campbell's  own  health  began  to 
suffer  from  the  confinement  and  labors  of  Buffalo  Semin- 
ary, and  as,  from  his  enlarged  intercourse  with  the  Bap- 
tist churches,  the  demand  for  his  services  as  a  preacher 
was  becoming  constantly  more  frequent  and  more  urgent, 
he  concluded  to  discontinue  the  school.  Although  he 
had  always  plenty  of  pupils,  and  often  was  unable  to 
receive  all  that  desired  to  come,  he  found  that  it  did  not 
subserve  to  any  great  extent,  for  reasons  formerly  given, 
the  chief  purpose  for  which  he  had  established  it,  which 
was  the  preparation  of  young  men  to  labor  in  behalf  of 
the  primitive  gospel.  Having  realized  in  publishing 
the  Debate  with  Mr.  Walker  the  power  of  the  press  to 
disseminate  his  views,  as  he  was  now  in  consequence 
often  receiving  letters  of  inquiry  and  solicitation  for 
visits  and  preaching  from  many  quarters,  he  began  to 
think  of  issuing,  in  monthly  parts,  a  work  specially  de- 
voted to  the  interests  of  the  proposed  Reformation. 

This  project  marks  the  era  of  a  very  important 
change  in  Mr.  Campbell's  religious  history.  The 
failure  of  his  fathers  endeavors  and  his  own  to  effect 
a  reformation  of  the  existing  parties  upon  the  piinciples 
of  the  Declaration  and  Address,  had  causea  him  ta 


A    WIDER  FIELD. 


49 


despair  of  ever  seeing  a  favorable  and  extended  change 
in  religious  society.  He  had  still  labored,  it  is  true,  in 
behalf  of  the  cause  he  had  espoused,  but  it  was  without 
the  expectation  of  being  able  to  do  much  more  than 
erect  a  single  congregation  with  which  he  could  enjoy 
the  social  institutions  of  the  gospel.  His  aims  were  at 
that  time  quite  limited.  He  had  not  the  remotest  idea 
of  assuming  the  position  of  a  public  reformer,  or  of  in- 
volving himself  in  the  strifes  of  religious  society.  In- 
fluential Baptists,  such  as  Deacon  Withington,  of  New 
York,  and  Deacon  Shields,  of  Philadelphia,  impressed 
with  his  talents,  had  urged  him  at  the  time  of  his  visit 
to  those  cities  in  1815  to  settle  in  one  of  them ;  but  he 
declined  on  the  ground  that  he  did  not  think  any  of  the 
churches  there  would  submit  to  the  primitive  order  of 
things,  and  said  that  he  would  rather  live  and  die  in 
the  backwoods  than  be  the  occasion  of  creating  divis- 
ions among  them.  He  therefore  preferred  to  pursue 
the  occupation  of  a  farmer,  and  to  instruct  gratuitously 
the  people  within  the  range  of  his  personal  influence. 
It  was  not  until  after  he  saw  the  eflfect  of  the  debate 
into  which  he  was  reluctantly  drawn  with  Mr.  Walker 
that  he  began  to  take  new  views  of  his  position,  and  to 
cherish,  for  the  first  time,  the  hope  that  something 
might  be  done  upon  a  more  extended  scale  to  rouse  the 
people  from  their  spiritual  lethargy.  Guided  providen- 
tially step  by  step,  he  had  been  brought  to  an  eminence 
from  which  he  could  survey  the  wide  field  in  which  he 
was  destined  to  labor,  and  he  began  at  once  to  nerve 
himself  for  the  undertaking. 

After  conferring  with  his  father  and  with  Waltc 
Scott  and  other  friends,  who  warmly  approved  his  de 
sign,  he  issued  in  the  spring  of  1823  a  prospectus  \€ 
ihe  work,  which  he  proposed  to  call  **The  Christiaif 

VOL.  II. — D  5 


50         MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


Baptist" — a  title  adopted  not  without  some  debate, 
since  the  term  "  Baptist"  was  a  party  designation.  As 
the  reformers  were,  however,  at  this  time  identified  with 
the  Baptists,  it  was  thought  expedient,  in  order  to  avoid 
offending  religious  prejudice,  and  to  give  greater  cur 
rencv  to  the  principles  which  were  to  be  presented,  to 
make  this  concession  so  far  as  the  name  of  the  papei 
was  concerned,  qualitying  Baptist"  by  the  word 
"Christian."  In  the  prospectus  the  nature  and  ob- 
jects of  the  publication  were  candidly  and  clearly 
stated,  as  follows  : 

''The  'Christian  Baptist'  shall  espouse  the  cause  of  no  re- 
ligious  sect,  excepting  that  ancient  sect  '  called  Christians 
first  at  Antioch.'  Its  sole  object  shall  be  the  eviction  of  truth 
and  the  exposing  of  error  in  doctrine  and  practice.  The 
editor,  acknowledging  no  standard  of  religious  faith  or 
works  other  than  tlie  Old  and  New  Testament,  and  the  lat- 
ter as  the  only  standard  of  the  religion  of  Jesus  Christ,  will, 
intentionally  at  least,  oppose  nothing  which  it  contains  and 
recommend  nothing  which  it  does  not  enjoin.  Having  no 
worldly  interest  at  stake  from  the  adoption  or  reprobation  of 
any  articles  of  faith  or  reli^^ious  practice,  having  no  gift  nor 
religious  emolument  to  blind  his  eyes  or  to  pervert  his  judg- 
ment, he  hopes  to  manifest  that  he  is  an  impartial  advocate 
of  truth." 

Although  the  number  of  subscribers  at  first  obtained 
was  not  large,  he  determined  to  go  on  with  the  work 
and,  with  his  usual  energy  and  enterprise,  having  i 
eluded  to  set  up  a  printing  establishment  near  his  ov^n 
house,  he  purchased  the  necessary  type,  presses,  etf  , 
and  erected  a  building  for  the  purpose  near  the  creek 
^brding,  at  the  foot  of  the  cemetery  hill.  Engaging, 
then,  the  services  of  some  practical  printei     h:.>  quick 
apprehension  soon  made  him  tamil..*f  v::tr.  aJl  th-e  d^ 


CHALLENGE  ACCEPTED. 


5^ 


tails  of  the  office,  which  thenceforth  occupied  much  of 
his  attention.  He  became  an  expert  proof-reader; 
suppHed  regularly  the  paper  and  materials  needed,  and 
continued  to  conduct  the  printing  business  with  the 
greatest  economy  and  with  surprising  activity  and  suc- 
cess uninterruptedly  from  this  time  forward  for  more 
than  forty  years.  It  may  be  here  mentioned  that  dur- 
ing the  first  seven  years,  ending  July  4th,  1830,  he 
issued  of  his  own  works,  from  his  little  country  printing- 
office,  no  less  than  forty-six  thousand  volumes. 

It  was  in  the  month  of  May  of  this  year,  while  pre- 
paring for  the  printing  of  the  "  Christian  Baptist,"  that 
Mr.  Campbell  received  a  letter  from  Mr.  McCalla,  a 
Presbyterian  preacher  of  Augusta,  Kentucky,  intimating 
his  willingness  to  accept  the  challenge  or  invitation 
given  at  the  close  of  the  Walker  debate.  Mr. 
McCalla  had  been  a  lawyer,  and  had  quite  a  high 
reputation  among  the  Presbyterians  for  his  argument- 
ative powers.  It  was  therefore  greatly  desired  by  his 
friends  and  by  the  Paedobaptist  community  that  he 
should  have  an  opportunity  to  repair,  if  possible,  the 
injury  which  had  accrued  to  their  cause  by  the  gener- 
ally admitted  failure  of  Mr.  Walker. 

After  ascertaining  Mr.  McCalla's  standing,  Mr. 
Campbell  agreed  to  meet  him.  Mr.  McCalla  then 
proposed  twenty-one  questions  to  Mr.  Campbell,  with  a 
view  to  some  modification  of  the  proposition  offered. 
This  led  to  a  correspondence,  which  was  continued  to 
the  close  of  the  following  September,  and  which  was 
not  always  distinguished  by  that  becoming  courtesy 
which  marked  the  first  communications.  From  Mr. 
Campbell's  experience  with  the  clergy  thus  far,  and  his 
views  of  their  position  and  influence  in  the  religious 
world,  he  did  not,  as  niay  well  be  supposed,  entertain 


52         MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


the  most  reverential  feelings  toward  them ;  and  as  they 
on  their  part  naturally  felt  indignant  at  the  efforts  made 
to  weaken  their  authority,  it  became  difficult  for  them, 
in  their  intercourse  with  Mr.  Campbell,  to  avoid  betray- 
ing the  hostile  feelings  by  which  they  were  governed. 
Mr.  McCalla  accordingly  did  not  fail  in  the  course  of 
the  correspondence  to  refer  to  various  things  slander- 
ously reported  of  Mr.  Campbell,  and  to  intimate  that 
until  such  rumors  were  corrected,  '*  no  minister  of  the 
divine  Saviour  could  desire  any  other  intercourse  with 
him  than  as  an  adversary."  He  consented,  however, 
finally  to  meet  Mr.  Campbell  on  the  proposition  an- 
nounced at  the  close  of  the  Walker  debate,  but  without 
agreeing  to  any  specific  regulations  or  settled  order  for 
the  discussion.  Mr.  Campbell,  nevertheless,  agreed  to 
meet  him,  and,  in  his  letter  closing  the  correspondence 
said  : 

"  It  appears  that  your  conscience  was  not  too  tender  on  the 
subject  of  my  character  for  orthodoxy  and  piety  to  prevent 
you  from  insinuating,  nay,  declaring,  that '  Dr.  Priestley's  dis- 
ciple was  my  favorite  author,'  contrary  to  all  evidence  or  fact 
from  anything  in  my  writings,  or  from  any  respectable  source. 
You  shall,  perhaps,  soon  know  that  I  have  no  favorite  author 
in  religion  except  one,  and  that  man  who  says  I  am  a  first  or 
second-hand  disciple  of  Priestley  or  of  any  other  Socinian 
author,  is  a  man  of  no  piety  or  respectability  of  character, 
nor  is  there  a  man  living  who  can  say,  or  dare  say,  in  my 
presence,  that  I  ever  expressed  a  sentiment  derogatory  to  the 
Lord  Jesus  as  a  Divine  Redeemer — as  Emmanuel,  God  with 
us.  Such  insinuations  may  be  circulated  in  Kentucky  by 
those  who  would  wish  to  impair  my  influence  in  supporting 
a  truth  more  hated  by  those  of  the  '  orthodox  and  pious'  than 
Socinianism,  but  here  we  regard  them  not.  As  to  my  piety, 
I  know  I  have  nothing  to  boast  of ;  God  alone  is  judge.  As 
to  my  external  deportment,  men  can  judge ;  and  whenever 


•  CHRIS  TIA  N  B  APT  IS  T." 


53 


you  bring  forward  any  specific  charge  of  immorality  or  un- 
christian deportment,  we  shall  refute  it.  ...  I  request  that 
you  will  meet  me  at  Washington  the  14th  day  of  October,  in 
order  to  arrange  the  business,  for  you  have  not  agreed  to 
meet  me  on  any  of  the  terms  proposed  in  my  last.  At  least, 
you  have  not  informed  me  so.  But  you  have  told  me  that 
you  are  to  meet  me  as  an  adversary — as  *  ho  Satanas.*  Well, 
I  hope  that  you  will  remember  that  when  Michael,  the  arch- 
angel, disputed  with  the  adversary  about  the  body  of  Moses, 
he  durst  not  bring  against  him  a  railing  accusation.  As  you 
are  celebrated  for  piety  and  orthodoxy,  and  I  for  the  want  of 
them,  a  great  deal  will  be  expected  of  you  and  very  little 
from  your  humble  servant,  A.  Campbell." 

During  the  period  of  this  correspondence,  clerical 
enmity  and  detraction  seemed  to  be  constantly  accumu- 
lating against  Mr.  Campbell,  who,  nevertheless,  confi- 
dent in  the  possession  and  in  the  power  of  truth,  man- 
fully braved  the  storm,  and  in  the  "  Christian  Baptist,** 
the  first  number  of  which  appeared  4th  July,  1823,  fear- 
lessly began  such  an  exposition  of  primitive  Christianity 
and  of  existing  corruptions  as  was  well  calculated  to 
startle  the  entire  religious  community.  This,  indeed, 
w^as  what  he  designed  to  do,  for  he  conceived  the  peo- 
ple to  be  so  completely  under  the  dominion  of  the  clergy 
at  this  time  that  nothing  but  bold  and  decisive  mea- 
sures could  arouse  them  to  proper  inquiry.  In  his 
Preface,  therefore,  he  openly  announced  his  intention 
to  pursue  a  perfectly  independent  course. 

"  We  expect  to  prove.''  said  he,  "  whether  a  paper  per- 
fectly independent,  free  from  any  controlling  jurisdiction  ex- 
cept tlie  Bible,  will  be  read,  or  whether  it  will  be  blasted  by 
the  poisonous  breath  of  sectarian  zeal  and  of  an  aspiring 
priesthood."  His  mottoes,  too,  prefixed  to  the  work,  were 
characteristic :  Style  no  man  on  earth  your  father,  for  he 
alone  is  your  Father  who  is  in  heaven,  and  all  ye  are  brethren. 

5  * 


54         Mi:MO/h\S  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


Assume  not  tlie  title  of  Rabbi,  for  ye  liave  only  One  Teachei  ; 
neitber  assume  the  title  of  leader,  for  ye  have  only  One 
Leader — the  Messiah."  Matt,  xxiii.  8-IO.  "  Prove  all 
thino^s,  hold  fast  that  which  is  good." — Paul  the  Apostle. 

"  What  a  glorious  freedom  of  thought  do  the  apostles 
recommend  !  And  how  contemptible  in  their  account  is  a 
blind  and  implicit  faith  !  May  all  Christians  use  this  liberty 
of  judging  for  themselves  in  matters  of  religion,  and  allow  it 
to  one  another,  and  to  all  mankind." — IBenso7i. 

He  commenced  the  work  with  a  brief  view  of  the 
Christian  religion  as  first  established,  showing  the  lofty 
expectations  entertained  from  prophecy  in  relation  to 
the  advent  of  the  Messiah,  depicting  his  meek  and  lowly 
character  as  he  actually  appeared,  and  the  glorious 
victory  he  accomplished  as  a  suffering  Saviour.  He 
dwelt  upon  the  perfection  of  his  teachings,  and  upon 
the  conduct  and  life  of  the  first  disciples  and  of  the 
apostles  his  ambassadors  to  the  world,  so  different  from 
those  of  modern  religious  teachers.  He  then  described 
the  primitive  churches  as  to  their  bond  of  union,  the 
faith  and  love  of  Christ :  their  independence ;  their 
mode  of  acting  in  a  church  capacity  and  not  through 
independent  societies,  and  their  devotion  to  good  works. 
With  this  picture  he  then  contrasted  that  of  modern 
Christianity,  with  its  corruptions  and  divisions. 

So  great,  at  this  period,  was  the  antagonism  between 
Mr.  Campbell  and  the  clergy  that  he  was  induced  to 
animadvert  with  great  severit3^  upon  their  claims  and 
their  proceedings.  Having  entrenched  himself  in  the 
position  that  "  nothing  was  to  be  admitted  as  a  matter 
of  faith  or  duty  for  which  there  could  not  be  produced 
a  divine  precept  or  a  Scripture  precedent,"  he  made 
from  this  impregnable  fastness  many  a  sharp  foray  into 
the  territories  over  which  the  clergy  had  so  long  exer- 


THE  CLERGY  CENSURED. 


55 


cised  almost  undisputed  sway.  That  caustic  sarcasm 
and  playful  irony  to  which  he  was  naturally  disposed, 
but  to  which  decorum  forbade  him  to  give  utterance  as 
a  -preacher^  found  expression  through  the  pen  of  the 
editor,  and  much  of  the  earlier  numbers  of  the  paper 
was  devoted  to  lively  sketches  of  the  working  of  the 
clerical  machinery  in  the  manufacture  of  preachers  ;  in 
the  securing  and  enlarging  of  salaries  ;  in  the  obtaining 
of  high  positions  and  of  pompous  titles,  and  in  the  ex- 
tending of  authority  by  means  of  "  confederations  in  the 
form  of  general  councils,  synods,  assemblies,  associa- 
tions and  conferences."  He  was  at  some  pains  to  ex- 
pose, from  official  documents,  the  large  expense  and 
small  avails  of  missions  to  the  heathen  as  conducted  by 
particular  sects,  and  the  petty  methods  resorted  to  for 
the  purpose  of  obtaining  contributions,  which  he  con- 
ceived to  be  wholly  unworthy  the  character  of  the  gos- 
pel. Costly  meeting-houses  and  organs ;  selling  of 
pews;  missionary  wheels,"  "stalls"  and  "boxes;" 
priestly  tithes  and  offerings,  with  various  other  features 
of  modern  Christianity,  were  commented  on  wnth  unex- 
ampled freedom,  pungency  and  vigor.  Mr.  Campbell 
had  become  fully  convinced,  both  by  observation  and 
experience,  that  religious  bigotry  could  not  be  overcome 
while  the  clergy  were  permitted  to  use  their  usurped 
and  factitious  power  in  fostering  and  supporting  it,  and 
he  therefore  sought  to  deprive  them  of  an  influence 
which  they  had  consecrated  to  partyism.  In  order  to 
accomplish  this,  he  had  recourse  to  the  Bible  alone, 
being  satisfied  that  the  sectarian  spirit  which  then  con- 
trolled religious  society  could  be  cast  out  only  in  the 
name  of  Christ;  and,  thougli  he  foresaw  the  violence 
of  the  conflict,  he  justly  thought,  to  use  the  language  of 
Macaulay,  that  "the  miseries  of  continued  possession 


56        MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


were  more  to  be  dreaded  than  the  struggles  of  the  tre- 
mendous exorcism." 

He  continued  to  fulfill  his  task,  therefore,  with  unfalter- 
ing faith  and  courage.  Neither  the  calumnies  by  which 
his  opponents  sought  to  excite  public  odium  against 
him,  nor  the  gentle  remonstrances  and  cautions  of  timid 
friends,  availed  to  move  him  from  his  purpose.  Thomas 
Campbell,  alarmed  at  the  adventurous  boldness  of  his 
son  in  handling  so  roughly  things  and  persons  hitherto 
considered  as  sacred  by  the  people,  expostulated  often, 
and  sought  by  contributing  to  the  paper  milder  essays 
(signed  T.  W.)  to  soften  or  extenuate  censures  whose 
substantial  justness  he  could  not  but  acknowledge.  But 
the  honest  and  candid  utterances  of  a  soul  earnest  for 
truth  and  right  could  not  be  repressed.  Utterly  deny- 
ing the  propriety  of  the  distinction  between  the  clergy 
and  laity,  Mr.  Campbell  believed  that  the  so-called 
"  clergy"  had  taken  away  the  key  of  knowledge  from 
"  the  people,"  and  "  kept  them  in  ignorance"  by  assum- 
ing to  be  the  only  authorized  expounders  of  the  will  of 
God.  He  found  them,  therefore,  directly  in  the  way 
of  the  accomplishment  of  his  great  purpose,  which  was 
to  convince  the  people  that  they  could  understand  the 
Scriptures  for  themselves.  It  was  necessary,  accord- 
ingly, that  the  claims  of  the  clergy  should  be  disproved, 
and  their  assumed  authority  overthrown,  before  the 
people  could  be  released  from  spiritual  bondage. 

"We  wish,"  said  he,  "cordially  wish,  to  take  the  New 
Testament  out  of  the  abuses  of  the  clergy  and  put  it  into  the 
nands  of  the  people.  And  to  do  this  is  no  easy  task,  as  the 
clergy  have  formed  the  opinions  of  nine-tenths  of  Christendom 
before  they  could  form  an  opinion  of  their  own.  They  have, 
in  order  to  raise  the  people's  admiration  of  them  for  their  own 
advantage,  taught  them  in  creeds,  in  sermons,  in  catechisms^ 


EXPOSURE  OF  ABUSES. 


57 


in  tracts,  in  pamphlets,  in  primers,  in  folios,  that  they  alone 
can  expound  the  New  Testament — that,  without  them,  people 
are  either  almost  or  altogether  destitute  of  the  means  of  grace. 
They  must  lead  in  the  devotion  of  the  people  ;  they  must  con- 
secrate their  prayers,  their  praise  ;  and  latterly,  they  must  even 
open  a  cattle-show  or  an  exhibition  of  manufactures  with 
prayers  and  religious  pageantry  !" 

It  was  this  view  of  the  position  and  doings  of  the 
clergy  that  led  Mr.  Campbell  to  condemn  Sunday- 
schools,  missionary,  education  and  even  Bible  societies, 
as  THEN  conducted,  because  he  thought  them  perverted 
to  sectarian  purposes.  In  Sunday-schools  the  denomi- 
national catechism  was  then  diligently  taught,  and  the 
effort  was  made  to  imbue  the  minds  of  the  children  with 
partisan  theology.  Missionary  societies  then  labored 
to  propagate  the  tenets  of  the  party  to  which  each  be- 
longed, and  even  Bible  societies  seemed  to  him  to  be 
made  a  means  of  creating  offices  and  salaries  for  a  few 
clerical  managers,  who  exercised  entire  control. 

" .  .  .  I  do  not  oppose,  intentionally  at  least,"  said  he 
(Christian  Baptist,  vol.  i.,  p.  20S),  "the  scriptural  plan  of 
converting  the  world.  .  .  .  My  opponents  do  represent  me 
as  opposing  the  means  of  converting  the  world,  not  wishing 
to  discriminate,  in  my  case  at  least,  between  a  person  oppos- 
ing the  abuses  of  a  good  cause  and  the  cause  itself."  Of  Bible 
societies  he  remarks :  "  In  the  multiplication  of  copies  of  the 
Scriptures  I  do  rejoice,  although  I  do  conceive  even  the  best 
of  all  good  works  is  managed  in  a  way  not  at  all  comporting 
with  the  precepts  of  the  vohime  itself.  And  shall  we  not 
oppose  the  abuses  of  any  principle  because  of  the  excellency 
of  the  principle  itself?" 

His  chief  objection,  then,  to  the  instrumentalities  em- 
ployed for  missionary  and  other  religious  purposes  was 
that,  in  the  hands  of  the  clergy,  they  were  perverted  to 


5S         MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


denominational  aggrandizement  and  to  the  perpetuation 
of  the  j  oke  which  they  had  imposed  upon  the  people. 

His  view,  on  the  other  hand,  was  that  God's  revela- 
tion was  complete,  and  that  it  was  able,  as  it  affirms  of 
itself,  "  to  make  the  man  of  God  perfect  and  thoroughly 
furnished  to  every  good  work."  He  taught,  further- 
more, that  the  Church  of  Jesus  Christ,  formed  and 
organized  according  to  this  word,  with  its  elders  and 
deacons,  was  appointed  to  be  "the  pillar  and  ground" 
or  support  "  of  the  truth,"  and  that  such  a  society  is 
"the  highest  tribunal  on  earth  to  which  an  individual 
Christian  can  appeal." 

The  Lord  Jesus  Christ,"  said  he,  "  is  the  absolute  Mon- 
arch on  whose  shoulders  is  the  government,  and  in  whose 
hands  are  the  reins.  That  his  wilL  published  in  the  New 
Testament,  is  the  sole  law  of  the  Church  ;  and  that  every 
society  or  assembly  meeting  once  every  week  in  one  place, 
according  to  this  law.  or  the  commandments  of  this  King, 
requires  no  other  head,  king,  lawgiver,  ruler  or  lord  than  this 
Alighty  One;  no  other  law,  rule,  formula,  canon  or  decree  than 
his  writteji  word ;  no  judicatory,  court  or  tribunal  other  than 
the  judgi7ient-seat  of  Christ.''  (Vol.  i.,  p.  69.)  Again,  page 
205,  he  says  :  I  am  taught  from  the  Record  itself  to  describe 
a  Church  of  Christ  in  the  following  words  :  It  is  a  society  of 
disciples  professing  to  believe  the  one  grand  fact,  the  Messiah- 
ship  of  Jesus,  voluntarily  submitting  to  his  authority  and  guid- 
ance, having  all  of  them  in  their  baptism  expressed  their  faith 
in  him  and  allegiance  to  him,  and  statedly  meeting  together 
in  one  place  to  walk  in  all  his  commandments  and  ordinances. 
This  societv.  with  its  bishop  or  bishops,  and  its  deacon  or 
deacons,  as  the  case  mav  require,  is  perfectly  independent  of 
any  tribunal  on  earth  called  ecclesiastical.  It  knows  nothing 
of  superior  or  inferior  church  judicatories,  and  acknowledges 
no  laws,  no  canons  or  government  other  than  that  of  the  Mon- 
arch of  the  Universe  and  his  laws.    This  Church,  having 


RADICAL  REFORMS. 


59 


iK/v*-  comni/ttod  unto  it  the  oracles  of  God,  is  adequate  to  all 
the  purposes  of  illuinination  and  reformation  which  entered 
into  trie  design  of  its  founder." 

Such  being  his  view  of  the  position  occupied  by  a  Church 
of  Cnrist,  he  found  in  this  an  additional  argument  against 
such  missionary  and  other  societies  as  acted  independently 
of  church  control.      Every  Christian,"  safd  he  (vol.  ii.,  p.  97), 

who  understands  the  nature  and  design,  the  excellence  and 
glory,  of  the  institution  called  the  Church  of  ycsus  Christy 
will  lament  to  see  its  glory  transferred  to  a  human  corpora- 
tion. The  Church  is  robbed  of  its  character  by  every  insti- 
tution, merely  human,  that  would  ape  its  excellence  and  sub- 
stitute itself  in  its  place." 

Believing  that  the  primitive  Church  never  transferred 
any  of  its  duties  to  other  associations,  but  fulfilled  them  ^ 
always  in  its  own  character  that  Christ  might  be  glori- 
fied, he  was  jealous  of  every  separate  organization 
formed  to  accomplish  any  of  the  purposes  for  which 
the  Church  was  established. 

These  were  among  the  radical  reforms  urged  at  this 
time  by  Mr.  Campbell,  and  in  his  exposures  of  prevail- 
ing errors,  as  well  as  in  his  developments  of  the  primi- 
tive faith  and  order,  he  was  ably  seconded  by  Walter 
Scott,  who  furnished  a  number  of  articles  for  the  "Chris- 
tian Baptist,"  mostly  under  the  signature  of  Philip. 
A  series  of  essays  which  he  commenced  in  the  second 
number  of  the  paper  upon  the  subject  of  *' Teaching 
Christianity,"  may  be  especially  mentioned  as  develop- 
ing his  favorite  theme,  the  Messiahship  of  Jesus,  in 
which  he  shows  that  this  majestic  truth  constituted  the 
rock  on  which  the  Church  was  founded  and  the  great 
gospel  theme  to  be  preached  to  the  world. 

Mr.  Campbell  has  been  censured  by  some  for  the 
severity  of  his  strictures  at  this  period  upon  the  clergy 


6o         MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


and  their  proceedings.  A  milder  course  and  gentler 
words,  they  think,  would  have  succeeded  better.  It  is 
to  be  remembered,  however,  that  the  milder  method  had 
already  been  tried.  No  gentler  words,  no  kinder  re- 
monstrances, no  warmer  entreaties,  no  sounder  argu- 
ments, could  have  been  employed  than  those  addressed 
to  religious  society,  and  particularly  to  the  clergy,  by 
Thomas  Campbell  and  the  "Christian  Association." 
But  all  these  well-meant  efforts  the  clergy  had  treated 
with  disdain.  The  soft  and  harmless  missiles  of  for- 
bearance had  been  employed  apparently  to  no  purpose 
to  induce  the  clergy  to  come  down  from  the  elevated 
position  they  had  gained,  and  from  the  possession  of  the 
spoils  they  coveted,  and  it  had  become  necessary  to  use 
something  more  solid  and  effective  in  order  to  compel 
attention. 

It  should  be  remembered,  moreover,  that  Mr.  Camp- 
bell regarded  the  Church  and  the  clergy  from  a  point 
of  view  very  different  from  the  popular  one,  and  did  not 
consider  all  ministers  of  religion  as  "clergy"  in  the 
sense  he  condemned.  Hence  care  is  to  be  exercised  in 
giving  to  his  censures  an  application  no  more  extensive 
than  he  designed.  The  clergy,  in  Mr.  Campbell's 
view,  consisted  of  those  who,  claiming,  without  creden- 
tials, to  be  "  ambassadors  of  Christ,"  placed  themselves 
upon  apostolic  thrones  ;  and,  having  no  new  divine  rev- 
elations, assumed  to  be  the  sole  authorized  expositors 
of  the  sacred  oracles,  denying  to  the  people  the  right 
or  the  power  of  comprehending  or  interpreting  the 
Scriptures  for  themselves,  and  exercising  over  men,  by 
means  of  these  false  assumptions,  a  powerful  influence, 
largely  devoted  to  the  maintenance  of  their  own  usurp- 
ations and  the  religious  partyism  of  the  times.  He  had 
before  his  vision  the  lordly  prelates  of  Europe,  and  es- 


ARROGANT  BAPTIST  PREACHERS.  6 1 


pecially  of  the  Established  Church  of  England^  whose 
revenues,  he  shows  from  public  documents,  were  nearly 
forty  millions  of  dollars,  being  two  hundred  and  eight 
thousand  six  hundred  and  eighty  dollars  per  annum 
more  than  those  of  all  the  remaining  clergy  of  the 
whole  Christian  world.  With  these  he  associated  all  in 
other  churches  who  arrogated  to  themselves  similar 
official  claims,  and  who  sought,  each  in  his  own  sphere, 
a  similar  priestly  domination.  It  is  to  be  particularly 
noticed  that  he  did  not  include  among  the  clergy'*'' 
whom  he  denounced  the  ministers  of  the  Baptist  and 
other  independent  churches.  These,  being  appointed 
by  the  churches,  and  acting  as  elders  and  preachers  of 
the  gospel  in  subordination  to  just  scriptural  authority, 
he  constantly  recognized  as  a  lawful  ministry  in  the 
Church,  for  the  accomplishment  of  the  purposes  for 
which  it  was  established  on  the  earth.  He  thought,  in- 
deed, there  were  some  preachers  even  among  the  Bap- 
tists who  were  disposed  to  assume  the  airs  and  arro- 
gance of  some  Paedobaptist  priests,"  placing  themselves, 
when  fresh  from  college,  over  the  heads  of  "old  and 
experienced  members  a  thousand  times  better  qualified 
than  they  to  be  overseers."  "I  hope,  however,"  he 
adds  (C.  B.  for  Oct.,  1824),  "the  number  of  such 
among  the  Baptists  is  small.  Perhaps  the  whole  aggre- 
gate number  is  not  greater  than  the  aggregate  of  good, 
well-meaning  men  amongst  the  Paedobaptist  clergy." 
Again,  in  the  same  "  address,"  he  says  :  "Amongst  the 
Baptists  it  is  to  be  hoped  there  are  but  few  clergy,  and 
would  to  God  there  were  none  !  The  grand  and  dis- 
tinguishing views  of  the  Baptists  must  be  grossly  per- 
verted before  they  could  tolerate  one  such  creature." 

It  is  to  be  noted,  also,  that  his  condemnation  of  the 
clergy  and  their  undertakings  was  not  indiscriminate. 

6 


62  MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


In  speaking  of  their  worldl}'  ambitions  and  desire  of 
aggrandizement,  he  says  (C.  B.,vol.  i.,  p.  48)  :  "To 
say  that  every  individual  of  this  nation  of  clergy  is 
actuated  by  such  motives,  and  such  only,  is  very  far 
from  our  intention.  There  have  been  good  and  pious 
kings,  and  there  are  good  and  pious  clergy."  Again, 
in  speaking  of  those  who  sustained  the  schemes  of  the 
clergy,  and  of  his  own  aims  and  purposes  in  opposing 
them,  he  says  (Id.,  p.  89)  : 

*'  Our  views  of  Christianity  differ  very  materially  from  the 
popular  views.  This  we  fearlessly  and  honestly  avow.  But 
while  we  remember  our  own  mistakes  and  the  systems  and 
teaching  of  our  time,  we  must  acknowledge  many  to  be 
Christians  who  are  led  away  and  corrupted  from  the  sim- 
phcity  of  Clirist."  Referring  to  the  missionar\^  plans,  he 
says  (Id.,  p.  208)  :  "  I  am  constrained  to  differ  from  many 
whom  I  love  and  esteem,  and  will  ever  esteem,  if  we  should 
never  agree  upon  this  point,  as  well  as  from  many  whom  I 
cannot  love  for  the  truth's  sake.  At  the  same  time  I  am  very 
sorry  to  think  that  any  man  should  suppose  that  I  am  either 
regardless  of  the  deplorable  condition  of  the  heathen  world 
or  opposed  to  any  means  authorized  by  the  New  Testament 
for  either  the  civilization  or  salvation  of  those  infatuated 
pagans."  Again,  of  his  motives  and  designs,  he  thus  speaks 
(Id.,  p.  90)  :  ''Many  will,  from  various  motives,  decr\^  the 
clergy.  ...  In  opposing  and  exposing  them  and  their  king- 
dom, it  is  not  to  join  the  infidel  cr\'  against  priests  and  priest- 
craft ;  it  is  not  to  gratify  the  avaricious  or  the  licentious ;  but 
it  is  to  pull  down  their  Babel,  and  to  emancipate  those  whom 
they  have  enslaved  ;  to  free  the  people  from  their  unrighteous 
dominion  and  unmerciful  spoliation.  We  have  no  system  of 
our  own,  or  of  others,  to  substitute  in  lieu  of  the  reigning 
systems.  We  only  aim  at  substituting  the  New  Testament  in 
lieu  of  every  creed  in  existence,  whether  Mohammedan,  Pagan, 
Jewish  or  Presbyterian.  We  wish  to  call  Christians  to  con- 
sider that  Jesus  Christ  has  made  them  kings  and  priests  to 


PERSONAL  INTERCOURSE. 


63 


God.  We  neither  advocate  Calvinism,  Arminianism,  Socin- 
ianism,  Arianism,  Trinitarianism,  Un.itarianism,  Deism  nor 
Sectarianism,  but  Ne-ju  Tesiafnentism'* 

Mr.  Campbell,  furthermore,  would  be  greatly  misun- 
derstood if  he  were  supposed  to  have  cherished  feelings 
of  personal  unkindness  toward  those  whom  he  so  sternly 
arraigned  before  the  bar  of  Scripture  on  account  of  their 
assumptions.  While  he  denounced  their  errors  as  a 
class,  he  had  a  very  high  regard  for  many  of  them  in- 
dividually, and  exercised  Christian  benevolence  toward 
them  all  as  7nen,  while  he  repudiated  them  as  clergy^ 
men.  Among  them  he  had  many  warm  personal  friends, 
who  understood  and  esteemed  him  too  well  to  take  um- 
brage at  his  essays.  There  was  a  charm  about  Mr. 
Campbell  in  his  personal  intercourse  which  speedily 
disarmed  all  the  prejudices  which  his  writings  were 
calculated  to  excite.  In  these,  like  Paul,  he  appeared 
in  a  guise  wholly  different  from  that  which  invested  his 
personal  character.  For  religious  errors  and  for  classes 
of  errorists  he  had  in  his  writings  nothing  but  cold,  in- 
cisive logic ;  the  crushing  strength  derived  from  his 
singular  knowledge  of  unwelcome  facts ;  the  shafts  of 
piercing  satire  and  the  sharp,  two-edged  sword  of  the 
divine  word.  But  for  men,  individualh',  he  had  the. 
most  affectionate  and  almost  reverential  feelings.  He 
could  say  nothing  to  wound  their  sensibilities  or  to  de- 
tract in  any  degree  from  their  real  or  supposed  position. 
He  was  the  same  kind,  sympathizing  friend,  and  the 
iame  lively,  agreeable  companion  to  the  clergy  of  his 
acquaintance  that  he  was  to  others,  and  with  that  deli- 
cate courtesy  which  always  characterized  him  he  for- 
bore to  make  in  their  company  any  direct  application 
of  his  well-known  views.  He  loved,  indeed,  to  con- 
verse with  them  upon  the  great  themes  of  nature  and 


64         MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 

religion  ;  and  he  delighted  to  give  them  a  sharp  thrust 
or  a  sly  rub  occasionally  in  his  pleasant,  humorous  way, 
in  order  to  set  them  to  thinking,  but  he  never  exceeded 
the  boundaries  of  the  most  cordial  good  feeling.  In 
this  sort  of  skirmishing  he  was  almost  invariably  tri- 
umphant, and  his  keen,  flashing  wit  never  shone  to 
greater  advantage  than  in  such  encounters.  Occasion- 
ally, however,  he  would  be  foiled  with  his  own  weapons. 
One  day,  Dr.  Joseph  Doddridge,  the  Episcopal  minister 
at  Wellsburg,  for  whom  he  had  a  very  high  esteem, 
w^as  out  at  his  house  on  a  visit.  As  they  were  taking 
a  stroll  in  the  orchard,  the  bell  rang  for  dinner.  Hav- 
ing been  conversing  pleasantly  on  various  subjects  and 
nearing  the  topic  of  church  government,  Mr.  Campbell 
said  to  the  Doctor  as  they  were  passing  over  to  the 
house,  and  with  a  sly  twinkle  in  his  eye  :  Doctor, 
that  is  a  very  ugly  story  they  tell  us  about  Harry  the 
Eighth  and  Queen  Boleyn  !"  The  Doctor,  perceiving 
his  drift,  and  that  he  meant  a  blow  at  the  origin  of 
episcopacy,  replied  instantly:  "Yes,  sir;  a  very  ugly 
story.  But,  Mr.  Campbell,  we  have  a  good  many  ugly 
stories  in  the  Bible  !"  At  this  repartee  they  both 
laughed  heartily  and  came  to  dinner  in  high  humor, 
and  ever  afterward  Mr.  Campbell's  cheery  laughter 
would  make  the  welkin  ring  when  he  related,  as  he 
often  did  to  his  friends,  how  readily  and  adroitly  the 
Doctor  had  parried  and  returned  his  thrust. 

Mr.  Campbell's  bold  attacks  upon  the  popular  clergy, 
roused,  as  may  well  be  supposed,  on  their  part  an  in- 
tense indignation.  Instead,  however,  of  trying  to  re- 
form a  single  abuse,  they  continued  to  abuse  the  indi- 
vidual who  dared  to  urge  reform,  and  all  their  influence 
was  exerted  to  put  down  one  whom  they  regarded  as  a 
most  dangerous  "  adversary."    In  attempting  to  do  this, 


REAL  PURPOSES.  65 

they  resorted,  unfortunately,  to  personal  detraction  and 
misrepresentation,  rather  than  to  truth  and  Scripture 
argument,  and  preferred,  in  general,  to  circulate  pri- 
vately such  reports  as  were  likely  to  excite  public  odium 
against  Mr.  Campbell,  rather  than  to  accept  his  liberal 
offer  of  page  for  page  in  the  Christian  Baptist"  for 
manly  discussion  of  the  questions  involved.  They  re- 
ported that  he  was  a  Socinian,  because  he  refused  to 
adopt  the  terms  of  scholastic  divinity.  To  this  he 
replied:  "We  regard  Arianism,  semi-Arianism  and 
Socinianism  as  poor,  blind,  miserable  and  naked  non- 
sense and  absurdity"  (C.  B.  vol.  i.,  p.  443).  They 
charged  him  with  being  a  "  disorganizer."  But  it  was 
not  his  aim  merely  to  overthrow  the  existing  order  of 
religious  society.  He  was  well  aware  of  the  vast  bene- 
fits resulting  to  mankind  from  Christianity,  even  in  its 
most  corrupt  forms,  and  was  far  from  proposing,  as  seen 
in  the  above  extracts,  to  accomplish  the  merely  nega- 
tive work  of  subverting  these.  He  desired  to  dethrone 
the  false,  that  he  might  re-establish  the  true  ;  to  replace 
the  traditions  of  men  by  the  teachings  of  Christ  and 
the  apostles,  and  to  substitute  the  New  Testament  for 
creeds  and  human  formularies.    Said  he  (p.  89)  : 

"To  see  Christians  enjoy  their  privileges,  and  to  see  sin- 
ners brought  from  darkness  to  Ught,  are  the  two  great  objects 
for  which  we  desire  to  live,  to  labor  and  to  suffer  reproach. 
In  endeavoring  to  use  our  feeble  efforts  for  these  glorious 
objects  we  have  found  it  necessary,  among  other  things,  to 
attempt  to  dethrone  the  reigning  popular  clergy  from  their 
high  and  lofty  seats,  which  they  have  been  for  ages  building 
for  themsehes.  While  we  attempt  to  dethrone  them,  it  is 
solely  for  this  purpose — that  we  might  enthrone  the  holy  apos- 
tles on  those  thrones  which  Christ  promised  them  ;  or  rather 
that  we  might  turn  the  attention  of  the  people  to  them  placed 
upon  thrones  by  the  Great  and  Mighty  King." 


66         MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


liis  work  was  thus,  as  said  before,  eminently  positive, 
designed  to  restore  the  pure,  primitive  gospel  with  all 
its  ordinances  and  administrations,  and  he  was  careful, 
therefore,  in  the  '*  Christian  Baptist,"  to  present  this  for 
consideration  and  adoption  on  the  one  hand,  while,  on 
the  other,  he  exposed  the  errors  of  modern  systems. 

Thus  to  separate  truth  from  error  in  relation  to  the 
most  important  of  all  subjects  was  certainly  the  greatest 
service  that  any  one  could  have  rendered  to  the  world. 
Under  the  peculiar  circumstances  of  this  period,  nothing 
could  have  been  more  desirable  or  more  needed  than 
to  bring  religious  teaching  and  religious  enterprises  into 
exact  conformity  to  the  Word  of  God.  Providence  had 
evidently  raised  up  in  Alexander  Campbell  the  man  for 
the  times.  It  needed  one  of  an  intrepid  spirit  to  brave 
theological  odium  and  clerical  denunciation,  and  to  re- 
buke the  bigotry,  sectarianism  and  venality  which  ex- 
isted in  the  religious  world.  It  needed  one,  too,  of 
supreme  regard  for  truth  and  uncompromising  fidelity 
to  the  teachings  of  the  Bible  to  exhibit  boldly  the  simple 
apostolic  gospel  and  the  primitive  Church  order,  in  op- 
position to  the  corruption  and  spiritual  despotism  which 
then  prevailed.  His  fine  natural  abilities;  his  previous 
training ;  his  enlarged  experience  and  observation  of 
the  actual  condition  of  religious  society  ;  his  social  and 
worldly  circumstances, — all  contributed  to  fit  him  for  the 
work  assigned  him.  Even  his  early  resolve  to  labor  in 
the  gospel  without  charge  gave  him  in  the  conflict  with 
a  sahiried  clergy  a  marked  advantage,  and  led  him, 
doubtless,  to  employ  a  freedom  of  censure  in  which 
he  would  not  otherwise  have  indulged.  Believing, 
however,  as  he  did,  tliat  a  distinct  order,  such  as  the 
clergy,  wa^  wholly  unauthorized,  everything  connected 
with  their  ^-osition  became  legitimately  a  subject  of  re- 


PJtOGJiESS  OF  TRUTH. 


67 


mark  ;  while  on  the  other  hand,  taught  by  the  Scripture 
il.ut  every  congregation  should  have  its  own  elders  and 
deacons,  and  that  its  divinely-appointed  rulers  and 
laborers  should  be  duly  honored  and  supported,  he  did 
not  fail  to  urge  this  duty  and  to  distinguish  these  officers 
from  the  clergy,  against  whom  alone  he  directed  his 
shafts.    On  this  subject  he  says  (p.  209)  : 

When  I  arrived  a  stranger  in  this  Western  country,  with- 
out any  other  property  than  my  education,  I  did,  from  a  con- 
firmed disgust  at  the  popular  schemes — which  I  confess  I 
principally  imbibed  when  a  student  at  the  University  of 
Glasgow — determine  that  I  should,  under  the  protection  and 
patronage  of  the  Almighty,  render  all  the  services  I  could  to 
my  fellow-creatures,  by  means  of  the  Bible,  without  any 
earthly  compensation  whatever.  On  these  principles  I 
began,  and  having  no  other  prospects  than  to  turn  my  atten- 
tion to  some  honest  calling  for  a  livelihood,  I  prosecuted  this 
design  without  looking  back.  At  the  same  time  I  did  not 
censure  nor  do  I  censure  any  Christian  bishop  who  receives 
such  earthly  things  as  he  needs  from  those  to  whose  edifica- 
tion and  comfort  he  contributes  by  his  labors. 

Aware,  indeed,  of  the  danger  of  being  misunderstood 
on  this  subject,  he,  in  the  very  first  number  of  the 
*  ' Christian  Baptist,"  prefixed  to  an  article  referring  to  the 
clergy,  the  following:  Nota  Bene, — In  our  remarks 
upon  the  Christian  clergy  we  never  include  the  elders 
or  deacons  of  a  Christian  assembly,  or  those  in  the 
New  Testament  called  the  overseers  and  servants  of 
the  Christian  Church.  These  we  consider  as  very  dif- 
ferent characters,  and  shall  distinguish  them  in  some 
future  number." 

In  spite  of  all  the  hindrances  interposed  by  the  clergy 
and  their  supporters,  the  reformatory  views  urged  by 
Mr.  Campbell  found  access  to  many  minds,  and  in 
various  quarters  began  to  produce  marked  results. 


68         MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


At  the  time,  however,  they  were  but  imperfectly  ap- 
prehended. They  were  far  in  advance  of  the  age,  and 
their  spread  served  but  to  intensify  the  opposition  of  the 
clergy  and  their  adherents.  His  opponents  in  the  Red- 
stone Association  were  particularly  incensed  and,  as 
for  the  past  six  years  he  had  been  too  much  confined 
by  the  duties  of  Buffalo  Seminary  to  visit  often  the 
churches  belonging  to  the  Association,  the  opportunity 
afforded  by  his  absence  had  been  diligently  used  to 
increase  the  prejudice  against  him.  The  "  Sermon  on 
the  Law,"  which  had  been  printed,  furnished  a  favorite 
ground  for  charges  of  heresy,  and  the  minority,  led  on 
by  Elders  Brownfield,  Pritchard  and  the  Stones,  was 
full  of  expedients  to  gain  an  ascendency  in  the  associa- 
tion, and  to  thrust  Mr.  Campbell  and  his  friends  out  of 
it.  In  the  month  of  August,  1823,  he  learned  that  they 
had  determined  to  make  a  strong  effort  for  this  purpose^ 
and,  in  order  to  ensure  success,  that  special  brethren 
traversed  all  the  churches  in  the  Association,  and  had 
induced  many  of  them  to  appoint  as  messengers  to  the 
next  meeting  such  persons  as  were  unfriendly  to  him, 
in  order  to  secure  a  majority  against  him.  Considered 
in  itself,  Mr.  Campbell  cared  but  little  for  this  impend- 
ing excommunication  on  the  part  of  the  Association, 
but  as  he  was  to  engage  in  a  public  debate  shortly  with 
Mr.  McCalla,  he  thought  it  best  to  evade  the  denomi- 
national discredit  designed  by  his  enemies,  lest  this 
should  mar  his  success,  or  possibly  prevent  the  discus- 
sion altogether.  He  determined  accordingly,  though 
the  time  for  action  was  but  short  (the  Association  hav- 
ing appointed  to  meet  in  September),  to  defeat  the  pro- 
ject, in  a  way  his  enemies  little  expected,  but  which 
was  in  strict  accordance  with  Baptist  usages. 

As  he  had  been  occasionally  pressed  by  Elder  Bentley 


WELLSBURG  CHURCH. 


69 


to  leave  the  Redstone  Association  and  unite  with  the 
Mahoning,  and  as  a  number  of  the  members  of  the 
Brush  Run  Church  Hved  in  Wellsburg  and  its  vicinity, 
he  concluded  to  form  there  a  separate  congregation  in 
which  he  would  have  his  membership,  and  which  might 
afterward  unite  with  the  Mahoning  Association.  He 
announced,  therefore,  to  the  church  at  Brush  Run  that 
for  special  reasons,  which  it  was  not  at  that  time  pru- 
dent to  disclose,  he  desired  from  them  letters  of  dismis- 
sion for  himself  and  some  thirty  other  members,  in 
order  to  constitute  a  church  in  Wellsburg.  This  re- 
quest, in  deference  to  Mr.  Campbell's  judgment,  was 
granted,  and  the  second  church  of  the  Reformation  was 
at  once  constituted  in  the  town  of  Wellsburg,  and  con- 
tinued to  assemble  regularly  thenceforward  in  the  house 
which  had  been  previously  erected.*  The  church  at 
Brush  Run  meanwhile  appointed  Thomas  Campbell 
and  t^vo  others  as  messengers  to  Redstone,  while 
Alexander  resolved  to  attend  the  meeting  as  a  spectator. 

When  the  letter  from  Brush  Run  was,  in  the  usual 
order  of  business,  called  for  in  the  Association  and 
read,  a  good  deal  of  surprise  was  manifested  that  Alex- 

*  The  following  is  a  copy  of  the  letter  of  dismission  in  the  handwriting  of 
Thomas  Campbell : 

"  Be  it  known  to  all  whom  it  may  concern,  that  we  have  dismissed  the 
following  brethren  in  good  standing  with  us,  to  constitute  a  church  of  Christ 
at  Wellsburg,  namely : 

"Alexander  Campbell,  Margaret  Campbell,  John  Brown,  Ann  Brown,  Mary 
SavTCS,  Mary  Marshall,  Mary  Little,  Richard  McConnel,  Stephen  Priest, 
Mr.  Jones,  John  Chambers,  Mary  Chambers,  Jacob  Osborne,  Susan  Os- 
borne, Mrs.  Bakewell,  Selina  Bakewell,  Mrs.  Dicks,  William  Gilchrist, 
Jane  Gilchrist,  Mr.  Brockaw,  Nancy  Brockaw,  Alexander  Holliday, 
Joseph  Freeman,  Margaret  Parkinson,  Jane  Parkinson,  Mrs.  Talbot, 
George  Young,  Daniel  Babbit,  Catharine  Harvey,  Mrs.  Braley,  Solomon 
Salah,  Delilah  Salah. 
"  Done  at  our  meeting,  August  31st,  A.  D.  1823,  and  signed  by  order  of  the 

■church.  Thomas  Campbell" 


7o         MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


ander  Campbell  was  not  named  in  it  as  one  of  the  mes-^ 
sengers.  On  this  ground  objection  was  made  to  a  mo- 
tion to  invite  him  to  a  seat,  and  a  debate  ensued  which 
occupied  much  time.  At  length  Mr.  Campbell,  wha 
had  listened  in  silence,  was  requested  to  state  w^hy  he 
was  not,  as  usual,  a  messenger  from  Brush  Run. 

Upon  this  he  arose  and  expressed  his  regret  that  the 
Association  should  have  spent  so  much  of  its  precious 
time  upon  so  trifling  a  matter,  and  observed  that  he 
w^ould  at  once  relieve  them  from  all  further  trouble  by 
stating  that  the  reason  why  he  had  not  been  appointed 
a  messenger  from  Brush  Run  was  simply  this  :  that  the 
church  of  which  he  was  then  a  member  was  not  con- 
nected with  the  Redstone  Association. 

"  Never,"  said  he,  in  relating  the  incident,  did  hunters, 
on  seeing  the  game  unexpectedly  escape  from  their  toils  at  the 
moment  when  its  capture  was  sure,  glare  upon  each  other  a 
more  mortifying  disappointment  than  that  indicated  by  my 
pursuers  at  that  instant,  on  hearing  that  I  was  out  of  their 
bailiwick,  and  consequently  out  of  their  jurisdiction.  A 
solemn  stillness  ensued,  and,  for  a  time,  all  parties  seemed  to 
have  nothing  to  do." 

Mr.  Campbell,  having  thus  checkmated  his  opponents 
in  the  Association  and  escaped  the  excommunication,  by 
which  it  was  hoped  the  ears  of  the  Baptists  would  be 
closed  against  him,  remained  still  free  as  before  to  ad- 
vocate amongst  them  those  principles  of  reformation 
which,  he  thought,  if  adopted  by  them,  would  rapidly 
regenerate  the  whole  of  religious  society. 


CHAPTER  III. 


foumey  to  Kentucky — Debate  -with  Mr.  McCalla — Workings  of  religious 
bigotry — Design  of  baptism— Incidents — Results — Candor  of  Mr.  Camp* 
bell -His  reputation  in  Kentucky — Effects  of  his  labors. 

THE  Ohio  river,  in  the  beginning  of  October,  1823, 
being  too  low  for  steamboat  navigation,  Mr.  Camp- 
bell was  compelled  to  set  out  on  horseback  in  order  to 
meet  his  appointment  with  Mr.  McCalla  in  Kentucky. 
On  this  journey  he  was  accompanied  by  the  pastor  of  the 
Baptist  church  in  Pittsburg,  Sidney  Rigdon,  who  wished 
to  be  present  at  the  discussion.  As  they  journeyed 
along  for  nearly  three  hundred  miles  through  the  inter- 
vening State  of  Ohio,  Mr.  Campbell  felt  his  health  and 
strength  improve,  and  took  great  pleasure  in  seeing  the 
rich  valley  of  the  Scioto,  and  the  new  districts  of  coun- 
try which  he  had  never  before  visited.  For  the  last  one 
hundred  miles,  however,  from  New  Lancaster  through 
all  the  fertile  level  land  to  Wilmington,  in  Clinton  county, 
he  found  the  country  overspread  with  gloom,  owing  to 
the  prevalence  of  a  fatal  form  of  autumnal  fever  which 
pervaded  town  and  country,  and  of  which  many  w^ere 
dying.  Reaching  Washington,  Ky.,  on  the  iith,  he 
thus  writes  home  : 

"  My  Dear  Margaret  :  Through  the  mercy  and  kind- 
ness of  our  heavenly  Father  we  have  arrived  in  safety  and  in 
health  at  the  ground  of  debate.  .  .  .  This  is  a  healthy  and 
fine  country,  and  everything  is  cheerful  and  animating.  I 

71 


72 


MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


have  no  news  relative  to  the  debate.  Great  expectations  on 
all  sides,  and  much  zeal.  Too  much  party  spirit.  I  hope  and 
pray  that  the  Lord  will  enable  me  to  speak  as  I  ought  to 
speak,  and  cause  the  truth  to  be  glorified.  I  intend,  if  my 
health  will  permit,  to  visit  Lexington  and  Cincinnati  after  the 
debate,  and  therefore  you  need  not  expect  to  see  me  for  nearly 
six  weeks  from  my  departure  from  home.  I  will  write  in  a 
few  days  again.  Remember  me  to  all  the  children — to  Joseph 
Freeman,  James  Anderson  and  all  inquiring  friends.  May 
grace,  mercy  and  peace  be  multiplied  unto  you  !  Your  loving 
husband,  A.  Campbell." 

After  resting  for  a  tirne,  he  was  introduced,  on  the 
evening  of  the  14th,  to  Mr.  McCalla  by  Major  Davis, 
and  endeavored  to  arrange  the  preliminaries  of  the  dis- 
cussion. He  found  Mr.  McCalla  unwilling  to  agree  to 
such  rules  as  he  thought  requisite,  or  even  to  leave  the 
matter  to  the  moderators.    Finally  it  was  thus  arranged  : 

I.  Each  of  the  parties  shall  choose  a  moderator,  and  these 
two  a  third  person,  who  belongs  to  neither  party,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  merely  keeping  order.  2.  Alexander  Campbell  shall 
open  the  debate.  3.  Each  disputant  shall  have  the  privi- 
lege of  speaking  thirty  minutes  without  interruption,  unless 
he  chooses  to  waive  his  right.  4.  Whateyer  books  are  pro- 
duced upon  the  occasion  shall  be  open  to  the  perusal  of  each 
disputant.  5.  The  debate  shall  be  adjourned  from  day  to  day 
until  the  parties  are  satisfied." 

Mr.  Campbell  chose  Bishop  Jeremiah  Vardeman  as 
moderator  on  his  part.*    Mr.  McCalla  chose  the  Rev. 

*  Jeremiah  Vardeman  was,  beyond  question,  the  most  popular  preacher  in 
Kentucky.  Although  without  much  education,  he  had,  by  his  energy  and 
zeal,  and  his  fine  hortatoiy  powers,  aided  by  his  noble  personal  appearance 
and  social  qualities,  acquired  immense  influence.  He  had  heard  many  things 
about  Mr.  Campbell,  and  was  anxious  to  see  and  hear  him  for  himself.  He 
used  to  relate  afterward  that  as  he  was  on  his  way  to  the  debate,  traveling  in 
a  gig,  he  overtook,  about  eleven  miles  from  Washington,  a  man  on  foot,  and, 
hailing  him,  inquired  whither  he  was  going.    He  said  he  was  on  his  way  to 


EXORDIUM. 


73 


James  K.  Birch  ;  and  these  two  chose  Major  William 
Roper,  and  appointed  him  president  of  the  board  of 
moderators.  The  debate  was  to  have  been  held  in  the 
Baptist  meeting-house  in  the  town  of  Washington,  but, 
as  the  concourse  was  great  and  the  weather  now  clear 
and  pleasant,  it  was  concluded  to  have  the  discussion, 
for  the  time,  in  an  adjacent  grove,  where  a  Methodist 
camp-meeting  had  recently  been  held,  and  where  the 
people  were  well  accommodated. 

At  the  appointed  hour  (12  o'clock),  both  parties  ap- 
peared upon  the  ground,  Mr.  Campbell  having  only  a 
few  books  with  him,  such  as  he  could  conveniently 
carry  in  his  portmanteau.  In  personal  appearance 
there  was  considerable  difference  between  the  two  dis- 
putants, Mr.  McCalla  being  lower  in  stature  and  more 
slender  than  Mr.  Campbell,  with  dark  hair,  a  self-pos- 
sessed and  solemn  aspect  and  much  of  the  clerical  air. 

Mr.  Campbell's  exordium  was  as  follows  : 

Men,  Brethren  and  Fathers  : 

"  Through  the  goodness  and  mercy  of  God,  I  appear  before 

Washington.  "  Why,"  said  Vardeman,  "  you  must  have  very  urgent  business 
to  walk  so  far  in  such  roads  as  these  for,  as  it  had  been  raining  recently, 
the  roads  were  very  muddy.  The  man  replied  that  he  had  no  call  of  business, 
but  that  he  was  going  to  hear  the  debate  that  was  to  come  off  on  the  15th. 
Surprised  at  this,  Vardeman  took  him  at  once  to  be  a  very  zealous  Baptist, 
and,  affecting  to  be  on  the  other  side,  he  said  :  "Is  not  our  man  likely  to  whip 
your  man  Campbell  V  The  man  gave  him  a  searching  look,  and  asked : 
"  Can  you  tell  me  if  this  is  the  same  Mr.  Campbell  who  debated  with  Mr. 
Walker  at  Mount  Pleasant,  Ohio Elder  Vardeman  said  he  believed  he 
was.  The  stranger  the»i  said :  "  I  am  not  a  member  of  any  church.  I  am 
going  to  the  debate  on  the  supposition  that  this  is  the  Mr.  Campbell  who  de- 
bated at  Mount  Pleasant  three  years  ago.  I  heard  that  debate,  and  all  I  have 
to  say  is,  that  all  creation  cannot  whip  that  Mr.  Campbell."  Elder  Vardeman, 
who  was  noted  for  his  power  in  defending  the  practice  of  immersion,  was  not 
a  little  gratified  with  this  unexpected  and  very  decided  testimony  to  Mr. 
Campbell's  ability,  and  came  on  to  the  debate,  full  of  cheerful  expectation  as 
to  the  fortunes  of  his  favorite  tenet. 

7 


74         MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


you,  at  this  time  and  in  this  phice,  for  the  purpose  of  con- 
tending for  a  part  of  that  faitli,  antl  an  item  of  that  rclij^ious 
practice,  once  delivered  to  the  saints.  My  prayer  to  God  is, 
that  for  the  sake  of  his  Son  Jesus  Christ  1  may  speak  as  I 
ought  to  speak;  that  in  the  spirit  of  the  truth  1  may  contend 
for  the  truth  ;  that  with  humility  and  love,  with  zeal  acconl- 
ing  to  knowledge  and  unfeigned  devotion,  I  may  open  my 
lips  on  every  occasion  when  I  address  my  fellow  mortal  and 
immortal  creatures  on  tiie  subject  of  religion.  Expecting 
that  they  and  I  will  soon  appear  before  the  judgment-seat  of 
Christ,  may  I  speak  in  such  a  way  that  I  may  not  be  ashamed 
nor  afraid  to  meet  them  there.  May  I  ever  act  under  the  in- 
fluence of  that  *  wisdom  which  cometh  from  above,  which  is 
first  pure,  then  peaceable,  gentle,  easy  to  be  entreated,  full  of 
mercy  and  of  good  fruits,  without  partiality  and  without 
hypocrisy.'  And  may  you,  my  friends,  examine  and  '  prove 
all  things,  and  hold  fast  that  which  is  good.'" 

He  then  went  on  to  detail  the  circumstances  which 
led  to  the  discussion,  and,  after  adverting  to  tiie  import- 
ance of  the  subject,  called  upon  his  opponent  to  point 
out  any  advantages  resulting  from  the  practice  of  infant 
sprinkling. 

Mr.  McCalla,  after  some  just  remarks  upon  the  value 
of  religion,  went  on  to  descant  upon  the  propositions  in 
the  challenge  given  by  Mr.  Campbell,  speaking  of  him 
as  an  "  adversary,"  and  endeavoring  to  excite  religious 
prejudice  against  him.  Then,  after  saying  that  xMr. 
Campbell  bad  not  as  yet  oflered  any  argument  in  proof 
of  his  propositions,  he  announced  the  method  lie  him- 
self intended  to  pursue  in  proving  their  contraries. 

^'  In  the  first  place,"  said  he,  I  will  produce  a  divine  com- 
mand for  infant  baptism — a  command  of  God  authorizing 
infants  to  be  baptized — the  infants  of  believers. 

In  the  second  place,  I  will  produce  probable  evidence  of 
/apostolic  practice  of  infant  baptism. 


WESTMINSTER  CONFESSION. 


75 


In  the  third  and  last  place,  under  this  head,  I  w.U  pro- 
duce positive  evidence  of  apostolic  practice  of  infant  bap- 
tism." 

In  Mr.  Campbell's  next  speech  he  expressed  his  re- 
gret that  Mr.  McCalla  should  have  attempted  to  preju- 
dice the  feelings  of  the  audience  by  representing  his 
challenge  as  "  an  accusation  against  the  whole  Paedo- 
baptist  world,"  and  as  imputing  to  them  "  a  crime 
worthy  of  punishment  by  the  civil  law." 

Our  design,  my  Piedobaptist  friends,"  said  he,  is  not  to 
widen  the  breach,  or  to  throw  stumbling-blocks  in  the  way, 
by  inflaming  your  passions;  but  to  lead  you  to  understand 
this  most  important  institution  of  the  Lord  of  glory,  that 
whosoever  of  you  feareth  God  may  unite  with  me  in  keeping 
his  commandments  as  delivered  unto  us  bv  his  holy  apostles.** 

After  some  further  remarks,  he  then  submitted  his 
proposed  method  of  procedure,  laying  down,  first,  cer- 
tain principles  to  which  he  might  appeal  in  any  perti- 
nent case.  These  principles  he  adopted  from  the 
**  Confession  of  Faith,"  and  said  he  took  for  granted 
Mr.  McCalla's  assent  to  them,  since  he  had,  as  a  Pres- 
byterian minister,  solemnly  vowed  to  teach  that  Confes- 
sion and  declared  it  to  be,  accordingf  to  his  belief,  "  the 
system  of  doctrine  taught  in  the  Holy  Scriptures."  He 
then  quoted  the  Presbyterian  Confession  : 

"  'All  things  in  Scripture  are  not  alike  plain  in  themselves, 
nor  alike  clear  unto  all :  yet  those  things  which  are  necessary 
to  be  known,  believed  and  observed  for  salvation,  are  so 
clearly  propounded  and  opened  in  some  place  of  Scripture 
or  other,  that  not  only  the  learned  but  the  unlearned^  in  % 
due  use  of  the  ordinary  means,  mav  attain  unto  a  sufficient 
understanding  of  them.*  You  will  then  bear  in  mind,  my 
friends,"  added  he,  that  my  opponent  considers  you  all 
competent  judges  of  Scripture  testimony,  in  a  due  use  of  the 


76 


MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


ordinary  means  ;  and  without  any  commentator  or  religious 
teacher,  his  Confession  of  Faith  declares  that,  though  you  were 
M7ilear7ied^  you  may  attain  unto  a  knowledge  of  the  things 
necessary  to  be  known,  believed  and  observed  for  salvation  ; 
because  all  those  things  are  so  clearly  propounded  and  opened 
in  some  place  of  Scripture  or  other.  In  the  same  Confession, 
and  in  the  same  chapter,  section  9,  you  will  find  the  following 
most  excellent  sentiment :  '  The  infallible  rule  of  interpreta- 
tion of  Scripture  is  the  Scripture  itself ;  and,  therefore,  when 
there  is  a  question  about  the  true  and  full  sense  of  any  Scrip- 
ture which  is  not  manifold,  but  one,  it  may  be  searched  and 
known  by  other  places  that  speak  more  clearly.'  This  article 
embraces  one  of  the  best  rules  of  interpretation  we  have  seen. 
The  sense  of  every  passage  of  Scripture  is  one,  not  two  or 
three  or  manifold.  How  many  thousands  of  volumes  of 
sermons  and  interpretations  of  Scripture  would  it  send  to  the 
flames  or  to  the  moths  if  it  were  duly  recognized  and  acted 
upon  "i  There  is  but  one  meaning  in  every  passage  of  Scrip- 
ture, and  that  one  meaning  must  be  always  found  from  its 
context.  This  golden  rule  of  interpretation  recognized  and 
acted  upon,  and  controversy  about  the  meaning  of  Scripture 
becomes  fair  and  easily  managed.  To  these  articles  we  shall 
appeal  in  all  matters  of  disputation  about  the  meaning  of 
Scriptures  adduced  in  this  controversy.  I  feel  myself  happy 
to  think  that  my  opponent  must  admit  them  or  abjure  his 
allegiance  to  the  Presbyterian  Church." 

By  means  of  these  two  principles,  that  Scripture  is 
comprehensible  even  by  the  unlearned,  and  that  its 
sense  is  not  manifold,  but  one,  he  subsequently  exposed 
various  attempts  of  Mr.  McCalla  to  impose  fanciful  and 
unauthorized  meanings  upon  various  passages  of  Scrip- 
ture. Taking,  furthermore,  as  a  text  the  declaration 
of  the  Confession  (chap,  xxviii.)  that  '-Baptism  is  a 
sacrament  of  the  New  Testament,  ordained  by  Jesus 
Christ,"  and  defining  sacrament"  as  meaning  a  "  holy 
ordinance,"  he  announced  his  method  thus : 


MISREPRESENT  A  TIONS. 


IT 


"  We  will  go,  then,  to  the  New  Testament  and  not  to  the 
Old^  to  ascertain  the  nature,  design  and  subjects  of  this  ordi- 
nance. 

"  II.  We  shall  appeal  to  the  words  of  Jesus  Christ  for  the 
institution  of  baptism,  as  our  text  says  it  is  an  ordinance  of 
Jesus  Christ ;  we  shall  have  nothing  to  do  with  Moses  in  this 
matter,  however  useful  he  may  be  in  others.  No  doubt  our 
opponent  will  feel  his  creed  honored  and  will  acquiesce  in 
our  method  as  correct." 

He  then  produced  from  the  New  Testament  the  law 
of  baptism,  which  requires  faith  as  a  prerequisite,  and 
adduced  a  number  of  cases  showing  that  in  the  -practice 
of  the  primitive  Church  believers  only  were  baptized,  as 
the  law  required.  He  then  gave  place  to  his  opponent 
to  produce  the  records  of  infant  baptism  from  the  New 
Testament. 

Instead  of  attempting  this  impossible  task,  however, 
Mr.  McCalla  began  to  read  from  Robinson  various  ex- 
tracts about  the  baptism  of  cats  and  colts,  showing  how 
infant  baptism  had  been  derided  in  different  ages  by 
those  whom  he  called  its  "  adversaries."  In  the  midst 
of  this  tirade  he  was  called  to  order  by  Bishop  Varde- 
man  for  his  frequent  application  of  the  terms  "  accuser'* 
and  "  adversary"  to  Mr.  Campbell,  and  for  representing 
the  Baptists  as  "  accusers"  and  "  adversaries." 

"Mr.  McCalla  must  know,"  said  he,  "  that  these  are  the 
names  given  in  Scripture  to  Satan,  who  is  called  the  •  adver- 
sary and  '  the  accuser  of  the  brethren.'  He  thought  that  Mr. 
McCalla  should  treat  his  opponent  as  a  gentleman  and  as  a 
Christian,  although  he  differed  from  him  on  the  questions 
under  discussion.  He  hoped,  therefore,  that  he  would  sub- 
stitute the  term  opponent^  or  any  term  less  acrimonious  and 
more  consistent  with  candor  and  justice,  in  place  of  those- 
offensive  terms." 

7* 


/S         MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL, 


The  matter  being  referred  to  Major  Roper,  and  he 
having  expressed  the  hope  that  Mr.  McCalla  would  dis- 
pense with  the  use  of  such  terms  as  appHed  by  him  to 
the  Baptists,  Mr.  McCaUa  consented  to  desist  from 
using  them.  He  then  went  on  to  make  a  distinction 
between  Divine  commands  as  express  and  not  express^ 
striving  to  show  that  many  things  were  divinelv  com- 
manded which  were  not  express,  but  were  to  be  learned 
and  taught  from  the  import  of  sundry  declarations  in 
which  there  was  much  scope  given  to  the  rational  facul- 
ties of  man,  and  which  were  to  be  ascertained  by  a 
minute  attention  to  many  circumstances. 

"For  instance,"  said  he,  "there  is  no  express  declaration 
of  the  unity  of  God  to  be  found  in  the  Old  Testament — no  ex- 
press proof  in  so  many  words;  yet  we  know  this  proof  to  be 
a  part  of  Divine  revelation  as  certainly  as  though  it  were  ex- 
pressly declared  in  so  many  wonls.  Nor  is  there  any  express 
command  agaitist  dueling  in  all  the  word  of  God  ;  yet  we 
are  as  certain  tliat  God  has  prohihited  tliis  mischievous  prac- 
tice as  though  it  were  expressly  prohibited.  Nor  is  there 
any  express  command  against  gaming  in  tlie  Bible,  and  what 
Christian  is  there  who  does  not  know  that  it  is  divinely  pro- 
hibited ?  There  is  no  express  law  authorizing  Christians  to 
eat  pork^  and  does  not  every  Christian  eat  pork  with  a  good 
conscience,  with  as  much  liberty  as  tliough  God  hail  expressly 
said,  Te  may  cat  pork  I  Nor  is  there  any  express  command 
for  independent  church  government  for  which  many  so  earn- 
estly contend  as  divinely  appointed.  There  is  no  express 
law  for  the  observance  of  the  first  day  of  the  week  as  the 
Christian  Sal)bath,  for  female  communion,  and  many  other 
points  zealously  contended  for  hvthe  Baptists  antl  Paidobaptisls. 
In  the  same  manner  we  allinn  tliat  although  there  is  no  ex- 
press command  for  infant  baptism.  t!u)u<;h  it  is  not  mentioned 
in  tiie  Old  Testament,  yet  we  can  find  a  Divine  command  for 
it  there.    When  we  propose  to  produce  a  Divine  command 


ARGUMENT  FROM  JUDAISM. 


79 


for  infant  baptism,  you  are  not,  my  friends,  to  expect  that  we 
shall  produce  in  so  many  words  a  command  for  parents  to 
have  their  ciiildren  baptized." 

He  then  laid  down  several  propositions,  asserting  that 
Abraham  and  his  seed  were  constituted  a  true  and 
visible  Church  of  God  —  That  the  Christian  Church  is 
a  branch  of  the  Abrahamic — That  Jewish  circumcision 
before  Christ  and  Christian  baptism  after  Christ  are  one 
and  the  same  seal,  though  in  different  forms,  etc.  Thus, 
as  Mr.  Campbell  then  showed,  the  Divine  conunand  for 
infant  baptism  which  Mr.  McCalla  had  in  the  begin- 
ning positively  and  ostentatiously  promised  to  produce, 
after  first  becoming  attenuated  into  one  *'  not  express ^"^^ 
had  finally  resolved  itself  into  the  old  shadowy  inference 
drawn  from  circumcision.  He  did  not  fail  to  remark 
also  on  Mr.  McCalla's  singular  assertion  that  there  was 
no  express  affirmation  of  the  unity  of  God  in  the  Bible. 
"  He  would  place,"  exclaimed  he,  "the  unity  of  God 
and  infant  baptism  upon  the  same  obscure  footing ! 
No  express  revelation  of  either  I  Did  he  ever  read, 
*  Hear,  O  Israel,  the  Lord  our  God  is  one  Lord.'  But 
in  fact  there  can  be  nothing  more  absurd  than  to  place 
the  *  eating  of  pork'  and  the  '  baptizing  of  infants'  upon 
one  and  the  same  footing,  or  the  prohibition  of  gaming 
and  dueling  upon  the  same  basis  with  the  sprinkling 
of  infants." 

Upon  the  propositions  which  he  had  laid  down,  Mr. 
McCalla  had  prepared  beforehand  a  large  quantity  of 
manuscript,  from  which  he  now  continued  reading  day 
after  day,  paying  little  or  no  attention  to  the  arguments 
and  refutations  which  Mr.  Campbell  from  time  to  time 
presented.  There  being  little  needing  reply  in  Mr. 
McCalla's  labored  disquisitions  upon  the  Jewish  and 
Christian  churches,  etc.,  Mr.  Campbell  then  occupied 


8o         MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


a  portion  of  the  time  allotted  to  him  in  presenting  his 
views  of  the  Christian  Church  ;  the  calling  of  the  Gen- 
tiles, the  nature  of  Messiah's  reign,  and  other  grand 
topics  which  placed  in  bold  relief  the  essential  differ- 
ences between  the  Jewish  and  Christian  institutions, 
triumphantly  overturning  the  chief  foundations  of  Pasdo- 
baptism,  and  delighting  the  audience  by  new  and  com- 
prehensive exhibitions  of  the  Divine  dispensations  and 
their  gradual  increase  in  spiritual  light,  from  the  star- 
light patriarchal  age  to  the  moonlight  age  of  Moses, 
and  then  to  that  of  the  twilight  and  the  brilliant  day-star 
of  John  the  Baptist,  ushering  in  the  glory  of  the  Sun  of 
Righteousness,  the  promised  Messiah. 

It  would  be  unnecessary  to  detail  minutely  the  pro- 
gress of  this  discussion,  which  continued  during  seven 
days.  Suffice  it  to  say  that  Mr.  McCalla  continued 
reading  from  his  manuscript  most  of  the  time,  and  that 
Mr.  Campbell,  having  in  vain  sought  to  induce  him  to 
reply  to  his  arguments,  went  on  finally,  in  advance,  to 
establish  his  own  propositions,  making  short  replies 
occasionally  to  Mr.  McCalla.  It  would  not,  however, 
be  proper  to  omit  Mr.  Campbell's  exposition  of  the  de- 
sign of  baptism,  from  which  he  deduced  an  argument 
against  infant  baptism,  as  he  had  done  in  the  debate 
with  Walker,  but  which  he  now  renewed  with  a  definite- 
ness  and  fullness  which  marked  the  progress  of  his  own 
convictions  upon  this  important  subject.  Thus,  on  the 
second  day  of  the  discussion,  he  said, 

"Our  third  argument  is  deduced  from  the  design  or  import 
of  baptism.  On  this  topic  of  argument  we  shall  be  as  full  as 
possible,  because  of  its  great  importance,  and  because  per- 
haps neither  Baptists  nor  Paedobaptists  sufficiently  appreciate 
it.  I  will  first  merely  refer  to  the  oracles  of  God,  which  show 
that  baptism  is  an  ordinance  of  the  greatest  importance  and 


DESIGN  OF  BAPTISM. 


8i 


of  momentous  significance.  Never  was  there  an  ordinance 
of  so  great  import  or  design.  It  is  to  be  but  once  adminis- 
tered. We  are  to  pray  often,  praise  often,  show  forth  the 
Lord's  death  often,  commemorate  his  resurrection  every  week, 
but  we  are  to  be  baptized  but  once.  Its  great  significance  can 
be  seen  from  the  following  testimonies :  The  Lord  saith,  'He 
that  believeth  and  is  baptized  shall  be  saved.'  He  does  not 
say,  He  that  believeth  and  keeps  my  commands  shall  be  saved, 
but  he  saith,  *  He  that  believeth  and  is  baptized  shall  be 
saved.*  He  placeth  baptism  on  the  right  hand  of  faith. 
Again,  he  tells  Nicodemus  that '  unless  a  man  be  born  of  water 
and  of  the  Spirit  he  cannot  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  God.* 
Peter,  on  the  day  of  Pentecost,  places  baptism  in  the  same 
exalted  place.  '  Repent,*  says  he,  '  and  be  baptized,  every  one 
of  you,  FOR  the  remission  of  sins.'  Ananias  saith  to  Paul, 
'Arise  and  be  baptized,  and  wash  away  thy  sins,  calling  upon 
the  name  of  the  Lord.'  Paul  saith  to  the  Corinthians,  *  Ye 
were  once  fornicators,  idolaters,  adulterers,  effeminate,  thieves, 
covetous,  drunkards,  rioters,  extortioners,  but  ye  are  washed 
in  the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus,'  doubtless  referring  to  their 
baptism.  He  tells  Titus,  God  our  Father  saved  us  by  the 
washing  of  regeneration  and  renewing  of  the  Holy  Spirit.* 
See  again  its  dignified  importance.  Peter  finishes  the  grand 
climax  in  praise  of  baptism  :  '  Baptism  doth  now  also  save  us 
by  the  resurrection  of  Jesus  Christ  from  the  dead.' " 

Again  he  remarks :  "  I  know  it  will  be  said  that  I  have 
affirmed  that  baptism  saves  us.  Well,  Peter  and  Paul  have 
said  so  before  me.  If  it  was  not  criminal  in  them  to  say  so, 
it  cannot  be  criminal  in  me.  When  Ananias  said  unto  Paul, 
'Arise  and  be  baptized,  and  wash  away  thy  sins,  calling  upon 
the  name  of  the  Lord,'  I  suppose  Paul  believed  him  and  arose 
and  was  baptized,  and  washed  away  his  sins.  When  he  was 
baptized,  he  must  have  believed  that  his  sins  were  now  washed 
away  in  some  sense  that  they  were  not  before.  For,  if  his 
sins  had  been  already,  in  every  sense,  washed  aw^ay,  Ananias* 
address  would  have  led  him  into  a  mistaken  view  of  himself, 
both  before  and  after  baptism.    Now,  we  confess  that  the 

VOL.  II. — F 


82         MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


blood  of  Jesus  Christ  alone  cleanses  us  who  believe  from  all 
sins.  Even  this,  however,  is  a  metaphorical  expression.  The 
efficacy  of  his  blood  springs  from  his  own  dignit}-  and  from 
the  appointment  of  his  Father.  The  blood  of  Christ,  then, 
cleanses  us  who  believe  from  all  sin.  Behold  the  good- 
ness of  God  in  giving  us  a  formal  token  of  it,  by  ordaining  a 
baptism  expressly  ^  for  the  remission  of  sins.*  The  water  of 
baptism,  then,  formally  washes  away  our  sins.  The  blood 
of  Christ  really  washes  away  our  sins.  Paul's  sins  were 
really  pardoned  when  he  believed,  yet  he  had  no  solemn 
pledge  of  the  fact,  no  formal  acquittal,  no  formal  purgation 
of  his  sins  until  he  washed  them  away  in  the  water  of  baptism. 

To  every  believer,  therefore,  baptism  is  a  for?7ial  and  per- 
sonal remission.,  or  purgation  of  sins.  The  believer  never 
has  his  sins  formally  w^ashed  away  or  remitted  until  he  is 
baptized.  The  water  has  no  efficacy  but  what  God's  appoint- 
ment gives  it,  and  he  has  made  it  sufficient  for  this  purpose. 
The  value  and  importance  of  baptism  appear  from  this  view 
of  it.  It  also  accounts  for  baptism  being  called  the  '  washing 
of  regeneration.^  It  shows  us  a  good  and  valid  reason  for 
the  despatch  with  which  this  ordinance  was  administered  in 
the  primitive  Church.  The  believers  did  not  lose  a  moment  in 
obtaining  the  remission  of  their  sins.  Paul  tarried  three  days 
after  he  believed,  which  is  the  longest  delay  recorded  in  the 
New^  Testament.  The  reason  of  this  delay  w*as  the  wonder- 
ful accompaniments  of  his  conversion  and  preparation  for  the 
apostolic  office.  He  was  blind  three  days;  scales  fell  from 
his  eyes  ;  he  arose  then  forthwith  and  was  baptized.  The 
three  thousand  who  first  believed,  on  the  selfsame  day  were 
baptized  for  the  remission  of  their  sins.  Yea,  even  the  jailer 
and  his  house  would  not  wait  till  daylight,  but  the  '  same  hour 
of  the  night  in  which  he  believed  he  and  all  his  were  bap- 
tized.^ I  sav  this  view  of  baptism  accounts  for  all  those  other- 
wise unaccountable  circumstances.  It  was  this  view  of  bap- 
tism misapplied  that  originated  infant  baptism.  The  first 
errorists  on  this  subject  argued  that  if  baptism  was  so  neces- 
sary for  the  remission  of  sins,  it  should  be  administered  to  in- 


DESIGN  OF  BAPTISM. 


83 


faiiii,,  whom  they  represented  as  in  great  need  of  it  on  account 
of  thf'r  '  original  sin.*  Atlectionate  parents,  believing  their 
child'en  to  be  guilty  of*  original  sin,'  were  easily  persuaded 
to  have  them  baptized  for  the  remission  of  *  original  sin,*  not 
for  washing  away  sins  actually  committed.  Faith  in  Christ 
is  necessary  to  forgivejiess  of  sins,  therefore  baptism  without 
faith  is  an  unmeaning  ceremony.  Even  the  Confession  of 
Faith,  or  at  least  the  Larger  Catechism,  says  that  baptism  is 
a  sign  of  the  remission  of  sins.  How  then  can  it  be  achiiinis- 
tered  to  those  without  faith?  Is  it  with  them  *  a  sig?z  and  seal 
of  engrafting  into  Christ,  of  remission  of  sins  by  his  blood 
and  regeneration  by  his  Spirit,'  as  the  answer  to  this  question 
declares.'* 

"  One  argument  from  this  topic  is,  that  baptism  being  or- 
dained to  be  to  a  believer  a  formal  and  personal  remission  of 
all  his  sins,  cannot  be  administered  unto  an  infant  without  the 
greatest  perversion  and  abuse  of  the  nature  and  import  of  this 
ordinance.  Indeed,  why  should  an  infant  that  never  sinned — 
that,  as  Caivinists  say  is  guilty  only  of  '  original  sin^  which 
is  an  unit — be  baptized  for  the  remission  of  sins.'*"  .... 

Thus  the  design  of  baptism  and  its  true  place  in  the 
economy  of  the  gospel  had  gradually  become  clearer, 
and  its  importance  proportionally  enhanced,  in  his  esti- 
>  timation,  since  the  debate  with  Walker.  Often,  during 
the  intervening  period,  had  this  particular  point  been 
the  subject  of  conversation  between  him  and  his  father, 
as  well  as  with  Walter  Scott,  and  of  careful  Scripture 
examinations,  and  these  utterances  in  the  McCalla  de- 
bate presented  the  views  they  had  beforehand  agreed 
upon  as  the  true  and  obvious  teachings  of  the  New 
Testament.  Thomas  Campbell  had,  indeed,  in  the 
second  or  September  number  of  the  "  Christian  Bap- 
tist," in  an  article  intended  for  the  first  number,  but 
delayed  for  want  of  room,  briefly  stated  them  in  treat- 
ing of     the  primary  intention  of  the  gospel,"  which  he 


84         MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


shows  to  have  been  a  complete  reconcihation  of  the 
sinner  through  the  atonement  of  Christ,  and  that  the 
effect  of  this  was  the  beHef  of  a  full  and  tree  pardon 
of  all  his  sins  received  in  baptism.  Thus,  in  1S23,  the 
design  of  baptism  was  fully  understood  and  publicly 
asserted.  It  was,  how^ever,  reserved  for  Walter  Scott, 
a  few  3'ears  later,  to  make  a  direct  and  practical  appli- 
cation of  the  doctrine,  and  to  secure  for  it  the  conspicu- 
ous place  it  has  since  occupied  among  the  chief  points 
urged  in  the  Reformation. 

Upon  the  third  day,  the  weather  having  become 
colder,  the  debate  was  thereafter  held  in  the  Baptist 
meeting-house  in  the  village.  Upon  the  last  day  a 
somewhat  amusing  passage  occurred.  Mr.  McCalla 
had  dwelt  at  length  upon  the  alleged  dangers  and  in- 
delicacies of  immersion,  insisting  that  it  was  pernicious 
not  only  to  the  subject,  but  to  the  administrator.  The 
administrators,"  he  said,  were  exposed  to  sickness, 
and  it  must  unavoidably  be  injurious  to  them  to  be 
plunging  into  cold  water  at  all  seasons,  and  continuing  in 
it  so  long  as  they  often  did ;  and  miraculous  escapes 
were  not  to  be  expected."  To  this  Mr.  Campbell 
replied : 

Benjamin  Franklin,  when  minister  in  Paris,  dined  witli 
a  number  of  French  and  American  gentlemen.  A  learned 
French  abbe,  at  dinner,  entertained  the  company  with  a 
learned  disquisition  on  the  deteriorating  influence  of  the 
American  climate  on  the  bodies  of  all  animals,  alleging  that 
the  human  body  diminished  in  size  and  energy,  and  that  even 
the  mind  itself  shared  in  the  general  deterioration.  Dr. 
Franklin  made  no  reply  ;  but  after  dinner,  having  told  the 
company  with  what  pleasure  he  had  heard  the  learned  dis- 
quisitions of  the  philosopher,  he  moved  that  the  company  be 
divided,  observing  that  the  tairest  way  of  testing  the  correct- 
ness of  the  abbe's  theory  was  to  place  all  the  Americans  on 


CHALLENGE  RENEWED. 


8S 


one  side  of  the  room  and  the  French  on  the  other.  The 
motion  was  carried,  and  behold  a  company  of  little,  swarthy, 
insignificant  Frenchmen  on  one  side,  and  a  row  of  little 
giants  on  the  other !  '  Ay,*  says  the  Doctor,  '  see,  here  is  a 
striking  proof  of  the  correctness  of  your  theory !'  Now  let 
us  take  the  philosopher's  way  of  testing  the  correctness  of  the 
theory  of  my  opponent.  There  sits  on  the  bench  a  Baptist 
and  a  Paedobaptist  teacher,  both  well  advanced  in  years ;  the 
former  has,  we  are  told,  immersed  more  persons  than  any 
other  person  of  the  same  age  in  the  United  States ;  the  other, 
from  his  venerable  age,  may  be  supposed  to  have  sprinkled  a 
great  many  infants.  Now,  see  the  pernicious  tendency  of 
immersion  on  the  Baptist,  and  the  happy  influence  of  sprink- 
ling on  the  Paedobaptist !" 

As  Mr.  Birch,  the  Presbyterian  moderator,  was  a 
small  and  somewhat  sickly-looking  person,  and  Bishop 
Vardeman  was  of  magnificent  proportions,  being  up- 
ward of  six  feet  in  stature,  weighing  three  hundred 
pounds  and  of  a  remarkably  florid  aspect,  possessing 
uncommon  and  undiminished  energy  and  vigor,  though 
fifty  years  of  age,  the  striking  contrast  thus  presented, 
and  the  ironical  illustration  it  furnished,  greatly  amused 
the  audience  at  the  expense  of  Mr.  McCalla  and  his 
argument. 

This  debate  during  its  continuance  took  a  very  wide 
range,  and  as  Mr.  McCalla's  discomfiture  was  manifest 
notwithstanding  his  adroitness,  the  effect  of  the  discus- 
sion upon  the  community  was  very  decided,  and  many 
w^ere  convinced  by  it  that  infant  baptism  was  merely  a 
human  tradition.  Mr.  Campbell,  accordingly,  near  the 
close,  thought  it  proper  to  give  the  Paedobaptists  an- 
other opportunity  to  redeem  the  credit  of  their  cause. 
He  accordingly  renewed  his  challenge,  and  as  his  esti- 
mate of  the  clergy  had  by  no  means  been  improved  by 
his  experience  with  Mr.  McCalla,  he  engaged  also  to 

8 


86 


MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


prove  that  the  clergy  were  unauthorized  as  a  distinct 
order  in  the  Church. 

On  the  seventh  day,  Mr.  McCalla  stipulated  for  the 
last  speech,  which  Mr.  Campbell  conceded,  on  condition 
that  Mr.  McCalla  would  make  no  misstatements  of  facts ; 
but  he  nevertheless  attempted  to  excite  the  prejudices 
of  the  people  against  Mr.  Campbell  by  charging  him 
with  being  an  enemy  to  all  morality,  to  the  observance 
of  the  Sabbath,  and  to  the  good  cause  of  sending  the 
gospel  to  the  heathen. 

He  then  concluded  by  giving  his  challenge — viz., 
"  that  he  would  never  discuss  this  question  again  until 
an  opponent  would  come  from  the  regions  discovered 
by  Captain  Simmes,  i.nd  until  a  moderator  would  come 
from  Holland  weighing  five  hundred  pounds.''  After 
haranguing  the  people  a  few  minutes  on  these  topics  he  sat 
down.  Mr.  Campbell  then  made  these  closing  remarks  : 

'•Mr.  McCalla,  in  stipulatijig.  before  he  began  to  speak, 
that  I  should  not  reply,  appeared  to  have  been  actuated  by 
good  policy,  but  bad  motives.  His  last  effort  was  to  blast 
my  reputation,  as  the  only  expedient  left  to  heal  the  wound 
inflicted  on  his,  pride  and  on  his  cause,  and  thus  to  weaken 
the  convictions  of  truth  on  the  minds  of  the  audience.  I  said 
that  I  was  no  enemy  to  morals,  but  that  I  had  remonstrated 
against  those  little,  persecuting,  fining,  confining,  anti-repub- 
lican confederations  called  moral  associations ;  that  I  ad- 
vocated the  best  means,  as  I  conceived,  of  sending  the  gospel 
to  the  heathen,  and  was  conscientiously  opposed  to  the  present 
popular,  moneyed,  speculating  schemes  of  hiring  missionaries  ; 
that  I  religiously  regarded  the  first  day  of  the  week  to  the 
Lord,  not  as  the  Jewish  Sabbath,  but  according  to  the  spirit 
and  scope  of  the  religion  of  our  Lord.  But,  said  I,  if  any 
present  wish  to  become  better  acquainted  with  my  views  or. 
all  these  topics,  as  I  make  no  secret  of  them,  they  can  be 
made  fully  acquainted  with  them  by  perusing  a  monthly  pub- 


E  CLA IR  CISSEMBNT. 


87 


lication,  entiiled  the  "  Christian  Baptist,'  which  I  have 
lately  commenced  publishing.  I  hoped  the  congregation 
would  know  how  to  appreciate  the  last  accusations  of  Mr. 
McCalla,  who  had  now  descended  to  that  vile  slander  which 
was  the  dernier  resort  of  those  who  neither  possessed  nor 
could  wield  the  sword  of  truth." 

As  Mr.  McCalla,  for  a  considerable  time  prior  to  the 
discussion,  had  greatly  annoyed  the  Baptists  by  assail- 
ing occasionally  their  distinctive  tenets,  his  defeat  gave 
them  great  satisfaction  and  raised  Mr.  Campbell  very 
higiily  in  their  estimation.  It  was  not  Mr.  Campbell's 
aim,  however,  to  advocate  the  peculinrities  of  the  Bap- 
tists, or  to  seek  popularity  among  them  by  fostering 
their  favorite  but  defective  views  of  the  gospel  and  its 
institutions.  True  to  his  own  special  mission,  he  made 
no  concealment  of  the  principles  of  the  Reformation,  or 
of  the  great  truths  which  these  had  already  developed  ; 
and  accepted  the  discussion  in  the  beginning  rather  in 
order  to  introduce  these  than  merely  to  defend  the  bap- 
tism of  believers.  As  a  large  number  of  Baptists  were 
present  at  the  discussion,  and  many  of  their  most  in- 
fluential preachers,  he  felt  that  a  favorable  opportunity 
was  afforded  of  leading  them  tbrward  to  more  enlarged 
and  correct  views  of  Christianity,  and  of  promoting  the 
great  object  of  his  life,  the  union  of  Christians  upon  the 
Bible  alone.  Believing  himself,  also,  comparatively 
unknown  in  Kentucky,  and  having  purposely  withheld 
the  "  Christian  Baptist"  from  this  State,  he  hoped  to  ob- 
tain a  more  impartial  hearmg  tor  the  views  he  wished 
to  present.  Hence  during  the  debate  it  was  a  point  of 
great  interest  with  him  to  develop  the  design  of  baptism, 
which  was  quite  a  novelty  to  the  Baptists.  lie  sought, 
also,  to  lead  them  to  a  more  rational  mode  of  reading, 
interpreting  and  using  the  Bible  than  that  to  which 


88         MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


they  had  been  accustomed  under  the  textuary  system, 
and  to  more  extended  and  correct  views  of  the  nature 
and  pohty  of  the  kingdom  of  Christ.  During  the  pro- 
gress of  the  discussion,  finding  the  denominational 
spirit  growing  stronger  and  stronger,  and  being  almost 
overwhelmed  by  a  profuse  outpouring  of  Baptist  com- 
pliments, he  had  thought  it  best  on  the  evening  of  the 
fifth  day  to  state  candidly  and  fairly  to  the  principal  Bap- 
tist preachers  the  exact  position  which  he  occupied. 
Being  all  assembled  in  a  room  at  Major  Davis',  where 
he  stayed,  he  introduced  himself  fully  to  their  acquaint- 
ance in  the  following  manner,  as  related  by  himself: 

"  '  Brethren,  I  fear  that  if  you  knew  me  better  you  would 
esteem  and  love  me  less.  For  let  me  tell  you  that  I  have 
almost  as  much  against  you  Baptists  as  I  have  against  the 
Presbyterians.  They  err  in  one  thing  and  you  in  another ; 
and  probably  you  are  each  nearly  equidistant  from  original 
apostolic  Christianity.'  I  paused ;  and  such  a  silence  as 
ensued,  accompanied  by  a  piercing  look  from  all  sides  of  the 
room,  I  seldom  before  witnessed.  Elder  Vardeman  at  length 
broke  silence  by  saying :  '  Well,  sir,  we  want  to  know  our 
errors  or  your  heterodoxy.  Do  let  us  hear  it.  Keep  nothing 
back.'  I  replied,  '  I  know  not  w^here  to  begin  ;  nor  am  I  in 
health  and  vigor,  after  the  toils  of  the  day,  to  undertake  so 
lieavy  a  task.  But,'  said  I,  '  I  am  commencing  a  publication 
called  the  Christian  Baptist.^  to  be  devoted  to  all  such  mat- 
ters, a  few  copies  of  which  are  in  my  portmanteau,  and,  with 
your  permission,  I  will  read  you  a  few  specimens  of  my 
heterodoxy.'  They  all  said,  'Let  us  hear — let  us  hear  the 
worst  error  you  have  against  us.'  I  went  up  stairs  and  un- 
wrapped the  first  three  numbers  of  the  '  Christian  Baptist* 
that  ever  saw  tlie  light  in  Kentucky.  I  had  just  ten  copies 
of  the  first  three  numbers.  I  carried  them  into  the  parlor, 
and  sitting  down,  I  read,  as  a  sample,  the  first  essay  on  the 
clergy — so  much  of  it  as  respected  the  '  call  to  the  ministry 
as  then  taught  in  the  *  kingdom  of  the  clergy,'  and  especially 


EFFECTS  OF  THE  DEBATE. 


89 


among  the  Baptists.  This  was  the  first  essay  ever  read  from 
that  work  in  Kentucky.  After  a  sigh  and  a  long  silence, 
Elder  Vardeman  said,  '  Is  that  your  worst  error,  your  chief 
heterodoxy  ?  I  don't  care  so  much  about  that,  as  you  admit 
that  we  may  have  a  providential  call,  without  a  voice  from 
heaven  or  a  special  visit  from  some  angel  or  spirit.  If  you 
have  anything  worse,  for  my  part  I  wish  to  hear  it.*  The 
cry  was,  '  Let  us  hear  something  more.'  On  turning  to  and 
fro,  I  next  read  an  article  on  '  Modern  Missionaries.'  This, 
with  the  '  Capital  Mistake  of  Modern  Missionaries,'  finished 
my  readings  for  the  evening. 

On  closing  this  essay,  Elder  Vardeman  said  :  '  I  am  not  so 
great  a  missionary  man  as  to  fall  out  with  you  on  that  subject. 
I  must  hear  more  before  I  condemn  or  approve.'  I  then  dis- 
tributed my  ten  copies  amongst  the  ten  most  distinguished  and 
advanced  elders  in  the  room,  requesting  them  to  read  these 
numbers  during  the  recess  of  the  debate,  and  to  communicate 
freely  to  me  their  objections.  We  separated.  So  the  matter 
ended  at  that  time." 

At  the  close  of  the  debate  the  Baptist  preachers  were^y 
so  much  pleased  with  the  results,  and  so  tolerant  of 
what  they  found  in  the  "  Christian  Baptist,"  that  they  re- 
quested Mr.  Campbell  to  furnish  them  with  the  printed 
proposals  for  its  publication,  in  order  to  extend  its  cir- 
culation, and  urged  him  to  make  an  immediate  tour 
through  the  State.  This  his  engagements  forbade,  and 
he  could  only  comply  with  their  wishes  so  far  as  to  visit 
and  preach  at  May  slick,  Bryant's  Station,  in  the  vicinity 
of  Elder  Vardeman's  residence,  and  at  Lexington,  pro- 
mising to  make  a  tour,  if  possible,  during  the  ensuing 
autumn  through  a  considerable  portion  of  the  State. 

As  Mr.  McCalla's  character  for  ability  was  well  esta- 
blished and  equally  well  sustained  by  his  Presbyterian 
brethren,  the  result  of  the  discussion  was  less  damaging 
to  his  reputation  than  to  the  cause  he  advocated,  which, 

8  * 


90         MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


throughout  the  entire  West,  never  recovered  from  the 
blow  which  it  then  received.  Mr.  McCalla,  neverthe- 
less, labored  for  some  time  afterward  to  change  public 
opinion  by  preaching  upon  the  subject  in  various  parts 
of  Kentuck}' ,  endeavoring,  at  the  same  time,  to  prejudice 
the  minds  of  the  people  in  advance  against  the  report 
of  the  debate,  which  it  was  understood  Mr.  Campbell 
intended  to  publish.  From  his  closing  remarks  in  the 
discussion  and  his  mock  challenge,  intended  as  a  sar- 
casm upon  Elder  Vardeman's  portly  figure,  he  was 
evidently  conscious  of  his  own  failure,  and  naturally 
sought  to  obviate  the  results  as  far  as  practicable. 
However  unsuccessful  in  this,  his  persevering  zeal  in 
behalf  of  the  Paedobaptist  cause  was  fully  appreciated 
by  his  friends,  in  evidence  of  which  he  received  the  de- 
gree of  Doctor  of  Divinity,  and,  after  a  time,  removed 
to  Philadelphia. 

Unlike  his  opponent,  who  seemed  to  be  entirely  satis- 
fied with  his  controversial  experience,  Mr.  Campbell 
was  by  this  debate  rendered  still  more  favorable  to 
public  discussion.  "  This,"  said  he  afterward,  "  is,  we 
are  convinced,  one  of  the  best  means  of  propagating 
the  truth  and  of  exposing  error  in  doctrine  or  practice. 
We  now  reap  the  benefit  of  the  public  debates  of  former 
times,  and  we  have  witnessed  the  beneficial  results  of 
those  in  our  own  time.  And  we  are  fully  persuaded 
that  a  week's  debating  is  worth  a  year's  preaching,  such 
as  we  generally  have,  for  the  purpose  of  disseminating 
truth  and  putting  error  out  of  countenance.  There  is 
nothing  like  meeting  face  to  face,  in  the  presence  of 
many  witnesses,  and  '  talking  the  matter  over ;'  and  the 
man  that  cannot  govern  his  own  spirit  in  the  midst  of 
opposition  and  contradiction  is  a  poor  Christian  indeed." 

As  to  the  effect  of  the  debate  upon  Mr.  Campbell's 


VISIT  TO  LEXINGTON. 


reputation  and  influence,  these  were  very  largely  ex- 
tended by  it.  So  many  preachers  from  a  distance  had 
been  present  during  the  discussion,  and  so  many  lawyers 
and  other  persons  of  intelligence  capable  of  appreciating 
Mr.  Campbell's  extraordinary  dialectic  power,  that  his 
talents  became  at  once  generally  recognized  throughout 
the  State.  This  result  was  also  largely  promoted  by  his 
short  visit  to  the  interior  immediately  after  the  discussion. 
At  David's  Fork  Church,  in  Fayette  county,  one  of  the 
four  to  which  Elder  Vardeman  ministered,  Mr.  Camp- 
bell was  astonished  at  the  vast  concourse  assembled  to 
hear  him,  and,  as  the  presence  of  a  large  audience 
always  roused  him  to  his  best  efforts  and  seemed  to 
waken  up  his  latent  powers,  the  people  were  still  more 
surprised  at  the  extraordinary  abilities  manifested  by 
the  speaker. 

Among  other  points,  Mr.  Campbell  was  to  visit  Lex- 
ington, which,  in  a  literary  point  of  view,  was,  at  this 
period,  regarded  as  the  "Athens  of  the  West."  Tran- 
sylvania University  was  now  in  a  most  flourishing  con- 
dition under  the  presidency  of  Dr.  Horace  Holley,  a 
fine  classical  scholar,  and  greatly  admired  as  an  orator 
in  a  community  passionately  fond  of  oratory,  and  which 
possessed  such  men  as  Clay,  Crittenden,  Barry,  Rowan, 
S.  P.  Sharp  and  Ben.  Hardin.  As  Dr.  Holley  was  a 
man  of  popular  manners  and  liberal  principles,  the 
University  had  risen  rapidly  in  public  esteem,  and  was 
filled  with  students  from  the  South  and  West  in  all  its 
departments — its  school  of  medicine,  which  then  num- 
bered among  its  professors  Charles  Caldwell  and  B.  W. 
Dudley,  being  regarded  as  second  only  to  the  Philadel- 
phia medical  institutions.  Lexington  could  also,  at  this 
time,  boast  of  one  of  the  ablest  literary  periodicals  of 
the  West,  edited  by  William  Gibbs  Hunt. 


92         MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


Mr.  Campbell  was  to  preach  in  the  capacious  meeting- 
house used  by  the  Baptist  church  in  charge  of  Dr. 
James  Fishback.  The  doctor  was  a  man  of  superior 
talents,  elegant  manners  and  remarkably  fine  personal 
appearance,  being  far  above  the  ordinary  height,  well- 
proportioned  and  with  dark  hair  and  regular  and 
expressive  features.  He  had  fine  didactic  powers — 
was  a  close  reasoner,  and  independent  and  somewhat 
original  in  his  way  of  thinking.  He  had  been  once  a 
successful  practitioner  of  law,  but  abandoned  this  for 
the  study  of  medicine,  which,  however,  he  soon  left  for 
the  Presbyterian  ministry.  Becoming  afterward  con- 
vinced that  immersion  was  the  proper  action  denoted  by 

baptism,"  he  did  not  hesitate  to  unite  with  the  small 
and  contemned  Baptist  church  at  Lexington,  which,  by 
means  of  his  zeal,  energy  and  ability,  soon  became  one 
of  the  largest,  most  active  and  prosperous  churches  in 
the  West.  He  had  published,  some  time  before,  a  work 
on  the  human  mind,  which  displayed  unusual  power  of 
thought,  and  was  considered  a  valuable  contribution  to 
mental  science.  He  thus  occupied  a  very  high  position, 
not  only  among  the  Baptists,  but  in  the  intelligent  and 
cultivated  society  of  Lexington,  before  which  Mr. 
Campbell  was  now  to  appear,  a  comparatively  unknown 
stranger,  from  an  obscure  creek  called  Buffalo  among 
the  silent  hills  of  Western  Virginia. 

At  the  hour  of  meeting,  the  house  was  crowded  to  its 
utmost  capacity.  When  Mr.  Campbell  rose,  he  appeared 
pale  and  exhausted,  owing  to  the  dyspepsia  from  which 
he  had  not  yet  fully  recovered,  and  was  unable  to  stand 
entirely  erect  during  the  delivery  of  his  discourse.  This 
was  based  on  the  first  chapter  of  Hebrews,  and  led  the 
speaker  to  dwell  upon  the  divine  glory  of  the  Son  of 
God — a  theme  upon  which  he  was  always  surpassingly 


IMPRESSIONS  AT  LEXINGTON. 


93 


eloquent.  It  lasted  two  hours,  during  which  the  audi- 
ence sat  in  rapt  attention.  Dr.  Theodore  S.  Bell,  now 
a  distinguished  physician  of  Louisville,  but  then  a  youth, 
was  present,  and  thus  speaks  of  it : 

I  never  had  heard  anything  that  approached  the  power 
of  that  discourse,  nor  have  I  ever  heard  it  equaled  since. 
Under  the  training  of  my  mother,  one  of  the  most  thorough 
scholars  in  the  Bible  that  I  ever  knew,  and  of  Dr.  Fishback, 
although  I  then  made  no  pretensions  to  Christianity,  I  was 
almost  as  familiar  with  the  Bible  as  with  my  alphabet.  But 
that  speech  on  Hebrews  lifted  me  into  a  world  of  thought  of 
which  I  had  previously  known  nothing.  It  has  been  forty- 
five  years  since  I  heard  that  pulpit  discourse,  but  it  is  as  vivid 
in  my  memory,  I  think,  as  when  I  first  heard  it." 

The  impression  made  upon  the  entire  audience  was 
very  marked.  They  recognized  at  once  in  Alexander 
Campbell  the  mightiest  intellect  that  had  ever  visited 
their  city.  The  freshness  of  his  thoughts,  the  extent 
and  accuracy  of  his  biblical  knowledge,  and  his  grand 
generalizations  of  the  wonderful  facts  of  redemption 
opened  up  trains  of  reflection  wholly  new,  and  pre- 
sented the  subject  of  Christianity  in  a  form  so  simple 
and  yet  so  comprehensive  as  to  fill  every  one  with 
admiration.  Nor  were  they  less  struck  with  the  perfect 
ease  with  which  he  developed  and  illustrated  the  most 
profound  and  enlarged  conceptions,  seemingly  by  an 
inexhaustible  interior  power,  unaided  by  the  slightest 
gesture  or  any  of  the  arts  of  elocution.  Nor  did  his 
unassuming,  humble  and  unobtrusive  deportment  in  the 
social  circles  of  the  most  eminent  citizens  whom  he 
met,  especially  in  the  elegant  mansion  where  Dr.  Fish- 
back  and  his  amiable  Christian  lady  dispensed  a  munifi- 
cent hospitality,  make  a  less  favorable  impression  ;  so 
that  from  this  time  forward  Mr.  Campbell  was  esteemed 


94        MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


by  the  people  of  Kentucky  as  great  among  the  greatest 
of  her  public  men,  and  without  a  rival  in  the  depart- 
ment to  which  he  had  devoted  his  powers.  The  con- 
sideration which  he  thus  received  from  the  intelligent 
citizens  of  Kentucky,  their  genial  hospitality  and  frank 
and  simple  manners,  so  accordant  with  his  own,  made 
a  deep  impression  upon  him,  and  he  was  wont  always 
to  speak  in  the  most  feeling  terms  of  the  kindness  and 
love  shown  him  by  the  people  of  Kentucky,  whom  he 
often  visited  in  after  years,  and  among  whom  the 
reformatory  principles  soon  became  very  widely  dif- 
fused. 

Prior  to  the  discussion  wdth  McCalla,  Mr.  Campbell, 
however,  was  by  no  means  so  little  known  in  Kentucky 
as  he  imagined.  His  published  debate  with  Walker 
had  been  read  by  some  of  the  Baptist  preachers  there, 
as  Wm.  Vaughan,  Vardeman  and  others,  with  great 
satisfaction,  and  they  had  been  wont  ever  afterward  to 
speak  of  Mr.  Campbell  in  the  highest  terms.  It  was 
these  encomiums  which  as  early  as  the  years  1820  and 
1821,  had  made  a  most  favorable  impression  in  refer- 
ence to  Mr.  Campbell  upon  the  mind  of  a  young  min- 
ister, recently  from  England,  P.  S.  Fall,  who  had 
already  acquired  distinction  among  the  Baptists  of 
Kentucky,  and  was  destined  to  exert  no  inconsiderable 
influence  upon  the  fortunes  of  the  Reformation.  His 
refined  manners  and  unblemished  character  gave  him 
a  high  standing  in  society,  while  his  cogent  reasoning, 
clear  enunciation  and  remarkably  correct  use  of  words 
rendered  him  popular  as  a  preacher.  During  1822, 
while  preaching  for  a  church  which  he  had  gathered  at 
Louisville,  he  met  with  Mr.  Campbell's  Sermon  or 
Law,  and  was  led  by  it  to  clearer  views  of  the  distinc- 
tion between  the  law  and  the  gospel.    This  distinction 


STUDY  OF  THE  SCRIPTURES. 


95 


he  clearly  traced  in  a  discourse  delivered  to  a  large 
audience  at  Frankfort  in  the  winter  of  1823,  and  which 
proved  quite  unpalatable  to  some  Baptist  preachers 
present,  with  whose  theology  it  conflicted.  Continuing 
his  efforts,  however,  Mr.  Fall  became  the  first  resident 
Baptist  minister  in  Kentucky  to  take  his  stand  openly 
in  favor  of  the  principles  of  the  Reformation. 

Upon  his  return  home  from  the  McCalla  debate,  Mr. 
Campbell  made  immediate  preparation  for  its  publica- 
tion from  his  own  notes  and  those  taken  at  the  time  by 
Sidney  Rigdon,  and,  notwithstanding  Mr.  McCalla's 
effort  to  discredit  it  before  its  appearance,  its  general 
accuracy  was  fully  attested  by  those  who  had  heard  the 
discussion.  With  some  animadversions  on  the  publica- 
tions of  Messrs.  Ralston,  Walker  and  others,  it  tbrmed 
a  volume  of  over  four  hundred  pages,  containing  a 
large  amount  of  interesting  matter  in  regard  to  the  sub- 
ject in  controversy.  Mr.  Campbell  observed  in  his 
Preface:  "  If  the  whole  of  this  work  were  a  forgery, 
it  combats  every  argument  advanced  by  the  Paedobap- 
tists,  and  if  the  arguments  impugned  in  this  volume  are 
refuted,  the  reader  may  rest  assured  there  are  no  others 
to  exhibit."  This  discussion,  indeed,  thus  reported  and 
circulated,  proved  to  be  the  severest  blow  that  Paedo- 
baptism  had  ever  received  in  any  part  of  the  world. 

At  the  same  time,  Mr.  Campbell  continued  to  urge 
his  plea  for  Reformation  through  the  pages  of  the 
*'  Christian  Baptist"  and  in  his  public  addresses  with 
undiminished  vigor.  Many  persons,  released  from 
clerical  rule,  were  incited  to  religious  inquiry  and  were 
induced  to  commence  the  study  of  the  Scriptures  for 
themselves.  To  these,  Mr.  Campbell  endeavored  to 
render  all  possible  aid,  by  directing  attention  to  the 
differences  between  ancient  and  modern  Christianity^ 


9^         MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


and  by  furnishing  useful  hints  as  to  the  proper  method 
of  studying  the  word  of  God. 

"  Such  readers  of  this  paper,"  said  he,  "  as  believe  that 
yesus  is  the  Alessiah^  the  Son  of  God^  and  consequently 
wish  to  understand  his  word,  to  do  and  to  enjoy  his  will,  we 
address,  in  a  subserviency  to  our  grand  design,  in  the  follow- 
ing words : 

"  That  you  may  relish  and  understand  the  New  Testament 
is  our  earnest  desire.  We  will,  therefore,  suggest  to  you  a 
plan  of  reading  the  blessed  volume,  which  reason,  common 
sense,  and  the  experience  of  all  who  have  tried  it,  recom- 
mend and  enforce.  We  will  only  premise  one  sentence,  viz. : 
that  as  God  kindly  revealed  himself,  his  will,  and  our  salva- 
tion in  human  language,  the  words  of  human  language  which 
he  used  for  this  purpose  must  have  been  used  by  his  Spirit, 
in  the  commonly  received  sense  among  mankind  generally; 
else  it  could  not  have  been  a  revelation,  for  a  revelation  in 
words  not  understood  in  the  common  sense  is  no  revelation 
at  all.  You  will  then  take,  say,  a  New  Testament  and  sit 
down  with  a  pencil  or  a  pen  in  your  hand.  Begin  with 
Matthew's  gospel ;  read  the  whole  of  it  at  one  reading  or 
two;  mark  on  the  margin  every  sentence  you  think  you  do 
not  understand.  Turn  hack  again,  read  it  a  second  time  in 
less  portions  at  once  than  in  the  first  reading;  cancel  such 
marks  as  you  have  made  which  noted  passages  which  on  the 
first  reading  appeared  to  you  dark  or  difficult  to  understand, 
but  on  the  second  reading  opened  to  your  view.  Then  read 
Mark,  Luke  and  John  in  the  same  manner,  as  they  all  treat 
on  the  same  subject.  After  having  read  each  evangelist  in 
this  way,  read  them  all  in  succession  a  third  time.  At  this 
time  you  will  be  able,  no  doubt,  to  cancel  many  of  your 
marks.  Then  read  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles,  which  is  the 
key  to  all  the  Epistles;  then  the  Epistles  in  a  similar  man- 
ner. Always,  before  reading  an  epistle,  read  everything  said 
about  the  people  addressed  in  the  epistle  which  you  find  in 
the  Acts  of  the  Apostles.  This  is  the  course  which  we 
would  take  to  understand  any  book.    You  will  no  doubt  see, 


STUDY  OF  THE  SCRIPTURES. 


97 


from  what  you  read,  the  necessity  of  accompanying  all  your 
readings  with  supplications  to  the  Father  of  Lights  for  that 
instruction  which  he  has  graciously  promised  to  all  that  ask 
him,  praying  that  '  the  God  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  the 
Father  of  glory,  may  give  unto  you  the  Spirit  of  wisdom  and 
revelation  in  the  knowledge  of  Him  ;  the  eyes  of  your  under- 
standing being  enlightened,  that  ye  may  know  what  is  the 
hope  of  his  calling,  and  what  the  riches  of  the  glory  of  his 
inheritance  in  the  saints,  and  what  is  the  exceeding  greatness 
of  his  power  to  us-ward  who  believe,  according  to  the  work- 
ing of  his  mighty  power,  which  he  wrought  in  Christ  when 
he  raised  him  from  the  dead  and  set  him  at  his  own  right 
hand  in  the  heavenly  places.'  Eph.  i.  17-20.  'That  Christ 
may  dwell  in  your  hearts  by  faith,  that  ye,  being  rooted  and 
grounded  in  love,  may  be  able  to  comprehend  with  all  saints 
what  is  the  breadth,  and  length,  and  depth,  and  height,  and 
to  know  the  love  of  Christ  which  passeth  knowledge,  that  ye 
might  be  filled  with  all  the  fulness  of  God.'  Eph.  iii.  17,  19. 

"  In  pursuing  this  plan,  we  have  no  doubt,  in  getting  even 
three  times  through  the  New  Testament,  that  you  will  learn 
much  more  of  the  Christian  religion  than  a  learned  divine 
could  teach  you  in  seven  years.  It  will  add,  however,  con- 
siderably to  your  advantage  should  you  find  two,  three,  ten 
or  a  dozen  similarly  disposed,  who  will  meet  and  read  and 
converse  and  pray  with  you,  and  you  with  them,  once  a  week, 
or  should  you  be  a  member  of  a  church,  walking  in  all  the 
commandments  and  ordinances  of  the  Lord.  Do,  we  entreat 
you,  make  the  experiment,  and  if  it  prove  not  so  useful  as  we 
have  hinted,  remind  us  of  it;  tell  us  your  disappointment, 
and  then  we  will  be  deservedly  worthy  of  blame.  Beware 
of  having  any  commentator  or  system  before  your  eyes  or 
your  mind.  Open  the  New  Testament  as  if  mortal  man  had 
never  seen  it  before.  Your  acquaintance  with  the  Old  Testa- 
ment will  incalculably  facilitate  your  proficiency  in  the  New. 
The  time  requisite  will  be  redeemed  time.  It  will  not  inter- 
fere with  your  ordinary  duties.  Oh  remember  that  this  know- 
ledge is  better  than  all  acquisitions  !  that  happy  is  the  man 
VOL.  II. — G  9 


MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 

that ' findeth  wisdom  and  the  man  that  getteth  understanding; 
for  the  merchandise  of  it  is  better  than  the  merchandise  of 
silver,  and  the  gain  thereof  than  fine  gold.  She  is  more  pre- 
cious than  rubies,  and  all  the  things  thou  canst  desire  are  not 
to  be  compared  unto  her.  Length  of  days  is  in  her  right 
hand,  and  in  her  left,  riches  and  honor.  Her  ways  are  ways 
of  pleasantness  and  all  her  paths  are  peace.  She  is  a  tree  of 
life  to  them  that  lay  hold  upon  her,  and  happy  is  every  one 
that  retaineth  her.'  "  Prov.  iii.  13,  18. 

Such  directions  were  really  needed  at  this  period  by 
the  religious  community,  as  few  amongst  them  deemed 
themselves  authorized  or  competent  to  derive  religious 
instruction  directly  from  the  Bible.  Men  had  converted 
religion  into  the  science  of  theology.  Each  party  had 
its  ow^n  theories,  which  its  own  clergy  were  appointed 
to  inculcate,  and  in  harmony  with  which  the  Scripture 
must  be  constantly  explained.  Divinity"  had  become 
one  of  the  "  learned  professions,"  and  as  the  client  pre- 
sumed not  to  judge  the  law  for  himself,  but  relied  upon 
the  opinion  of  his  lawyer,  or  the  patient  upon  that  of  his 
physician,  so  the  laity  ventured  not  to  determine  the 
meaning  of  the  Scripture  for  themselves,  but  depended 
upon  their  clergy  for  its  interpretation.  As  each  sect, 
however,  had  a  different  theory,  and  by  consequence  a 
different  interpretation  of  the  Bible,  many  were  disposed 
to  say  to  each  as  Mary  Qiieen  of  Scots  said  to  John 
Knox,  in  referring  to  his  teachings  and  those  of  the 
priests  :  "  You  interpret  the  Scriptures  in  one  way,  and 
they  in  another;  whom  shall  I  believe,  and  who  shall 
be  judge?"  Mr.  Campbell's  response  to  such  inquiries 
was  simph^  the  noble  reply  which  the  uncompromising 
Reformer  made  to  the  queen  :  "You  shall  believe  God," 
said  Knox,  "who  plainly  speaketh  in  his  word;  and 
further  than  the  word  teacheth  you,  you  shall  believe 


OUTGROWTHS  OF  BIGOTRY. 


99 


neither  the  one  nor  the  other.  The  word  of  God  is 
plain  in  itself,  and  if  there  appear  any  obscurity  in  one 
place,  the  Wo\y  Ghost,  who  is  never  contrary  to  him- 
self, explains  the  same  more  clearly  in  other  places,  so 
that  there  can  remain  no  doubt  but  unto  such  as  are  ob- 
stinately ignorant." — McCrie's  Life  of  John  Knox,  p. 
228. 

As  the  "Christian  Baptist"  began  now  to  be  more 
extensively  circulated,  and  the  Scriptures  more  carefully 
studied,  many  minds  became  freed  from  the  religious 
systems  and  theories  of  the  times.  In  Pittsburg,  after 
the  meeting  of  the  Redstone  ^Association  in  1823,  a 
greater  degree  of  intimacy  took  place  between  Walter 
Scott  and  Sidney  Rigdon,  and  their  respective  congre- 
gations, so  that,  in  1824,  a  union  was  consummated  be- 
tween them.  A  few  members  of  the  Baptist  church 
who  refused  to  unite  were  then  recognized  by  the  com- 
mittee of  the  Association  as  the  only  legitimate  Baptist 
church  in  Pittsburg.  These  results  of  the  principles 
urged  by  Mr.  Campbell  greatly  provoked  his  opposers, 
who  renewed  their  efforts  to  excite  the  public  against 
him.  Taking  advantage  of  the  prejudices  thus  created, 
an  impostor,  called  Thomas  T.  Counceil,  claiming  to  be 
a  Baptist  preacher,  and  with  forged  credentials  in  his 
pocket  in  the  name  of  Messrs.  Frey,  Wheeler,  Luse 
and  Brownfield,  traveled  about  through  Western  Penn- 
sylvania, railing  agaipst  Mr.  Campbell  and  urgently 
soliciting  contributions.  Another  individual,  who  made  » 
himself  quite  notorious  about  this  time,  was  Lawrence 
Greatrake,  a  regular  Baptist  preacher,  of  a  restless 
spirit  and  strong  passions,  who  occupied  himself  in 
itinerating  through  the  country,  wherever  he  could  ob- 
tain a  hearing,  either  in  Baptist  or  Pasdobaptist  congre- 
gations, breathing  forth  misrepresentation  and  abuse  of 


lOO       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


Mr.  Campbell  and  his  teachings.  The  bitter  spirit,  how- 
ever, by  which  he  was  characterized,  rendered  his  reck- 
less assertions  doubtful  to  thoughtful  and  impartial 
hearers,  and  served  rather  to  further  the  Reformation  by 
exciting  their  curiosity  to  read  Mr,  Campbell's  writings 
or  to  hear  him  for  themselves.  As  to  Mr.  Greatrake,  he 
continued  his  itinerant  labors  for  a  considerable  time, 
and  published  a  scurrilous  pamphlet  against  Mr.  Camp- 
bell;  but  afterward,  falling  into  disgrace,  became  an 
apostate,  and  finally,  in  passing  through  a  piece  of 
woods  on  his  way  to  a  place  of  shelter,  was  suddenly 
crushed  to  death  by  a  falling  tree. 

In  the  Association  on  the  Western  Reserve,  mean- 
while, the  new  views  were  making  rapid  and  compara- 
tively peaceful  progress.  Hence  when,  in  September, 
1824,  Mr.  Campbell  was  sent,  in  conjunction  with  John 
Brown  and  George  Young,  as  a  messenger  from  the 
church  at  Wellsburg,  now  consisting  of  forty  members, 
to  propose  a  union  with  that  body,  he  was  very  kindly 
received.  The  meeting  this  year  was  held  at  Hubbard, 
in  Trumbull  county.  Adamson  Bentley,  who  had  been 
moderator  at  the  previous  meeting,  preached  the  intro- 
ductor}'  sermon  from  John  iii.  16,  17.  Thomas  Miller 
was  then  chosen  moderator,  and  E.  Leavitt  clerk.  Upon 
'the  minutes  it  is  entered  as  the  sixth  item  :  "At  the 
/  request  of  the  Church  of  Christ  at  Wellsburg  it  was  re- 
ceived into  this  Association.**  In  conformity  with  the 
rules  of  the  Association,  Mr.  Campbell  presented  on 
this  occasion  a  written  statement  of  belief  which  he  had 
prepared,  and  which  was  duly  received  and  entered 
upon  the  records.  The  simple  declarations  of  this  docu- 
ment, and  its  constant  reference  to  the  Scriptures,  form 
quite  a  contrast  with  the  detailed  enumerations  of  theo- 
logical and  speculative  questions  always  found  in  the 


PROGRESS  OF  TRUTH. 


lOI 


church  creeds  of  this  period.  In  the  character  of  the 
queries  sent  up  from  the  churches  to  this  meeting  the 
working  of  the  reformatory  principles  may  be  readily 
traced,  and  their  progress  may  be  still  more  distinctly 
observed  in  the  answers  appended,  which,  however, 
were  postponed  to  the  next  meeting  of  the  Associa- 
tion, and  are  here  added  from  the  minutes  of  that  year 
(1825)  : 

"  Queries  from  Nelson  Church. — i.  Will  this  Association 
hold  in  its  connection  a  church  which  acknowledges  no  other 
rule  of  faith  and  practice  than  the  Scriptures?  Answer  :  Yes, 
on  satisfactory  evidence  that  they  walk  according  to  this  rule. 
2.  In  what  manner  were  members  received  into  churches  set 
in  order  by  the  apostles?  Answer:  Those  who  believed  and 
were  baptized  were  added  to  the  churches.  3.  How  were 
members  excluded  from  the  church  ?  Answer  :  By  a  vote  of 
the  brethren. 

"  ^uery  from  New  Lisbo7i  Church. — Is  it  scriptural  to 
license  a  brother  to  administer  the  word  and  not  the  ordi- 
nances? Answer:  We  have  no  such  custom  taught  in  the 
Scriptures. 

"  ^uery  from  Randolph  Church. — Can  Associations  in 
their  present  modifications  find  their  model  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment?   Answer:  Not  exactly. 

"  ^uery  from  Toungstown  Church. — Was  the  practice 
of  the  primitive  Church  an  exact  pattern  to  succeeding  ages, 
and  is  every  practice  designed  for  good  to  be  receded  from 
which  was  not  the  practice  of  the  primitive  saints  in  their 
peculiar  circumstances?  Answer:  It  is  the  duty  and  high 
privilege  of  every  Christian  to  aim  at  an  exact  conformity 
to  the  example  of  the  churches  set  in  order  by  the  apostles, 
and  to  endeavor  to  imitate  them  in  all  things  imitable  by 
them." 

The  attention  of  these  churches  had  thus  evidently 
been  strongly  directed  to  the  primitive  Church  as  the 

9  * 


102 


MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


true  model  for  succeeding  ages ;  the  spirit  of  inquiry 
had  been  awakened  ;  there  was  manifestly  a  searching 
of  the  Scriptures,  under  the  impression  that  these  were 
intelligible  to  the  common  mind  ;  and  a  disposition  to 
call  in  question  such  religious  customs  and  opinions 
were  destitute  of  Divine  authorit\^ 


CHAPTER  IV. 


Visit  to  Kentucky — Experimental  Religion — Virginia  and  Kentucky  Baptist 
preachers — "  Christian  Baptist" — Work  of  the  Spirit — Ancient  order  of 
things — Tour  in  Virginia — R.  B.  Seniple — Chrisiian  communion — Pro- 
gress of  truth. 


OON  after  his  return  from  the  meetincr  of  the  Mahon- 


^  ing  Association  in  September,  1824,  Mr.  Campbell 
paid  his  promised  visit  to  Kentucky.  During  his  tour, 
which  occupied  nearly  three  months,  he  visited  a  large 
portion  of  the  State,  addressing  everywhere  large  audi- 
ences, and  greatly  extending  his  influence  and  acquaint- 
ance with  the  Baptists.  The  notions  he  had  entertained 
concerning  them  as  a  people  in  the  early  part  of  his 
ministry  had  been  greatly  changed  by  his  intercourse 
with  them,  so  that  he  had  learned  to  esteem  them  very 
highly,  and  to  regard  them  as  much  nearer  the  primi- 
tive pattern  than  any  other  religious  denominat-  n.  He 
regarded  their  conceptions  of  the  Church  of  Christ  as 
essentially  correct,  and  thought  it  would  not  be  diflicult 
to  eliminate  from  the  Baptist  churches  such  erroneous 
theories  and  usages  as  had  gained  admission. 

It  was  with  these  convictions  that  he  now  visited  the 
Baptists  of  Kentuck}',  in  order  to  impart  to  them,  as  well 
as  to  the  community  at  large,  those  clearer  views  of  the 
gospel  to  which  his  own  mind  had  been  conducted  by 
the  careful  study  of  the  Sacred  Oracles.  These,  to  some 
extent,  he  had  already  presented  during  the  past  year 
in  the  successive  numbers  of  the     Christian  Baptist," 


10.^ 


I04       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


which  had  been  read  throughout  Kentucky  with  great 
avidity,  and  had  produced  considerable  excitement 
among  the  churches.  Some  individuals  were  favorably 
impressed  with  the  plea  for  reform  ;  others  remained  in 
perplexity  and  doubt,  while  not  a  few  were  disposed  to 
cling  tenaciously  to  their  cherished  opinions.  All  were 
ready  to  admit  that  a  bright  star  had  risen  in  the  East 
among  the  Baptists,  but  whether  it  would  guide  them 
nearer  to  Jesus,  or,  like  a  passing  meteor,  leave  them  in 
greater  darkness,  none  seemed  as  yet  able  to  determine. 
When  at  length,  in  the  March  number  of  the  first 
volume,  with  that  truthful  candor  so  characteristic  of 
him,  Mr.  Campbell  discussed  the  subject  of  "  Experi- 
mental Religion,"  showing  the  expression  itself,  as  well 
as  the  popular  notion  connected  with  it,  to  be  unscrip- 
tural,  a  great  number  became  offended,  and  many  mis- 
representations of  his  real  sentiments  were  circulated 
abroad.  He  was  charged  with  "  denying  the  necessity 
of  being  born  again  by  the  Spirit  of  God with  con- 
fining all  grace  to  the  apostolic  age  ;"  with  being  an 
enemy  to  heart-religion,"  etc. 

It  will  not  appear  strange,  indeed,  to  one  familiar 
with  human  nature,  that  such  impressions  should  have 
been  made  in  the  existing  condition  of  religious  society 
by  so  direct  an  assault  upon  one  of  the  most  favorite 
notions  of  the  time.  Theological  systems  had  then 
entire  control  of  the  public  mind.  Through  these  alone 
men  were  accustomed  to  look  at  the  Scripture,  which 
in  all  cases  received  its  law  of  interpretation  from  the 
particular  theory  which  had  been  previously  adopted. 
The  various  points  of  Calvinism  or  of  Arminianism,  and 
the  metaphysical  speculations  of  ingenious  theological 
writers,  such  as  John  Gill  and  Andrew  Fuller,  were 
then  the  great  themes  of  public  discourses  and  of  private 


RELIGIOUS  EXPERIENCES. 


converse.  Among  the  theories  in  vogue  there  was  no 
one  so  generally  popular  as  that  which  attributed  con- 
version to  "  the  direct  and  irresistible  power  of  the  Holy 
Spirit."  Such  were  the  views  entertained  of  man's 
utter  depravity  and  inability  that  he  was  supposed  to 
be  incapable  even  of  receiving  the  gospel,  or  of  believ- 
ing aright  the  testimony  of  God  without  a  special  opera- 
tion of  the  Spirit,  which  was  supposed  to  be  withheld 
or  granted  according  to  the  sovereign  will  and  pleasure 
of  God.  It  was  conceived  to  be  the  great  and  chief 
work  of  the  Holy  Spirit  in  the  salvation  of  men  thus  to 
create  the  soul  anew  by  an  overwhelming  power,  a  sud- 
den and  mysterious  spiritual  baptism,  wholly  apart  from 
the  influence  of  the  w^ord  of  God,  which,  like  the  sinner 
himself,  was  supposed  to  be  "  dead"  until  specially  ap- 
plied and  made  effective  by  the  Spirit.  The  minds  of 
men  were  thus  directed,  not  to  the  evidences  and  assur- 
ances furnished  by  the  word  of  God,  but  to  the  varying 
moods  of  the  mind  and  the  fitful  feelings  of  the  heart. 
On  these,  when  adjudged  by  some  fanciful  standard  to 
be  genuine,  they  were  led  to  rely,  and  hence  to  such 
inward  impressions  was  naturally  transferred  the  office 
.which  baptism  subserved  in  the  primitive  Church,  and 
of  which  it  had  been  divested  in  the  modern ;  and  every 
one  who  had  a  "religious  experience,"  as  it  was  termed, 
was  accustomed  to  refer  to  it  as  the  assurance  of  his 
pardon  and  acceptance  with  God,  as  well  as  his  title  to 
church  membership  and  Christian  fellowship.  It  can 
be  easily  seen,  therefore,  how  a  free  criticism  upon  that 
which,  in  the  popular  view,  constituted  the  very  essence 
of  true  religion,  must  necessarily  give  offence  and  create 
misapprehension. 

Mr.  Campbell,  however,  desired  simply  to  vindicate 
the  claims  of  the  word  of  God,  which  he  believed  to  be 


Io6       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


set  entirel}^  aside  by  the  doctrine  in  question,  and  to  in- 
duce men  to  "  look  off  to  Clirist,"  rather  than  to  trust 
in  their  own  frames  and  feelings.  Like  the  Haldanes 
and  their  pious  coadjutor,  John  Campbell,  he  had 
learned  to  rest  on  the  promises  of  God,  and  desired  that 
all  should  enjoy  the  permanent  and  blessed  assurance 
thus  afTorded.  He  occupied,  indeed,  a  very  diflerent 
point  of  view  from  the  preachers  of  the  time,  and  his 
mind  ranged  in  a  much  wider  sphere.  As,  before  the 
time  of  Bacon,  the  facts  of  nature  were  explained  or 
perverted  to  suit  the  theories  of  philosophers,  so  now 
the  facts  and  teachings  of  the  Bible  were  applied  and 
interpreted  to  suit  the  various  systems  of  theology. 
Lifting  himself  above  all  human  theories  and  specula- 
tions, Mr.  Campbell  strictly  applied  the  inductive 
method  to  the  Bible,  and  made  its  facts  and  revelations 
the  great  basis  of  religious  thought  and  the  sure  founda- 
tion of  all  religious  trust.  His  method  of  discoursing 
was  hence  totally  unlike  thai  of  other  preachers.  In 
discussing  the  great  themes  of  salvation,  he  manifested 
a  breadth  of  view,  a  depth  of  biblical  knowledge,  a 
freshness  of  thought  and  a  grantleur  in  his  combinations 
of  facts  and  arguments  which  iuiparled  instruction  and 
delight.  At  his  bidding,  the  fncts  of  Scripture  seemed 
to  acquire  new  force  and  meaning;  a  connected  train 
of  scriptural  truths  and  illustrations  opened  up  unex- 
pected and  lofty  views  of  the  Divire  plan  of  redemption  ; 
while,  ascending  to  higher  planes  '.»t*  thought,  he  left  far 
beneath  him  the  controversies  atul  dilFiculties  of  all 
human  systems,  as  the  eagle  soaring  aloft  in  the  sun- 
light leaves  far  below  him  the  s;ormy  clou'-ls  that 
darken  the  mountain's  brow  or  ove^ •^i^r^.ad  the  va^'ey 
with  gloom  and  desolation. 

Under  the  circumstances  above  dciailej  Mr  Camp- 


INCONSISTEXT  DOCTRINE. 


107 


bell's  tour  among  the  Baptist  churches  in  Kentucky 
gave  rise  to  a  great  diversity  of  feeling.  This  may 
be  best  conceived,  however,  from  the  impressions  he 
made  on  some  prominent  individuals  who  subsequently 
acted  an  important  part  in  favoring  or  opposing  the 
Reformation.  Among  the  former,  John  Smith  deserves 
particular  mention.  He  was  a  Baptist  preacher,  who 
without  education,  and  amidst  many  difficulties  and 
trials,  had  raised  himself,  by  his  extraordinary  natural 
abilities,  to  great  and  merited  distinction.  He  pos- 
sessed a  practical  sagacity,  a  largeness  of  heart  and 
mind  and  a  clearness  and  quickness  of  insight  such 
as  are  rarely  found.  To  these  he  added  an  unfail- 
ing memory,  a  remarkable  talent  for  genial  humor 
and  unequaled  skill  at  repartee,  so  that  his  witty  replies 
became  famiHarly  known  throughout  the  State.  He 
possessed  withal  great  candor,  a  deep  and  fervent  love 
of  truth,  and  had  a  mind  so  constituted  that  he  could 
not  feel  satisfied  with  any  doctrine  or  system  if  it  ap)- 
peared  to  him  in  any  way  inconsistent  with  itself. 
Hence,  it  was  that  although  he  had  adopted  the  Cal- 
vinian  theory  held  by  the  Baptists,  and  was  thoroughly 
conversant  with  the  points  of  controversy  debated  with 
Arminians,  he  never  could  fairly  reconcile  in  his  own 
mind,  in  their  practical  aspects,  some  of  the  tenets 
which  his  system  obliged  him  to  teach.  On  one  occa- 
sion in  1822,  at  Spencer  Creek  meeting-house,  while  in 
the  midst  of  a  warm  exhortation,  he  was  suddenly  so 
struck  with  one  of  these  inconsistencies  of  doctrine,  be- 
tween the  freeness  of  the  gospel  and  the  Calvinian 
theory,  that  he  stopped  short,  and  after  a  pause,  ex- 
claimed to  the  surprised  audience,  Something  is 
wrong  among  us,  but  how  to  get  it  right  I  know  not !" 
Well  assured,  however,  that  no  such  contradictions  could 


loS       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


exist  in  the  Scriptures,  he  from  this  time  devoted  him- 
self to  a  more  careful  examination  of  the  word  of  God, 
in  order  to  discover,  if  possible,  where  his  theological 
system  had  departed  from  it. 

He  had  heard  of  Mr.  Campbell's  debate  with  Walker, 
and  had  desired  to  attend  the  McCalla  debate,  but  was 
hindered  by  sickness  in  his  family.  Being  presented 
with  a  prospectus  of  the  "  Christian  Baptist"  by  Buck- 
ner  H.  Payne  of  Mount  Sterling,  and  finding  that  Mr. 
Campbell  intended  to  discuss  certain  questions  which 
had  given  him  much  trouble,  he  at  once  subscribed  for 
it,  and  read  the  numbers  with  much  interest,  though 
greatly  doubting  many  of  the  positions  which  were 
taken.  When  the  essay  on  "  Experimental  Religion** 
appeared,  he  hardly  knew  what  to  think  of  it,  but, 
though  some  of  his  Baptist  friends  were  much  dis- 
pleased and  withdrew  their  subscriptions,  he  was  so 
fascinated  by  Mr.  Campbell's  perspicuous  and  lively 
style  of  writing  that  he  continued  to  take  the  paper. 
When  he  heard  of  ?vlr.  Campbell's  arrival  in  Kentucky 
in  1824,  and  learned  that  he  designed  to  visit  Flem- 
ingsburg,  he  thought  it  proper  to  go  and  meet  him 
there  and  conduct  him  to  Mount  Sterling,  where  he 
himself  then  lived,  and  where  Mr.  Campbell  had  his  next 
appointment.  On  entering  the  town,  he  met  with  Wil- 
liam Vaughan,  who  had  been  with  Mr.  Campbell  for 
eight  days  and  nights,  during  his  tour  through  Mason 
and  Bracken  counties,  and  had  heard  him  preach  every 
day.  The  introduction  that  followed,  and  the  succeeding 
incidents,  may  be  best  given  as  related  by  John  Smith, 
himself,  to  his  friend  Albert  Allen  of  Fayette  county : 

"  '  Well,'  said  I  to  Elder  Vaughan,  '  what  are  his  religious 
views  on  doctrinal  points?  Is  he  a  Calvinist  or  Arminian, 
an  Arian  or  a  Trinitarian?' 


PERSONAL  IMPRESSIONS, 


His  answer  was,  '  I  do  not  know  ;  he  has  nothing  to  do 
with  any  of  these  things.* 

I  answered,  /  could  tell  when  I  heard  him,  what  he  was, 
"'How?*  said  he. 

I  replied,  he  is  a  man  of  sense^  and,  if  he  takes  a  position 
and  does  not  run  out  into  any  of  these  isms^  I  can  tell  where 
he  would  land  if  it  was  run  out.  I  asked  again,  '  But  do  you 
think  he  knows  anything  about  heartfelt  religion.?' 

'  God  bless  you,  Brother  John  !*  said  he  ;  '  he  is  one  of  the 
most  pious,  godly  men  I  was  ever  in  company  with  in  my 
life.' 

But  do  you  think  he  knows  anything  about  a  Christian 
experience.'" 

u  '  Why,  Lord  bless  you  !  he  knows  everything.  Come,  I 
want  to  introduce  you  to  him.' 

"  We  went  to  the  house.  Says  Brother  Vaughan, '  Brother 
Campbell,  I  want  to  introduce  you  to  Brother  John  Smith.* 

'^'Ah,'  said  he,  'is  this  Brother  Smith?  Well,  I  know 
Brother  Smith  pretty  well,  although  I  have  never  seen  him 
before.' 

I  then  felt  as  if  I  wanted  to  sit  down  and  look  at  him  for 
one  hour,  without  hearing  a  word  from  any  one.  I  wanted 
to  scan  him  who  had  been  so  much  talked  of,  and  who  had, 
in  the  '  Christian  Baptist,'  and  in  his  debates,  introduced  so 
many  new  thoughts  into  my  mind.  Time  had  now  come, 
however,  to  start  to  the  meeting-house,  and  we  all  started. 
On  reaching  there,  the  house  being  small,  we  found  prepara- 
tions had  been  made  for  seating  the  congregation  on  logs  and 
planks  in  the  rear  of  the  house.  A  small  stand  of  planks, 
laid  on  blocks  against  the  wall,  had  been  erected  for  the 
speaker.  These  accommodations,  however,  were  not  suffi- 
cient for  the  immense  crowd,  and  many  had  to  stand  up.  I 
took  my  seat  on  one  end  of  the  plank  on  which  he  stood,  de- 
termined now  to  find  out  to  what  ism  he  belonged  in  point  of 
doctrine,  for  I  was  full  of  doubt  and  suspicion. 

"  He  commenced  in  the  usual  way,  and  read  the  allegory 
of  Sarah  and  Hagar  in  the  fourth  chapter  of  Galatians.. 

10 


no 


MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL, 


After  a  general  outline  of  the  whole  epistle,  and  how  it  ought 
to  be  read,  in  order  to  a  correct  unders>tanding  of  the  apostle's 
meaning,  he  commenced  ilirectly  on  the  allegory.  I  watched 
all  the  time  with  my  whole  mind  to  find  out  to  what  ism  he 
belonged,  but  he  seemed  to  move  in  a  higher  sphere  than 
that  in  which  these  isfus  aboundetl.  In  a  simple,  plain  and 
artless  maimer,  leaning  with  one  hand  on  the  head  of  his 
cane,  he  went  through  his  discourse.  No  gesture  or  any 
kind  of  mannerism  characterized  him,  or  served  to  call  off 
the  mind  from  what  was  being  said. 

'I'he  congregation  being  dismissed,  I  said  to  Brother 
Vaughan,  *  Is  it  not  a  little  hard  to  ride  thirty  miles  to  hear  a 
man  preach  thirty  minutes?' 

*  Oh,'  said  he,  *  he  has  been  longer  than  that.  Look  at 
your  watch.' 

On  looking,  I  found  it  had  been  two  hours  and  tJiirty 
viinutcs^  and  simply  said,  'Two  hours  of  my  time  are  gone 
and  1  know  not  how,  though  ivide  azvakcJ 

Returning  to  Brother  Reynolds',  Brother  Vaughan  asked 
me,  *  Did  you  ^nd  out  whether  he  was  a  Calvinist  or  an  Ar- 
minian  ?' 

*  iS'o  ;  I  know  nothing  about  him,  but,  be  he  devil  or  saint, 
he  has  thrown  more  light  on  that  epistle  and  the  whole  Scrip- 
tures than  1  have  heard  in  all  the  sermons  I  ever  listened  to 
before.'  Soon  after  dinner,  in  company  with  four  or  five 
other  preachers,  among  whom  were  Bi  others  Payne,  Vaughan 
and  old  William  Moss,  we  started  for  Brother  Cannon's,  who 
lived  some  three  or  four  miles  oiV,  on  the  road  to  Mt.  Sterling. 

Going  along,  I  threw  myself  in  company  with  Brother 
Campbell,  to  ride  with  him.  In  the  commencement  of  our 
conversation,  I  made  a  remark  to  him  like  this;  *  Brother 
Campbell.  I  do  not  wish  to  meet  any  man  in  judgment,  hav- 
ing entertained  an  ur.favorable  opinion  of  him  without  good 
grounds,  and  I  will  now  say  to  you  what  I  have  ne\er  said 
to  any  man  before — that,  religiously  sj>eaking,  1  am  st/S' 
ficious  of  you,  and  having  an  unfavorable  opinion  of  you, 
I  am  willing  to  give  the  reasons  why.' 


EXPERIENCE  VALID. 


Ill 


"  'Well,  Brother  John,'  said  he,  '  if  all  my  Baptist  brethren 
would  treat  me  as  candidly  as  you  have  done,  I  would  think 
more  of  them,  as  it  would  afford  me  an  opportunity  to  ex- 
plain my  views.* 

But  before  I  could  reply,  he  laughed  and  said,  'I  expected  - 
when  I  saw  you,  to  know  all  you  thought  of  me  ;*  and  then 
told  me  he  had  heard  that  during  the  Bracken  Association, 
held  in  Carlisle  last  September,  a  number  of  preachers  went 
to  a  certain  house  for  dinner,  and  were  abusing  me  terribly 
for  the*  attack  I  had  made  upon  the  clergy,  when  you  said 
that  *  the  clergy  needed  so  much  of  such  abuse  that  you  were 
willing  to  be  whipped  almost  to  death  to  get  the  others 
killed.' 

1  told  him  I  had  so  said,  and  did  it  sincerely,  too.  I  then 
mentioned  the  strange  piece  before  alluded  to,  on  '  experi- 
mental religion,'  and  suggested  that  something  must  be  hid- 
den behind  that,  as  I  knew  he  understood  as  well  as  any  one 
what  the  *  populars'  meant  by  experimental  religion,  and  was 
not  so  ignorant  as  the  piece  would  seem  to  intimate. 

My  father,'  said  he,  '  gave  me  a  scolding  for  publishing 
that  piece  too  soon,  as  he  thought  the  people  were  not  ready 
for  it.  But  I*  have  a  series  of  essays  on  hand  on  the  work 
of  the  Holy  Spirit,  which  will  explain  the  whole  matter,  and 
this  was  only  thrown  out  to  call  the  attention  of  the  clergy.' 

*'  On  the  next  morning  we  parted  company  with  the  bal- 
ance of  the  preachers,  and  Brother  Campbell  and  myself 
started  for  Mt.  Sterling.  Much  interesting  conversation  took 
place  on  the  way,  and  conduced  much  to  my  correct  under- 
standing of  his  views.  I  will  not  attempt  to  relate  all  that 
passed.  One  little  incident  I  will  relate.  Having  crossed 
Licking  River  and  riding  slowly  up  the  bank,  I  asked  Brother 
Campbell  to  tell  me  his  experience.  He  readily  did  so,  and 
in  turn  asked  a  relation  of  mine,  which  was  given. 

After  hearing  his  experience,  I  would  cheerfully  have 
given  him  the  hand  of  fellowship.  It  was  one  which  any 
Baptist  church  would  have  cheerfully  received,  and  was 
almost  substantially  such  as  mine.    He  took  occasion  to  say 


112        MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


that  he  had  never  discarded  the  existence  of  such  experiences- 
on  the  part  of  the  sinner,  but  objected  to  the  use  made  of 
such  things,  as  determining  the  proper  prerequisites  of  bap- 
tism, and  went  on  to  explain  the  necessity  of  taking  the 
'  word  of  God.,  rather  than  our  feeh'ngs,  as  guides  in  such 
things. 

Many  other  questions  were  asked  by  me,  and  explained 
by  him,  till  we  reached  Mt.  Sterling.  Here  I  heard  from 
him  three  discourses,  and  going  on  as  far  as  North  Middle- 
ton,  I  parted  with  him. 

"  This,  to  me,  interesting  sojourn  with  Brother  Campbell, 
led  to  the  removal  of  many  obstacles  and  to  the  solution  of 
many  difficulties  of  a  religious  kind,  and  left  me  persuaded  of 
better  things  of  him  than  when  we  first  met.  But  it  was  not 
until  after  a  year  of  careful  examination  of  the  Scriptures 
that  I  was  fully  convinced  of  the  scripturality  of  his  views, 
and  commenced  the  advocacy  of  the  Bible  as  a  sufficient  rule 
of  faith  and  practice." 

From  this  narrative  it  will  be  seen  that  Mr.  Camp- 
^  bell  was  not  opposed  to  "religious  experiences,"  but 
to  the  use  made  of  them  as  substitutes  for  that  assurance 
which  is  derived  from  the  word  of  God — that  simple 
trust  in  Jesus  which  the  gospel  requires.  He  believed, 
as  Moses  Stuart,  of  Andover,  said  upon  his  deathbed, 
that  "  feelings  in  religious  experience  are  deceptive;" 
and,  like  that  eminent  man,  sought  to  rescue  the  Bible 
from  its  slavery  to  theological  systems,  to  restore  its 
free  meaning  as  the  true  reliance  of  the  soul,  and  to 
direct  the  attention  to  the  life  as  the  proper  evidence  of 
faith  and  the  true  test  of  fealty.  He  was  convinced, 
to  use  the  language  of  the  great  and  good  Dr.  Way- 
land,  that  "  the  moral  sense  of  men  and  the  Bible  were, 
by  the  power  that  originated  both,  adapted  to  each 
other."  Hence,  he  believed  with  the  latter  "that  if 
the  truths  of  the  word  of  God  were  brought  near  ta 


PRIMITIVE  FAITH. 


"3 


the  soul,  the  effect  must  be  felt,"  and  in  harmony  with 
this  belief,  like  the  primitive  laborers,  he  "  ceased  not 
to  preach  and  to  teach  Christ,"  being  divinely  assured 
that  faith  comes  by  hearing,  and  hearing  by  the  word 
of  God."  Whatever  metaphysical  theories  men  might 
adopt  as  to  the  operations  of  the  mind,  he  could  see  no 
propriety  in  the  attempt  to  make  conversion,  in  all  its 
details,  conform  to  such  human  systems,  in  order  to 
secure  an  acceptance  which,  in  the  beginnings  was  ac- 
corded to  all  those  who  '*  hearing,  believed  and  were 
baptized."* 


*  The  account  which  Dr.  Wayland  gives  of  his  own  religious  struggles  is 
so  striking  a  commentary  on  the  views  advocated  by  Mr.  Campbell,  and  so 
strongly  confirmatory  of  their  correctness,  that  it  is  here  subjoined  :  "  I  had 
marked  out  for  myself,"  said  he,  "a  plan  of  conversion  in  accordance  with 
the  prevailing  theological  notions.  First,  I  must  have  agonizing  convictions, 
then  deep  and  overwhelming  repentance,  then  a  view  of  Christ  as  my  Saviour, 
which  should  fill  me  with  transports,  and  from  all  this  would  proceed  a  new 
and  holy  life.  Until  this  was  done,  I  could  perform  no  work  pleasing  to  God, 
and  all  that  I  could  do  was  abomination  in  his  sight  For  these  emotions, 
then,  I  prayed,  but  received  nothing  in  answer  which  corresponded  to  my 
theory  of  conversion.  I  devoted  I  know  not  how  much  time  to  prayer  and 
reading  the  Scriptures,  to  the  exclusion  of  every  other  pursuit  This,  how- 
ever, could  not  be  continued  always.  I  recommenced  my  usual  duties,  making 
this,  however,  my  paramount  concern.  I  attended  religious  meetings  and 
derived  pleasure  from  them.  I  read  only  religious  books.  I  determined 
that  if  I  perished,  I  would  perish  seeking  the  forgiveness  of  God  and  an 
interest  in  the  Saviour. 

"At  the  time  when  I  thus  resolved  to  seek  in  earnest  the  salvation  of  my 
soul  there  was  in  none  of  the  churches  of  Troy  any  religious  interest  It  was 
a  period  of  unusual  indifference  to  religion.  But  while  I  was  in  this  con- 
dition a  very  extensive  revival  commenced.  I  was  deeply  interested  in  it, 
and  attended  all  the  meetings,  hoping  to  hear  something  that  would  tend  to 
my  spiritual  good.  I  found  that  I  loved  the  doctrines  of  the  Gospel,  that  I 
earnestly  desired  the  salvation  of  souls,  and  felt  a  love  for  Christians  such  as 
I  never  felt  before.  But  I  could  not  believe  that  the  light  which  had  gradually 
dawned  upon  my  soul  was  anything  more  than  was  taught  by  the  precepts  of 
men.  Everything  in  religion  seemed  to  me  so  reasonable  that  all  which  I 
felt  seemed  to  arise  from  the  mere  logical  deductions  of  the  intellect,  in  which 
the  heart,  the  inmost  soul,  had  no  part  I  met  with  the  young  converts,  and 
VOL.  II.— H  10  * 


114       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL, 


Continuing,  during  his  tour,  to  meet  his  daily  appoint- 
ments, and  occupied  at  night  often  to  a  late  hour  with 
crowds  of  anxious  inquirers  who  sought  religious  in- 

with  them  engaged  in  devotions,  but  could  not  believe  that  the  promise  of 
the  Gospel  was  intended  for  me. 

"  I  remember  at  this  time  to  have  had  a  long  and  interesting  conversation 
with  the  Rev.  Dr.  Mattison,  a  Baptist  minister  from  Shaftsbury,  Vermont.  It 
was  of  the  nature  of  an  earnest  argument,  in  which  he  endeavored  to  prove 
that  I  was  a  regenerate  person,  and  I  as  strenuously  contended  that  it  was 
quite  out  of  the  question.  I  could  not  deny  that  there  had  been  a  change  in 
me,  but  the  change  had  been  so  reasonable  and  so  slight  in  degree  that  I 
could  not  be  a  child  of  God.  Yet  the  conversation  did  me  good.  In  looking 
back  upon  this  period  of  my  life,  I  perceive  that  much  of  my  doubt  and  distrust 
was  owing  to  the  pride  of  my  own  heart.  I  had  formed  my  own  theory  of 
conversion,  and  I  did  not  like  to  confess  that  I  was  wrong.  I  wished  to  have 
a  clear  and  convincing  experience,  so  that  I  might  never  doubt  of  myself  nor 
others  doubt  concerning  me.  I  desired  to  be  the  subject  of  a  striking  con- 
version, and  was  not  willing  to  take,  with  humility  and  gratitude,  whatever  it 
should  please  God  to  give  me.  He  in  mercy  disappointed  me,  and  made  me 
willing  to  accept  his  grace  in  any  manner  that  he  chose  to  bestow  it, 

"  Whenever  I  now  have  occasion  (as  I  often  have)  to  converse  with  per- 
sons in  this  state  of  mind,  I  do  not  argue  much  with  them.  I  set  before 
them  the  love  of  God  in  Christ,  the  fullness  and  freeness  of  the  offer  of  salva- 
tion, and  the  sincerity  of  God  in  revealing  it  to  us,  and  I  urge  them  at  once 
to  submit  themselves  to  God  ;  not  to  be  willing  merely  to  do  it,  but  to  do  it 
If  they  will  do  this,  I  know  that  God  will  accept  them,  and  that  the  evidence 
that  he  has  done  so  will  soon  be  manifest.  I  also  urge  them,  without  de- 
lay, to  begin  at  once  to  serve  God,  to  do  what  they  know  will  please  him,  to 
do  good  to  others,  to  make  sacrifices  for  Christ,  to  ask  with  Paul,  'Lord, 
what  wilt  thou  have  me  to  do .'"  and  do  it." 

Dr.  W^ayfend  finally,  upon  hearing  a  sermon  from  Luther  Rice  upon  the 
text,  "  The  glorious  gospel  of  the  blessed  God,"  became  convinced  that  "  the 
sentiments  of  his  heart  were  in  harmony  with  the  Gospel,"  and  was  thence- 
forward freed  from  the  mental  perplexities  created  by  theology. 

How  applicable  here  the  remarks  made  by  Mr.  Campbell  in  the  "  Christian 
Baptist"(vol.  iii.,No.7)!— "The  numerous  speculations  on  the  different  kinds 
of  faith  have  pierced,  with  many  sorrows,  innumerable  hearts.  In  all  the 
varied  exhibitions  of  Christianity  much  stress  is  laid  on  faith.  And  as  soon 
as  it  is  affirmed  that  he  that  believeth  shall  be  saved,  and  that  care  should  be 
taken  that  faith  should  be  of  the  right  kind,  the  attention  of  the  thoughtful  is 
turned  from  the  truth  to  be  believed  to  the  natzire  of  faith.  The  fears  and 
agonies  which  are  experienced  are  not  unfrequently  about  believing  right. 
The  great  concern  is  about  true  faith.    This  person  is  looking  in  himself  for 


KENTUCKY  BAPTISTS. 


"5 


formation  or  counsel,  Mr.  Campbell  spent,  during  more 
than  two  months,  at  least  Jive  hou7's  per  day  in  these 
arduous  labors.  He  formed  thus  a  very  extensive  ac- 
quaintance, both  with  the  people  and  with  the  state  of 
religion  among  them,  which  corroborated  more  and 
more  his  sense  of  the  importance  of  a  return  to  the  sim- 
plicity of  the  primitive  faith.  Yet  he  found  the  Baptists 
of  Kentucky  a  highly-intelligent  people,  deeply  inter- 
ested in  the  subject  of  religion,  and  having  amongst 
them  many  pious  and  devoted  preachers,  some  of  whom 
were  eminently  distinguished  for  their  abilities.  The 
pioneers  of  the  Kentucky  Baptists  had  come  from  the 
eastern  part  of  Mr.  Campbell's  own  State,  V^irginia ; 
from  whence,  indeed,  the  greater  part  of  the  early  set- 
tlers in  Kentucky  had  emigrated,  carrying  Vviih  them 
their  princely  hospitality,  their  indomitable  energy  and 
their  love  of  civil  and  religious  freedom.   David  Thomas, 

what  he  has  been  taught  are  the  true  signs  of  regeneration,  or  of  the  faith  of  * 
regeneration.  He  is  distressed  to  know  whether  his  faith  is  the  fruit  of  re- 
generation, or  whether  it  is  mere  historic  faith.  Unable  to  find  such  evidences 
as  he  is  in  quest  of,  he  is  distracted,  he  despairs,  he  agonizes.  He  tells  his 
case.  He  is  comforted  by  being  told  that  these  are  the  pangs  of  the  new 
birth.  He  draws  some  comfort  from  this  consideration,  which  increases  or 
decreases  as  these  pangs  are  supposed  to  be  genuine  or  the  reverse.  Thus 
he  is  tossed  to  and  fro  in  awful  uncertainties,  which  are  more  or  less  acute 
according  to  his  moral  sensibilities.  By  and  by  he  hopes  he  is  regenerate, 
and  a  calm  ensues,  and  he  is  joyous  because  he  fancies  he  has  been  regen- 
erated. Thus  his  comforts  spring  not  from  the  Gospel,  but  from  his  own 
opinion  of  himself. 

♦'Another,  under  the  same  system,  receives  no  comfort,  because  he  has  not 
found  the  infallible  signs  in  himself  of  being  a  true  believer.  He  despairs — 
he  is  tormented.  He  concludes  he  is  one  of  the  reprobates.  He  is  about  to 
kill  himself.  What  about Not  because  there  is  no  Saviour,  no  forgiveness, 
no  mercy.  Not  because  the  Gospel  is  not  true,  biit  because  it  is  true,  and  he 
cannot  find  in  himself  the  true  signs  of  genuine  conversion.  Thousands 
have  been  ruined,  have  been  shipwrecked,  here.  This  the  Bible  never 
taught.  This  case  never  occurred  under  the  apostles'  teaching.  It  is  the 
genuine  offspring  of  the  theological  schools.  It  is  the  experience  of  a  bad 
education." 


Ii6       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


who,  about  1750,  planted  the  first  regular  Baptist 
church  in  Virginia,  had  emigrated  to  Kentucky  when 
he  was  nearly  seventy  years  of  age,  and  had  become,  in 
June,  1799,  the  second  pastor  of  the  church  at  Wash- 
ington, where,  a  quarter  of  a  century  later,  Mr.  Camp- 
bell had  held  his  debate  with  JNIr.  McCalla.  David 
Thomas  was  of  Welsh  parentage,  but  a  native  of  Penn- 
sylvania, and  had  been  highh*  educated,  receiving  the 
degree  of  A.  M.  from  Rhode  Island  College,  now  Brown 
University.  Abundant  in  his  labors,  amidst  many  per- 
secutions, he  had  established  the  Baptist  cause  along 
the  shores  of  the  Shenandoah  and  Rappahannock, 
from  the  Potomac  to  James'  River,  from  the  unsettled 
wilderness  of  the  West  to  Richmond.  Following  some 
of  his  children  to  Kentucky,  he  found  here  his  friend 
and  former  fellow-laborer,  John  Gano,  and  being  sent 
as  one  of  the  first  messengers  from  the  newly-formed 
Braken  Association  to  that  of  Elkhorn,  he  there  found 
the  eloquent  David  Barrow,  known  for  his  sufferings  in 
Virginia — John  Shackelford,  also,  who  had  been  there 
imprisoned  for  his  faith,  together  with  the  Craigs.  and 
John  Taylor  and  the  influential  Dudley.  Most  of  these 
early  laborers  had  long  since  gone  to  their  reward — the 
mortal  remains  of  David  Thomas,  who  became  blind 
during  the  later  years  of  his  ministry,  and  was  known 
as  the  "Blind  Preacher,"  reposed  a  few  miles  from 
Nicholasville — but  their  names  were  held  in  grateful 
remembrance,  and  the  doctrines  and  usages  they  had 
advocated  still  retained  their  hold  of  the  Baptist  com- 
munity. 

Among  the  preachers  from  Virginia  still  living  in 
Kentucky  at  the  time  of  his  visit,  Mr.  Campbell  formed 
an  agreeable  acquaintance  with  Jacob  Creath,  Sr.,  who 
was  born  in  Nova  Scotia,  Feb.  27,  1777,  but  emigrat- 


JACOB  CREATH. 


ing  to  North  Carolina  when  ten  years  of  age,  united 
with  the  Baptists  at  twelve  and  commenced  preaching 
at  eighteen.  He  was  ordairted  at  Roundabout  meet- 
ing-house, in  Louisa  county,  Virginia,  by  John  Poin- 
dexter  and  Wm.  Basket,  in  1798,  and  was  a  member 
of  the  Dover  Association  with  Robert  B.  Semple  and 
Andrew  Broaddus,  but  emigrated  to  Fayette  county, 
Kentucky,  in  1803,  succeeding  John  Gano  as  pastor  of 
the  Town  Fork  Church.  He  was  a  man  of  fine  per-  • 
sonal  appearance,  regular  features,  an  ample  forehead 
and  remarkably  keen  and  penetrating  dark  eyes.  He 
had  a  musical  yet  strong  and  commanding  voice,  and, 
though  quite  uneducated,  possessed  such  command  of 
language  and  such  ferdlity  of  fancy  and  illustration 
that  he  had  been  pronounced  by  Henry  Clay  to  be  the 
finest  natural  orator  he  had  ever  heard.*  Another 

*  Elder  Creath  occupied  quite  a  conspicuous  and  influential  position,  and 
had  been  a  few  years  previously  intimately  connected  with  one  of  those  un- 
happy schisms  which  have  occasionally  occurred  among  the  Baptists  when 
associations  have  transcended  their  proper  limits  and  interfered  with  the  dis- 
cipline of  churches.  "A  difficulty  having  arisen  in  relation  to  a  matter  of 
business  between  Elder  Creath  and  Jacob  Lewis,  a  member  of  his  congrega- 
tion, the  friends  of  each  party  took  sides,  and  the  contention  spread  and 
created  parties  in  the  Association.  At  this  crisis,  Elijah  Craig,  preacher  at 
East  Hickman,  was  induced  by  some  personal  grudge  to  publish  a  pamphlet 
so  severe  and  acrimonious  against  Creath  that  the  latter  convoked  a  counci- 
of  eighteen  churches,  who  met  by  their  messengers  at  Town  Fork  meeting- 
house, July  28,  1807.  This  council,  after  hearing  testimony,  acquitted  Creath 
of  all  the  charges  made  against  him.  The  Town  Fork  Church  then  preferred 
charges  against  Craig  before  the  Hickman  Church,  which,  after  hearing  the 
whole  case,  took  part  with  Craig  and  justified  his  charges  against  Creath.  As 
the  contention  was  carried  on  in  a  bitter  spirit,  it  spread  from  church  to  church, 
and  when  the  Elkhorn  Association  met,  as  Town  Fork  and  Hickman  churches 
had  refused  to  fellowship  each  other,  and  both  were  members  of  the  Associa- 
tion, the  case  came  up  for  decision.  On  this  occasion  Elder  Creath  delivered 
an  address  so  powerful  as  to  carr>'  a  majority  of  the  Association  with  him,  and 
the  arguments  of  Ambrose  Dudley,  who  replied  to  him,  failed  to  prevent  a  de- 
cision in  his  favor.  Upon  this,  church  after  church  decided  to  leave  the  Asso- 
ciation, but  as  in  most  of  these  there  were  minorities  who  approved  the  decisioft 


Il8       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


preacher  of  considerable  influence  was  his  nephew,  also 
from  Virginia,  Jacob  Creath,  Jr.,  a  man  of  less  mildness 
of  disposition,  but  of  earnest  purpose  and  fearless  in 
his  advocacy  of  what  he  believed  to  be  the  truth. 

Mr.  Campbell  during  this  tour  became  acquainted 
also  with  Silas  M.  Noel,  a  Baptist  Doctor  of  Divinit}^ 
who  seemed  at  first  to  coincide  with  him  in  views,  but 
soon  after  became  a  virulent  opposer.  The  Warders, 
the  Wallers,  the  Paynes  and  Thomas  Bullock,  long 
moderator  of  the  Elkhorn  Association,  with  many  other 
influential  Baptists,  were  introduced  to  him  and  heard 
him  courteously.  While  at  Georgetown  he  formed  the 
^/acquaintance  of  Barton  W.  Stone,  already  noted  as 
well  for  his  eminent  Christian  virtues  as  for  his  eflx)rts 
to  eflect  in  Kentucky  a  religious  reformation  almost 
identical  in  its  leading  principles  and  aims  with  that  in 
which  Mr.  Campbell  was  himself  engaged.  The  two 
laborers  in  the  same  great  field  formed  at  once  a  warm, 
personal  attacliment  to  each  other,  which  continued 
through  life,  :ind  tended  greatly  to  promote  a  subse- 
quent union  between  the  two  yet  distinct  bands  of 
reformers. 

One  of  the  political  papers,  The  Monitor,"  at  Lex 
ington,  where  Mr.  Campbell  was  to  preach,  had  re- 
cently published  the  third  Epistle  of  Peter,  which  had 
greatly  exasperated  the  clergy,  and  they  had  endeavored 
to  close  the  ears  of  the  people  against  Mr.  Campbell  by 
publishing  in  return  a  portion  of  Mr.  Greatrake's  de- 

and  determined  to  adhere  to  Elkhorn,  divisions  occurred  in  these  churches, 
each  party  claiming  to  be  the  original  church.  Such  parts  of  them  as  seceded 
from  Elkhorn  then  formed  the  Licking  Association,  which,  adopting  stricter 
views  and  opposing  missions,  declined  all  fellowship  with  Elkhorn."  At 
the  time  of  Mr.  Campbell's  visit  this  division  siill  existed,  and  Elder  Creath 
remained  still  connected  with  the  Elkhorn  Association,  in  which  he  wielded 
a  large  influence. 


JAMES  CHALLEN. 


119 


famatory  pamphlet.  This,  however,  only  excited  the 
more  the  curiosity  of  the  people  to  hear,  and  brought 
together  an  immense  audience,  comprising  the  best  edu- 
cated and  most  intelligent  persons  in  all  that  section. 
Among  them  was  a  young  man,  about  the  medium 
height,  with  dark  hair  and  eyes  and  thoughtful  aspect, 
who,  on  account  of  the  crowd,  stood  up  just  before  the  pul- 
pit, looking  up  at  the  speaker  and  drinking  in  his  words 
with  such  avidity  that  a  discourse  of  two  hours  seemed 
to  him  to  have  lasted  only  a  few  minutes.  This  was  a 
student  of  Transylvania  University,  who  was  a  Baptist 
and  preparing  himself  for  the  ministry.  He  had  read 
several  numbers  of  the  "Christian  Baptist,"  and  was 
a  good  deal  prejudiced  against  Mr.  Campbell  on  ac- 
count of  what  he  had  said  against  the  clergy  and  other 
matters ;  but  the  discourse  to  which  he  then  listened, 
which  was  in  reference  to  Christ  as  the  Rock  (Matt, 
xvi.),  so  enlarged  his  vision  with  respect  to  Christianity 
that  all  his  prejudices  were  swept  away  as  by  a  torrent, 
and  he  became  quite  captivated  with  the  principles  of 
the  Reformation.  This  youth  was  James  Challen,  who 
subsequently,  by  his  faithful  and  valuable  labors,  ren- 
dered most  efficient  aid  to  the  cause. 

Mr.  Campbell  having  an  appointment  at  Versailles 
and  one  also  two  miles  in  the  country,  Mr.  Challen 
attended  on  the  latter  occasion.  A  pretty  large  audi- 
ence was  present,  and  Jeremiah  Vardeman  was  with 
Mr.  Campbell  in  the  pulpit.  The  text  was,  "  Now  the 
end  of  the  commandment  is  charity,"  etc.  i  Tim.  i.  5. 
Entering  at  once  into  the  very  of  heart  of  his  subject, 
as  was  his  wont,  Mr.  Campbell  presented  such  a  mag- 
nificent view  of  the  simplicity  and  glorious  purposes  of 
the  Christian  institution  as  perfectly  entranced  his 
auditors.    At  the  close.  Elder  Vardeman  dismissed  the 


I20       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


people,  remarking,  *«We  have  heard  strange  things  to- 
day. My  advice  to  you  is,  Search  the  Scriptures  and 
see  if  these  things  be  so." 

On  the  way  to  dine  with  a  gentleman  living  in  the 
vicinity,  Mr.  Challen  was  riding  in  company  with  El- 
ders Vardeman  and  Creath,  conversing  about  the 
strange  light  that  had  risen  among  them,  when  Mr. 
Campbell,  on  a  fleet  horse,  overtook  and  passed  them. 
Elder  Vardeman  then  remarked:  **  I  once  thought  I 
could  preach,  but  since  I  have  heard  this  man  I  do  not 
seem,  in  my  own  estimation,  to  be  any  larger  than  my 
little  finger."  As  he  said  this  he  held  up  his  hand,  and 
the  comparison  drawn  from  the  contrast  between  the 
enormous  bulk  of  the  gigantic  elder  and  his  little  finger, 
was  at  the  time  and  ever  afterward,  when  referred  to,  a 
source  of  great  amusement  to  his  companions. 

Upon  reaching  Louisville  in  November,  Mr.  Camp- 
bell called  at  the  residence  of  P.  S.  Fall,  with  whom 
he  had  had  some  correspondence,  but  no  previous  per- 
sonal acquaintance. 

"After  a  slight  repast,"  says  Mr.  Fall,  ''he  attended  our 
regular  Friday  night  meeting.  The  services  were  opened  by 
me,  by  singing  the  hymn,  '  The  law  by  Moses  came,'  etc., 
and  prayer.  Brother  Campbell,  a  total  stranger,  was  then 
asked  to  address  the  audience.  My  school-room  was  well 
filled,  and  five  Presbyterian  ministers.  Dr.  Gideon  Blackburn, 
his  two  sons  and  two  sons-in-law,  were  present.  Brother 
Campbell  read  a  portion  of  the  epistle  to  the  Hebrews  and 
spoke  nearly  two  hours,  every  person  present  giving  him  the 
utmost  attention.  His  method  of  reading  the  Scriptures,  of 
investigating  their  truths  and  of  exhibiting  their  statements, 
was  so  entirely  new  and  so  perfectly  clear  as  to  command 
the  respect  if  not  the  approval  of  all  that  listened.  Dr. 
Blackburn  was  asked  to  offer  prayer  at  the  close,  which  he 
did.    On  our  return  to  the  house,  Brother  Campbell  remarked  : 


PROPER  USE  OF  SCRIPTURE,  1 21 

*  Dr.  Blackburn  does  not  understand  the  Christian  religion.* 
He  was  asked  how  he  knew.  '  Oh,'  said  he,  *  his  praying 
clearly  declares  that.* 

*'  On  Lord's  day  morning  he  addressed  a  large  congrega- 
tion in  the  old  court-house,  on  the  subject  of  spiritual  gifts. 
This  discourse  was  listened  to  with  the  same  admiration  as 
the  other  by  all  who  had  the  power  to  discriminate  between 
proving  doctrines  already  assumed  and  sitting  at  the  feet  of 
our  Lord  and  his  ambassadors  to  hear  their  words. 

At  night,  agreeably  to  the  invitation  of  Dr.  Blackburn, 
he  addressed,  in  the  Presbyterian  church  on  Fourth  street,  a 
large  and  attentive  audience  upon  the  evidences  of  the  Mes- 
siahship.  He  had  contracted  a  bad  cold  and  sore  throat  in 
his  rambles  about  the  city  on  Saturday,  and  spoke  with  much 
difficulty,  but  he  enchained  the  attention  of  the  audience 
by  his  masterly  exhibition  of  the  claims  of  our  Lord  to  the 
homage  of  mankind.  These  discourses,  all  that  were  deliv- 
ered at  that  time,  opened  up  to  the  thoughtful  a  new  field  of 
exploration,  and  developed  a  method  of  studying  the  Scrip- 
tures so  thoroughly  superior  to  the  textuary  system  that  it 
commended  the  truth  to  every  man's  conscience  in  the  sight 
of  God.  It  was  seen  at  once  that  it  was  the  duty  of  the 
speaker  and  the  privilege  of  the  hearer  to  ascertain  simply 
what  the  divine  Word  says^  and  why  it  is  said.  We  had 
been  accustomed  to  make  the  Scriptures  a  book  of  text-proofs 
of  our  doctrines.  We  now  saw  that  we  had  everything  to 
learn,  but  nothing  to  prove  in  using  God's  word.  On  the 
former  plan  we  knew  as  much  when  we  came  to  the  Bible 
as  when  we  left  it.  We  might  have  been  more  fully  con- 
firmed in'  what  we  had  accepted  as  scientific  religious  truth, 
but  this  was  all.  For  the  connection  in  which  every  proof- 
text  stood  we  had  not  much  use,  and  thus  a  great  portion  of 
God's  word  was  not  only  neutralized,  but  rendered  absolutely 
worthless.  Upon  the  new  plan  we  had  use  for  every  word 
the  Holy  Spirit  had  spoken.  We  supposed  ourselves  to 
know  nothing  when  we  approached  the  sacred  books,  and 
were  to  be  mere  listeners  and  thereby  learners.    We  had  no 

11 


122       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL, 


proof-texts  before  us,  imphnng  a  preoccupied  mind,  but  ac- 
cepted simply  the  state?nents  of  divine  truth  in  the  connection 
in  which  the  Holy  Spirit  had  placed  the  words  and  sentences 
he  had  uttered.  We  now  became  followers  of  our  Lord  and 
of  his  apostles,  of  the  churches  of  God,  and  of  those  who 
through  faith  had  inherited  the  promises,  i  Thess.  i.  6 ;  ii. 
14  ;  Heb.  vi.  12." 

After  this  visit,  Mr.  Fall  continued  to  advocate  earn- 
estly the  Reformation.  Visiting  soon  after,  by  request, 
the  Enon  Baptist  Church  in  Cincinnati,  he  there  deliv- 
ered several  discourses  upon  the  themes  then  under  dis- 
cussion, which  excited  great  interest  not  only  among 
the  Baptists  there,  but  with  other  parties,  and  led  to 
various  interesting  private  discussions  with  their  minis- 
ters. During  this  visit,  Mr.  Fall  was  invited  to  dine 
with  Jacob  Burnet,  Esq.,  the  mayor  of  the  city,  and 
witnessed  the  baptism  of  his  son  David  S.  Burnet,  who 
soon  after,  entering  the  ministry  at  the  age  of  sixteen, 
became  known  as  the  "boy-preacher."  He  was  quite 
low  in  stature,  but  erect  in  carriage.  His  head  was 
large  and  finely  formed  ;  his  eyes  prominent,  full  and 
sparkling,  his  features  regular  with  a  mouth  somewhat 
large,  but  firmly  set,  while  in  his  bearing  he  was  re- 
markably self-possessed,  dignified  and  courteous.  Giv- 
ing himself  wholly  to  the  cause  of  the  Reformation, 
after  a  few  years  he  became  one  of  its  most  distin- 
guished and  successful  advocates,  delighting  large 
audiences  by  his  elegant  and  copious  diction,  and  his 
able  presentations  of  the  principles  of  the  gospel,  which 
he  widely  disseminated,  not  only  in  Cincinnati,  but 
through  many  of  the  States,  from  Maryland  and  Vir- 
ginia to  Kansas. 

About  three  weeks  after  his  return  from  his  Kentucky- 
tour,  Mr.  Campbell  was  presented  (Dec.  16,  1824)  with 


WORK  OF  THE  HOLT  SPIRIT.  123 

another  daughter,  who  was  named  Margaretta,  being 
the  eighth  child  in  less  than  thirteen  years.  During  the 
ensuing  year  (1825)  he  devoted  himself  with  renewed 
earnestness  to  the  "  Christian  Baptist,"  the  circulation 
of  which  was  rapidly  extending.  Among  the  promi- 
nent subjects  then  under  discussion  may  be  mentioned 
**  The  work  of  the  Holy  Spirit  in  the  salvation  of  men." 
This  theme  Mr.  Campbell  had  already  introduced  during 
the  preceding  year,  and  continued  now  to  treat  in  a 
manner  altogether  novel.  Utterly  disregarding  all  theo- 
logical theories  and  all  speculations  in  reference  to  the 
work  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  he  confined  his  inquiries  to  the 
office  which  the  Spirit  of  God  occupies  in  the  salvation 
revealed  in  the  New  Testament.  Without  calling  in 
question  directly  any  of  the  popular  notions  of  the 
operations  of  the  Spirit,  he  presented  alone  the  simple 
teaching  of  the  Scriptures,  showing  occasionally  where 
these  had  been  perverted  and  misapplied  in  order  to 
sustain  modern  errors.  Dealing  alone  with  facts  and 
express  Scripture  statements,  he  traced  the  work  of  the 
Spirit  in  revealing  all  that  was  known  of  God,  and  in 
attesting  and  confirming,  by  prophecy,  by  miracle  and 
by  supernatural  gifts,  the  mission  of  Christ  and  of  the 
apostles,  thus  providing  the  infallible  testimony  by  which 
alone  faith  can  be  produced.  Stating  that  these  mani- 
festations of  Divine  wisdom  and  power  were  confined  to 
the  apostolic  age,  and  to  a  portion  of  the  saints  then 
living,  he  shows,  further,  that  "the  influences  of  the 
Spirit  as  the  Spirit  of  all  goodness  were  /elt  and 
realized  by  all  the  primitive  saints,  and  are  now  felt  by 
all  true  believers."  He  was  ever  cautious  and  reticent 
as  to  his  views  of  the  manner  in  which  the  Holy  Spirit 
accomplished  his  work.  He  rejoiced  in  the  promise 
that  God  would  *'  give  his  Holy  Spirit  to  them  that  ask 


124       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


him  ;"  he  beheved  in  the  reality  of  this  gift  as  the  true 
seal  of  the  covenant  and  the  source  of  the  fruits  that 
adorn  the  Christian  life,  but  he  forbore  to  offer  any 
opinion  or  to  propound  any  theory  as  to  the  manner  in 
which  the  Holy  Spirit  exerted  its  power,  except  so  far  as 
this  could  be  seen  in  the  moral  fitness  or  adaptation  of 
the  truth  itself  revealed  by  the  Spirit,  when  this  was 
presented  to  men  and  sincerely  believed.  What  special 
or  added  influences  might  be  exerted  he  presumed  not 
to  say,  though  he  clearly  admitted  the  existence  of  such 
influences. 

*'  I  am  not  to  be  understood,"  said  he,  speaking  of  con- 
verting influences  (C.  B.  for  April,  1825),  "as  asserting  that 
there  is  no  divine  influence  exercised  over  the  minds  and 
bodies  of  men.  This  would  be  to  assert  in  contradiction  to  a 
thousand  facts  and  declarations  in  the  volume  of  revelation  ; 
this  would  be  to  destroy  the  idea  of  any  divine  revelation  ; 
this  wouul  be  to  destroy  the  idea  of  any  divine  government 
exercised  over  the  human  race  ;  tliis  would  be  to  make  prayer 
a  useless  and  irrational  exercise  :  this  would  be  to  deprive 
Christians  of  all  the  consolations  derived  from  a  sense  of  the 
superintending  care,  guidance  and  protection  of  the  Most 
High.  But  to  resolve  everything  into  a  'divine  influence'  is 
the  other  extreme.  This  divests  man  of  every  attribute  that 
renders  him  accountable  to  his  Maker,  and  assimilates  all  his 
actions  to  the  bending  of  the  trees  or  the  tumults  of  the  ocean 
occasioned  by  the  tempest. 

"There  are  many  things  which  are  evident,  yet  altogether 
inexplicable.  .  .  .  Until  we  know  more  of  God  than  can  be 
revealed  or  known  in  this  mortal  state,  we  must  be  content  to 
say  of  a  thousand  things,  a  thousand  times,  we  cannot  under- 
stand ko-j:.  or  ivhy^  or  -wherefore  they  are  so.  But  he  would 
W  be  a  foolish  husbantlman  who,  going  forth  with  precious  seed 
to  cast  upon  his  field,  would  cease  to  scatter  it  because  a 
philosopher  had  asked  him  some  questions  about  its  germina- 
tion and  the  influences  requisite  to  its  vegetation  which  he 


ANCIENT  ORDER  OF  THINGS. 


125 


could  not  explain.  As  foolish  would  a  hungry  man  be  who 
would  refuse  to  eat  bread  because  he  could  not  explain  the 
process  of  digestion,  nor  tell  how  it  conduces  to  the  preserva- 
tion of  life.  And  just  as  foolish  he  who  refuses  to  meditate 
upon  the  revelation  of  God,  and  to  practice  its  injunctions, 
because  there  are  some  ivhys  or  wherefores  for  which  he 
cannot  give  a  reason." 

He  thus  sought  to  confine  the  attention  to  that  which 
was  immediately  necessary  to  faith,  and  to  avoid  unprofit- 
able discussions  respecting  remote  or  accessory  causes. 

During  this  year  Mr.  Campbell  began  to  publish  a 
series  of  articles  entitled  **A  Restoration  of  the  Ancient 
Order  of  Things,"  in  which  he  urged,  first,  the  abandon- 
ment of  everything  not  in  use  among  the  early  Chris- 
tians, as  creeds  and  confessions,  unscriptural  words  and 
phrases,  theological  theories,  etc.  ;  and  second,  the 
adoption  of  everything  sanctioned  by  primitive  practice, 
as  the  weekly  breaking  of  the  loaf,  the  fellowship,  the 
simple  order  of  public  worship  and  the  independence 
of  each  church  under  the  care  of  its  bishops  and 
deacons.  This  '*  ancient  order  "  had,  as  yet,  been  intro- 
duced only  into  the  churches  at  Brush  Run,  Wellsburg 
and  Pittsburg,  though  the  church  at  Louisville,  over 
which  Mr.  Fall  presided,  was  induced  this  year  to  re- 
place its  covenant  and  confession  of  faith  by  the  New 
Testament  as  the  only  and  all-sufficient  law  of  life,  and 
to  break  the  loaf  and  attend  to  the  contribution  for  the 
poor  at  every  Lord's  day  meeting.  As  most  of  the 
active  members  of  the  church  at  Pittsburg  were  from 
Scotland  and  Ireland,  and  sympathized  largely  with 
the  views  of  church  order  adopted  by  some  of  the 
Haldaneans,  the  practice  of  mutual  exhortation  and 
teaching  on  the  Lord's  day  was  here  fully  carried 
out,  with  much  the  same  eflfect  as  occurred  in  Scot- 

11  * 


126       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


land  upon  its  first  introduction  by  William  Ballantine. 
Debates  and  dissensions  arose  frequently  between 
members,  while  that  watchful  surveillance,  amounting 
almost  to  inquisitorial  scrutiny,  wdiich  each  thought  it 
his  duty  to  exercise  over  others  occasioned  numerous 
cases  of  discipline,  by  which  the  public  religious  meet- 
ings were  disturbed  and  the  cause  discredited.  These 
things  were  w^armly  disapproved  by  Mr.  Campbell  and 
Walter  Scott,  who,  although  they  fully  admitted  the 
perfect  equality  of  all  members,  and  their  liberty  to 
speak  in  the  church  at  proper  times  and  under  proper 
regulations,  insisted  that  a  proper  direction  should  be 
given  to  the  gifts  of  all,  and  that  none  should  teach 
publicly  except  those  capable  of  edifying  the  church. 

The  new-born  spirit  of  liberty,  however,  was  for  a 
while  not  to  be  repressed  ;  the  less  competent  proved 
often  the  most  forward,  and,  converting  a  mere  privilege 
into  a  duty,  felt  it  incumbent  on  them  to  occupy  much 
of  the  time  allotted  to  the  Lord's  day  meeting,  to  little 
profit.  About  this  period  Mr.  Scott  was  one  day  ac- 
companying Mr.  Campbell  on  his  way  from  Pittsburg 
home,  and  they  attended  together  the  meeting  of  the 
church  at  the  Cross  Roads,  in  which  the  order  of  the 
Pittsburg  Church  had  been  to  a  considerable  extent 
adopted.  A  number  of  the  members  having  read  vari- 
ous Scriptures  and  spoken  at  length,  Mr.  Scott  was 
finally  called  on  to  say  something.  With  this  invitation 
he  at  once  complied,  b}'  boldly  taking  the  ground  that  it 
was  unscriptural  to  have  so  many  teachers,  that  the 
liberty  conceded  was  carried  to  license,  and  that  each 
member  should  be  confined,  according  to  the  Scripture 
analogy  of  the  human  body,  to  the  particular  function 
for  which  he  was  best  fitted.  At  the  close  of  his  re- 
marks he  inquired  with  emphasis,  in  the  broad  Scotch 


SUPPORT  OF  ELDERS.  1 27 

he  sometimes  used,  "  What,  mj  brethren  I  is  the  Church 
to  be  a*  mouth?"  "But,"  said  James  Foster  to  him 
after  meeting,  "  what  will  you  do  with  the  apostle's  de- 
claration to  the  Church,  i  Cor.  xiv.  31  :  '  Ye  may  all  pro- 
phesy, one  by  one,  that  all  may  learn  and  all  may  be 
comforted?'  The  answer  given  to  this  inquiry  was  not 
fully  satisfactory  to  James  Foster,  who  earnestly  desired 
that  everything  should  be  conducted  strictly  according 
to  Scripture  precedent,  and  who  leaned  considerably  to 
the  views  of  the  Scottish  Independents. 

Mr.  Campbell,  however,  fully  concurred  in  the  just- 
ness of  Mr.  Scott's  admonitions  on  this  occasion,  being 
exceedingly  desirous  that  everything  should  be  con- 
ducted according  to  the  ultimate  or  higher  law  given  by 
the  apostle:  "Let  all  things  be  done  to  edification." 
He  entirely  approved  of  mutual  exhortation  and  instruc- 
tion, but  thought  it  best  that  a  general  permission  to 
speak  should  be  confined  to  private  or  social  meetings 
of  the  church,  and  that  at  the  Lord's  day  meetings, 
when  the  public  were  expected  to  attend,  only  those 
should  be  set  forward  who  wei-e  best  able,  from  their 
knowledge  of  the  Bible  and  their  natural  gifts,  to  speak 
acceptably  and  profitably  to  the  assembly.  To  dis- 
charge this  duty  properly  required,  he  thought,  careful 
previous  study  and  preparation.  In  overthrowing  cleri- 
cal power,  he  sought  to  check  the  tendency  to  an  ex- 
treme in  the  direction  of  individual  independency.  He 
endeavored,  therefore,  to  secure  to  the  elders  or  bishops 
of  the  church  not  only  their  proper  position  and 
authority,  but  also  the  pecuniary  support  enjoined  in 
Scripture.  This,  accordingly,  he  took  care  again  to 
urge  in  his  "  Essays  on  the  Ancient  Order  of  Things." 

"The  bishop  of  a  Christian  congregation,"  said  he,  will 
find  much  to  do  that  never  enters  into  the  mind  of  a  modern 


128        MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


preacher  or  minister.  The  duties  he  is  to  discharge  to  Christ's 
flock  in  the  capacity  of  teacher  and  president  will  engross 
much  of  his  time  and  attention.  Therefore,  the  idea  of  re- 
muneration for  his  services  was  attached  to  the  oflice  from 
the  first  institution.  This  is  indisputably  plain,  not  only  from 
the  positive  commands  delivered  to  the  congregations,  but 
from  the  hints  uttered  with  reference  to  the  ofiice  itself.  Why 
should  it  be  so  much  as  hinted  that  the  bishops  were  not  to 
take  the  oversight  of  the  flock  ^/or  the  sake  of  sordid  gain^ 
if  no  emolument  or  remuneration  was  attached  to  theolHce? 
The  abuses  of  the  principle  have  led  many  to  oppose  even 
the  principle  itself."  Christian  Baptist,"  vol.  iii.,  No.  9,  p. 
360.) 

In  the  case  of  the  church  at  Pittsburg,  however,  it 
was  some  time  before  this  portion  of  the  "  ancient  order 
of  things"'  was  practically  recognized,  and  before  the 
disorders  incident  to  the  transition  state  were  fully  cor- 
rected. During  this  year  (1825)  Sidney  Rigdon  re- 
turned to  Ohio,  and  the  church  there  continued  under 
the  care  of  Walter  Scott,  who  was  still  engaged  in 
school-teaching,  and  had  some  time  before  been  united 
in  marriage  to  a  highly-esteemed  member  of  the  church, 
a  Miss  VVhitsett,  who  had  formerly  been  a  Covenanter. 
In  1826,  however,  he  removed  to  Steubenville,  Ohio, 
where  he  opened  a  school  and  lectured  to  the  small 
Baptist  church  there.  After  his  departure  from  Pitts- 
burg, the  contentions  in  the  church  increased,  and  un- 
ruly and  vain  talkers,  as  in  the  primitive  ages,  occa- 
sioned discord  and  strife.  Repudiating  the  clergy  and 
the  pope,  each  member  became  not  only  his  own  pope, 
but  disposed  to  assume  this  ofhce  in  regard  to  others ; 
and  it  was  not  until  after  many  dissensions,  which  greatly 
hindered  the  spread  of  the  truth  in  this  region,  that 
Samuel  Church,  leaving  the  Independent  congrega- 
tion under  Mr.  Tassey,  united  with  the  disciples  at 


B/SCC/SSIO.VS  OF  PRIMITIVE  ORDER.         1 29 


Pittsburg,  and  succeeded  finally  in  reducing  them  to 
order. 

Another  custom,  zealously  adopted  by  the  church  in 
-Pittsburg,  which  also  extended  to  other  churches,  was 
the  use  of  the  *'-holy  kiss"  as  the  proper  Christian  saluta- 
tion. To  this  Mr.  Campbell  was  opposed,  alleging  that 
the  Scripture  injunction,  Salute  one  another  with  a  holy 
kiss,"  merely  indicated  the  feelings  and  motives  which 
were  to  govern  the  use  of  the  mode  of  salutation  then  com- 
mon in  the  East,  and  which  were  equally  applicable  to 
whatever  kind  of  salutation  obtained  in  other  countries, 
n  which  he  thought  Christianity  designed  to  make  no 
change.  The  practice,  accordingly,  was  after  some 
time  abandoned.  The  washing  of  feet  was  also  a  cus- 
tom observed  by  the  Pittsburg  Church,  not,  however,  as 
a  church  ordinance,  but  privately,  as  an  act  of  brotherly 
aflfection,  humility  and  hospitality.  In  this  Mr.  Camp- 
bell agreed,  although  he  did  not  think  that  proper  occa- 
sions for  such  a  duty  could  often  arise  in  Europe  or 
America,  as  they  did  in  regions  where  men  wore  sandals, 
and  where  washing  of  the  feet  was  a  common  and  daily 
observance. 

The  introduction  of  the  primitive  order  of  Christian 
worship,  and  especially  of  the  weekly  observance  of  the 
Lord's  Supper,  engaged  at  this  time  much  attention 
among  those  Baptist  churches  which  had  adopted  the 
principles  of  the  Reformation.  Several  of  them  in 
Ohio  and  the  western  part  of  Pennsylvania,  rejecting 
the  Philadelphia  Confession,  decided  to  take  the  Bible 
as  the  only  standard  of  faith  and  practice.  A  meeting 
was  held  also  at  Warren,  Ohio,  at  the  close  of  May, 
composed  of  preachers  and  brethren  from  different  parts 
of  the  country,  in  order  to  discuss  the  "  ancient  order 
of  things."    Mr.  Campbell  attended  this  meeting,  and 

VOL.  II.  1 


MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


was  gratified  to  find  that  so  much  zeal,  candor  and 
harmony  obtained  throughout  the  investigation,  and 
that  most  of  those  present  were  very  desirous  of  seeing 
the  primitive  order  fully  restored. 

In  his  essays  on  this  subject,  Mr.  Campbell  had  con- 
fined himself  entirely  to  the  interior  affairs  of  the  Church, 
and  had  not  dwelt  upon  the  instrumentalities  to  be  em- 
ployed in  sending  the  gospel  abroad.  He  seemed, 
indeed,  for  a  short  time  to  have  favored  the  views  of 
those  who  thou<rht  the  mere  internal  order  of  the  Church 

o 

itself  sufficient  for  the  conversion  of  the  world,  but  he 
soon  became  sensible  of  the  correctness  of  his  former 
view,  that  the  practice  of  committing  this  work  to  evan- 
gelists or  sfecial  messengers  of  the  Church  was  essential 
to  success.  When  questioned,  soon  after,  by  one  of  his 
correspondents  on  this  subject,  he  said  : 

"'That  the  work  of  an  evangelist  or  a  preacher  is  re- 
quisite, not  to  the  order  of  a  Christian  Church,  but  to  the 
present  state  of  the  new  dispensation,'  is  a  position  on  which  I 
will  not  contend  with  you.  The  Holy  Spirit  saith,  •  Let  hiin 
that  hcareth  say^  Co77ie^  and  why  should  I  say  to  him  that 
heareth,  •  Do  not  say^  Come;  hold  your  tongue.'  Xo  :  forbid 
it.  Heaven  !  '  JLet  him  that  heareth  say.,  Come^  is  a  license 
which  the  Holy  One  gave  when  he  was  closing  the  canon, 
sealing  up  the  law  and  the  testimony.  And,  thanks  be  to  his 
name,  he  left  no  tribunal  on  earth  to  contravene  this  decision. 
While  then  there  are  any  who  have  not  come  to  the  fountain 
of  life,  and  when  any  one  who  has  heard  and  come  and  tasted 
and  findeth  such  an  opportunity  to  say,  Come,  let  him  say  it  in 
word  and  deed."  C.  B.,  vol.  iv.,  p.  37. 

In  the  summer,  he  made  a  short  visit  to  Eastern  Vir- 
ginia, where  he  was  kindly  received,  and  where  he 
formed  an  acquaintance  with  Robert  B.  Semple.  Andrew 
Broaddus  and  other  eminent  Baptist  ministers.    The  few 


SE  I  'EH ITT  CENSURED. 


discourses  he  delivered  during  his  visit  made  quite  a 
strong  impression.  The  leaders  of  the  Baptists  in 
Eastern  Viro-inia,  however,  thoujjh  struck  with  Mr. 
Campbell's  great  abilities,  were  by  no  means  prepared 
to  receive  his  reformatory  views.  They  earnestly  de- 
sired, on  the  other  hand,  to  win  him  over  to  their  own 
sentiments  and  usages,  in  order  that  his  influence  might 
enure  to  the  benefit  of  the  Baptist  cause. 

x\fter  his  return  home,  he  received  a  kind  letter  from 
Bishop  Semple,  objecting  to  the  spirit  in  which  the 

Christian  Baptist"  seemed  to  be  conducted,  and  to  some 
of  the  sentiments  attributed  to  Mr.  Campbell,  intimat- 
ing that  he  seemed  to  be  a  Sandemanian  or  a  Halda- 
nean  both  in  his  views  and  spirit. 

''Among  the  Haldaneans,"  said  he  "  (judging  from  writ- 
ings), a  gentle  spirit  is  rarely  to  be  found.  Harsh  and  bitter 
sarcasms  are  the  weapons  with  which  they  fight  their  oppo- 
nents. This,  too,  I  am  the  more  disposed  to  think  applies  to 
them  as  a  sect,  because  I  have  known  some  of  their  party, 
who  have  appeared  in  private  conversation  to  be  mild  and 
gentle  indeed  and  every  way  pleasant,  but  when  brought  out 
in  writing  or  public  speaking,  seemed  to  have  another  kind 
of  temper.  If  vou  will  bear  with  me,  it  seems  to  me  that 
tliis  is  the  case  with  the  editor  of  the  *  Christian  Baptist.* 
As  a  man,  in  private  circles,  mild,  pleasant  and  affectionate — 
as  a  writer,  rigid  and  sadrical  beyond  all  the  bounds  of 
Scripture  allowance." 

Bishop  Semple  was  a  most  estimable  man,  and  stood 
deservedly  high  in  influence  and  reputation.  Being  of 
a  very  mild  and  amiable  temperament,  Mr.  Campbell's 
strictures  seemeci  to  him  quite  too  severe.  In  replv.  the 
latter  reminded  him  that  while  the  general  spirit  of  the 
New  Testament  was  mild,  its  denunciations  of  those  who 
corrupted  the  gospel  were  severe,  and  that  Christians 


1^2       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


were  even  enjoined  in  certain  cases  to  rebuke  with 
sharpness.  He  also  remarked  that  the  class  of  subjects 
discussed  in  the  "Christian  Baptist"  necessarily  gave 
a  general  character  to  the  work,  whose  limited  size 
prevented  him  from  introducing,  as  fully  as  he  desired, 
such  other  topics  as  might  exhibit  the  Christian  spirit  to 
a  better  advantage.  Utterl}^  denying  that  he  was  a 
follower  of  Sandeman  or  any  other  human  leader,  and 
expressing  the  opinion  that  there  "lived  not  upon  the 
earth  a  more  pious,  godh',  primitive  Christian  than 
James  Haldane,  of  Edinburgh,  and  few,  if  any,  more 
intelligent  in  the  Christian  Scriptures,"  he  thus  spoke 
of  the  charge  of  want  of  forbearance  alleged  by  the 
Bishop  against  the  Haldaneans  : 

You  say,  '  those  people  have  many  excellent  things  among 
them — things  you  would  gladly  see  among  us.'  So  say  I. 
You  think  '  they  are  very  defective  in  forbearance.'  This 
maybe  still  true,  for  anything  I  know;  but  one  thing  I  do 
know,  that  several  congregations  in  this  connection  are  far 
more  '  forbearing'  than  the  Baptists  of  Virginia  ;  for  several 
of  them  receive  unbaptized  persons  to  the  Lord's  table  on 
the  ground  of  forbearance.  The  congregation  in  Edinburgh 
in  connection  with  James  Haldane,  and  that  in  Tubermore 
in  connection  with  Alexander  Carson,  two  of  the  most  promi- 
nent congregations  in  the  connection,  do  actually  dispense 
with  baptism  on  the  ground  of  forbearance.'  I  believe 
th-ere  are  some  others  who  carry  forbearance'  thus  far. 
These  people  have  been  much  slandered  at  home  and  abroad 
by  an  interested  priesthood,  and  I  do  know  that  many  things 
reported  of  them  are  false.  They  say  that  when  a  Paedobap- 
tist  gives  evidence  that  he  is  a  Christian,  and  cannot  be  con- 
vinced that  infant  baptism  is  a  human  tradition,  he  ought  to 
be  received  into  a  Christian  congregation  as  a  brother,  if  he 
desires  it,  irrespective  of  this  weakness.  They  were  once 
more  tenacious  of  their  peculiar  views  than  at  present. 


FORBEARANCE. 


"  But  on  the  subject  of  forbearance,  I  have  to  remark  that 
there  is  not  a  greater  misapplication  of  a  word  in  our  lan- 
guage than  of  this  one.  In  strict  propriety,  it  does  not  apply 
at  all  to  the  subject  in  relation  to  which  it  is  commonly  used. 
No  man  can  be  said  to  forbear  with  another  except  in  such 
cases  as  he  has  done  him  an  injury.  Now  when  Christians 
differ  in  opinion  on  any  subject,  unless  it  can  be  made  to  ap- 
pear that  the  opinion  of  B  is  injurious  to  A,  the  latter  can- 
not forbear  with  the  former.  There  is  no  room  or  occasion 
for  forbearance,  for  A  is  not  injured  by  the  opinion  of  B. 
To  say  that  Christians  must  exercise  forbearance  with  one 
another  because  of  difference  of  opinion,  is  admitting  that 
they  have  a  right  to  consider  themselves  injured,  or  that  one 
Christian  has  a  right  to  consider  himself  injured  because  of 
another  man's  difference  in  opinion.  It  is  precisely  the  same 
mistake  which  is  committed  by  those  who  ask  the  civil  au- 
thorities to  tolerate  all  or  any  religious  opinions.  The  mere 
asking  for  toleration  recognizes  a  right  which  no  civil  au- 
thority possesses,  and  establishes  a  principle  of  calamitous 
consequences — viz.,  that  opinions  contrary  to  the  majority  or 
the  national  creed  are  a  public  injury,  which  it  is  in  the 
power  of  government  to  punish  or  tolerate  according  to  their 
intelligence  and  forbearance.  Civil  rulers  have  no  right  to 
tolerate  or  punish  men  on  account  of  their  opinions  in  matters 
of  religion.  Neither  have  Christians  a  right  to  condemn  their 
brethren  for  difference  of  opinion,  nor  even  talk  of  forbearing 
with  one  another  in  matters  of  opinion.  The  Scriptures 
speak  of  the  forbearance  of  God,  and  teach  that  Christians 
should  forbear  with  one  another  in  cases  of  injury  sustained, 
but  never,  that  I  can  see,  on  account  of  matters  of  opinion. 
A  person  might  as  well  be  said  to  forbear  with  his  natural 
brother  because  he  was  only  ten  years  old  or  five  feet  high  or 
because  he  had  gray  eyes,  as  to  forbear  with  a  Christian 
brot'.ier  because  he  differed  from  him  in  some  of  his  opinions. 
I  know  that  we  all  use  the  term  forbearance  in  a  very  un- 
warrantable sense,  and  that  it  is  difficult  to  find  a  term  ap- 
propriate to  communicate  correct  ideas  on  this  subject.  To 

12 


f 


134       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


bear  with  or  allow  a  brother  to  exercise  his  own  juclo^ment  is 
no  doubt  all  that  you  can  intend  by  the  term,  and  this  is  cer- 
tainly inculcated  in  the  apostolic  writings.  And  I  am  willing 
to  carry  this  principle  to  its  greatest  possible  extent,  though, 
as  you  say,  'there  is  and  must  be  a  stopping-place.*  So  long 
as  any  man,  woman  or  ciiild  declares  his  confidence  in  Jesus 
of  Nazareth  as  God's  own  Son,  that  he  was  delivered  for  our 
ofiences  and  raised  again  for  our  justification — or,  in  other 
words,  that  Jesus  is  tlie  Messiah,  the  Saviour  of  men — and  so 
long  as  he  exhibits  a  willingness  to  obey  him  in  all  things  so 
far  as  his  knowledge  extends,  so  long  will  I  receive  him  as  a 
Christian  brother  and  treat  him  as  such." 

The  novel  position  which  Mr.  Campbell  now  occu- 
pied in  relation  to  the  religious  communit}',  and  es- 
pecially to  the  Baptists,  exposed  him  to  criticisms  and 
attacks  from  all  quarters.  Charges  of  Socinianism  and 
heterodoxy  were  diligenth'  circulated  among  the  Bap- 
tist churches  in  different  places,  in  order  to  deprive  him 
of  influence  and  create  a  feeling  of  hostilit3^  These, 
when  brought  to  his  notice,  Mr.  Campbell  promptly  re- 
pelled, and  candidly  and  manfully  avowed  his  real  sen- 
timents. In  regard  to  the  Baptists,  indeed,  he  had 
always  exercised  the  greatest  frankness,  concealing 
neither  his  views  nor  his  purposes  While  he  desired 
to  lead  them  on  to  clearer  views  of  the  gospel,  and  was 
cheered  by  many  tokens  of  success,  he  was  yet  well 
aware  that  his  position  among  them  was  precarious, 
and  that  there  remained  yet  much  to  do  in  order  to 
overcome  existing  denominational  prejudices.  Of  his 
wishes  and  designs  in  relation  to  the  Baptists  he  thus 
openly  speaks  to  a  correspondent  from  Missouri  : 

I  do  intend  to  continue  in  connection  witii  this  people  so 
long  as  they  will  permit  mc  to  say  what  I  believe  ;  to  teach 
what  I  am  assured  of.  and  to  censure  wiiat  is  amiss  in  their 
views  or  practices.    1  have  no  idea  of  adding  to  the  catalogue 

I 


REGARD  FOR  THE  BAPTISTS. 


of  new  sects.  ...  I  labor  to  see  sectarianism  abolished  and 
all  Christians  of  every  name  united  upon  the  one  foundation 
upon  which  the  apostolic  Church  was  founded.  To  bring 
Baptists  and  Paedobaptists  to  this  is  my  supreme  end.  But 
to  connect  myself  with  any  people  who  would  require  me  to 
sacrifice  one  item  of  revealed  truth,  to  subscribe  any  creed  of 
human  device,  or  to  restrain  me  from  publishing  my  senti- 
ments as  discretion  and  conscience  direct,  is  now,  and  I  hope 
ever  will  be,  the  farthest  from  my  desires  and  the  most  in- 
compatible with  my  views.  And  I  hope  I  will  not  be  ac- 
cused of  sectarian  partiality  when  I  avow  my  conviction  that 
the  Baptist  society  have  as  much  liberality  in  their  views,  as 
much  of  the  ancient  simplicity  of  the  Christian  Church,  as 
much  of  t!ie  spirit  of  Christianity  about  them,  as  are  to  be 
found  among  any  other  people.  To  say  nothing  of  the  things 
in  which  they  excel,  this  may  be  said  of  them  without  preju- 
dice to  any.  And  that  they  have  always  been  as  eminent 
friends  "of  civil  and  religious  liberty  as  any  sect  in  Christen- 
dom will  not,  I  presume,  be  denied  by  any.  But  that  there 
are  among  them  some  mighty  Regulars  who  are  as  intoler- 
ant as  the  great  pontiff'  of  good  order  and  regularity,  no 
person  will  deny.  But  that  there  is  in  the  views  and  prac- 
tices of  this  large  and  widely-extended  community  a  great 
need  of  reformation  and  of  a  restoration  of  the  ancient  order 
of  things^  few  will  contradict.  In  one  thing  they  may  appear, 
in  time  to  come,  proudly  singular  and  pre-eminently  distin- 
guished. Mark  it  well.  Their  historian,  in  the  year  1900, 
may  say,  '  We  are  the  only  people  who  would  tolerate,  or 
who  ever  did  tolerate,  any  person  to  continue  as  a  reformer 
or  restorer  among  us.  While  other  sects  excluded  all  who 
would  have  enlarged  their  views  and  exalted  their  virtues, 
while  every  Jerusalem  in  Christendom  stoned  its  own  pro- 
phets, and  exiled  its  own  best  friends  and  compelled  them  to 
set  up  for  themselves,  we  constitute  the  only  exception  of  this 
kind  in  the  annals  of  Christianity — nay.  in  the  annals  of  the 
world.'  I  think  it  not  a  very  precarious  perhaps  that  this 
may  yet  be  said  of  this  ancient  and  singular  people.  But 


136       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


should  it  come  to  pass  that  neither  they  nor  any  other  people 
could  say  that  of  themselves,  then,  most  assuredly,  if  ever 
there  be  a  united  and  a  happy  state  of  the  Church  upon  this 
earth — if  ever  there  be  a  millennium — the  Baptist  society,  as 
well  as  every  other,  will  have  to  be  immersed  in  that  general 
catastrophe  which  awaits  every  sect  which  holds  a  principle 
incompatible  with  this  millennial  state  of  the  Church."  (C.  B., 
vol.  iii.,  p.  320.) 

While  Mr.  Campbell  thus  felt  and  expressed  a  special 
regard  for  that  religious  community  which,  in  his  judg- 
ment, approached  most  nearly  to  the  apostolic  standard, 
and  desired  to  continue  in  communion  with  it,  he 
constantly  maintained  his  own  independent  position. 
When  accused  of  inconsistency  as  a  restorer  of  primi- 
tive Christianity  in  having  communion  with  the  Baptists, 
who  had  not  adopted  the  ancient  order  of  things,  he 
thus  plainly  expressed  his  views  of  what  is  called  "  full 
communion 

"  When  I  unite  in  prayer  with  a  society  of  disciples,  I  have 
full  communion  with  them  in  certain  petitions,  confessions 
and  thanksgivings,  but  requests  may  be  presented,  confessions 
made  and  thanksgivings  offered  in  which  I  have  not  full  com- 
munion. The  same  may  be  said  of  any  other  social  act  of 
worship.  All  that  I  intend  by  the  phrase  is,  that  I  will  unite 
with  any  Baptist  society  in  the  United  States  in  any  act  of 
social  worship,  such  as  prayer,  praise  or  breaking  bread  in 
commemoration  of  the  Lord's  death,  if  they  confess  the  one 
Lord,  the  one  faith,  the  one  hope  and  the  one  baptism  ;  pro- 
vided always  that,  as  far  as  I  can  judge,  they  piously  and 
morally  conform  to  their  profession.  ...  I  consider  every 
act  as  only  expressing  approbation  of  the  thing  represented, 
and  of  them  in  so  far  as  they  conform  to  it.  Therefore,  I 
frankly  and  boldly  declare  to  them,  as  Paul  did  to  the  Corinth- 
ians, the  things  in  which  I  praise  them,  and  the  things  in 
which  I  praise  them  not.  And  I  know  of  no  way,  of  no 
course  that  any  Christian  can  pursue  consistently  with  the 


CHRISTIAN  COMMUNION. 


New  Testament,  consistently  with  his  serving  God  and  his 
own  generation,  but  this  one.  Therefore,  I  advocate  it  and 
practice  it."  ' 

Referring  to  the  more  rigid  views  to  which  he  was 
led  in  181 1  on  the  subject  of  religious  fellowship,  he 
continues  : 

"  I  have  tried  the  pharisaic  plan  and  the  monastic.  I  was 
once  so  straight  that,  like  the  Indian's  tree,  '  I  leaned  a  little 
the  other  way.*  And  however  much  I  may  be  slandered  now 
as  seeking  '  popularity'  or  a  popular  course,  I  have  to  rejoice 
that  to  my  own  satisfaction.,  as  well  as  to  others',  I  proved 
that  truth  and  not  popularity  was  my  object ;  for  I  was  once 
so  strict  a  separatist  that  I  would  neither  pray  nor  sing 
praises  with  any  one  who  was  not  as  perfect  as  I  supposed 
myself.  In  this  most  unpopular  course  I  persisted  until  I  dis- 
covered the  mistake,  and  saw  that  on  the  principle  embraced 
in  my  conduct  there  never  could  be  a  congregation  or  church 
upon  the  earth."  (C.  B.,  vol.  iii.,  p.  373.) 

Mr.  Campbell  thus  thought  there  was  great  incon- 
sistency among  professors  of  religion  in  regard  to 
the  subject  of  communion.  He  did  not  think  this  con- 
fined to  a  participation  in  the  Lord's  Supper,  but  that 
there  was  also  Christian  communion  in  uniting  in  prayer 
or  praise,  or  other  acts  of  religious  worship. 

*•  There  is,"  said  he,  a  certain  place,  called  The  Family 
Altar.  Baptists  and  Paedobaptists  of  different  name  often 
meet  at  this  '  family  altar,'  and  there  unite  all  in  one  com- 
munion. In  their  monthly  concerts  for  prayer,  etc.,  there  is 
another  '  altar,'  at  which  all  sects  sometimes  meet,  and  all 
have  full  communion  in  prayer  and  praise.  But  if,  on  the 
next  day,  the  Lord's  table  was  furnished,  they  would  rather 
be  caught  in  company  with  publicans  and  sinners  than  sit  at 
the  side  of  those  with  whom  they  had  full  communion  in 
prayer  and  praise  a  few  hours  before.  Their  consciences 
would  shudder  at  the  idea  of  breaking  bread  in  full  com- 

12  * 


138       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


munion  with  those  with  whom,  yesterday  or  last  night,  they 
had  full  communion  in  adoring,  venerating,  invoking  and 
praising  the  same  God  and  Redeemer.  ...  It  must  be  con- 
fessed, too,  that  the  New  Testament  presents  baptism  as  prior 
to  social  prayer  and  praise,  as  indispensably  preceding  these 
as  the  Lord's  Supper."  .  .  . 

These  passages  afford  a  clear  insight  into  the  state  of 
Mr.  Campbell's  convictions  at  this  time  in  regard  to 
the  vexed  question  of  communion.  Remembering  the 
earnestness  and  faith  in  which  the  church  at  Brush  Run 
sought  to  know  and  to  do  the  will  of  God,  while  yet 
mistaken  in  regard  to  baptism,  his  feelings  led  him  to 
wish  to  have  communion  with  any  similar  churches, 
though  they  might  be  yet  Psedobaptist.  Nevertheless, 
he  remained  fully  satisfied  that  the  New  Testament  pre- 
sented baptism  as  indispensably  preceding"  social 
communion  in  religious  acts.  Thus  he  was  placed  in  a 
strait  between  his  conviction  on  the  one  hand  that  there 
were  saints  of  God  in  all  parties,  and  on  the  other  that 
obedience  to  the  ordinances  of  the  Gospel  was  necessary 
to  church  membership.  His  feelings  led  him  to  recog- 
nize all  as  Christians  who  gave  evidence  of  faith  and 
piety,  while  his  views  of  the  Gospel  restricted  him  to 
formal  communion  with  those  only  who  had  publicly 
professed  to  put  on  Christ  in  baptism.  In  practice  he 
was  governed  exclusively  by  his  conscientious  convic- 
tions, and  was  thus  often  obliged  to  do  violence  to  his 
feelings  ;  nor  was  it  until  after  some  years  that  a  some- 
what different  view  of  the  subject  finally  relieved  him 
from  the  practical  difficulties  connected  with  this  com- 
munion question. 

Mr.  Campbell  was,  upon  the  whole,  during  this  year 
(1825)  greatly  encouraged  by  the  progress  of  the  views 
he  advocated. 


PROGRESS  OF  TRUTH. 


"  We  are  happy  to  find,"  said  he,  after  his  return  from  a 
tour  (C.  B.,  iii.,  267),  "that,  in  spite  of  the  reigning  doctors 
of  traiiition,  the  people  are  gradually  awakening  to  a  sense  of 
their  religious  rights  ami  privileges.  We  find  a  large  majority 
of  most  religious  communities  are  quite  unsettled  in  their 
views  of  religious  principles  and  practices.  They  have  lost 
the  greatei  part  of  that  confidence  which  was  the  characteristic 
of  every  sect  some  quarter  of  a  century  ago.  Many  who 
thought  their  Ciiurch  almost  infallible  readily  admit  that  she 
not  only  tnay^  but  that  she  frequently  does^  err.  And  there  is 
a  spirit  of  inquiry  marching  forth,  before  which,  most  assuredly, 
the  rotten  systems  of  tradition  and  error  must  and  will  fail." 

These  anticipations  were  strongly  corroborated  by 
passing  events.  John  M.  Duncan,  pastor  of  the  Pres- 
byterian church  in  Tammany  street,  Baltimore,  about 
this  time  publislied  a  book  On  the  Rise,  Use  and  Un- 
lawfulness of  Creeds  and  Confessions  of  Faith  in  the 
Church  of  God."  He  boldly  controverted  the  doctrine 
taught  by  Dr.  Miller  of  Princeton  a  short  time  before, 
in  a  pamplilet  advocating  creeds,  and  declared  his  view 
to  be  that  God  alone  is  lord  of  the  conscience,  and 
that  his  Bible  is  the  only  rule  of  faith  and  practice  ;  or, 
if  the  reader  pleases,  that  church  cuiuts  and  human 
creeds  are  not  entitled,  in  any  shape  or  form,  to  control 
the  human  conscience."  I'his  able  and  conclusive  work 
of  Mr.  Duncan  created  considerable  excitement,  which 
was  in  no  wise  lessened  when  he  and  Charles  McLean, 
pastor  of  the  Presbyterian  clunxh  in  Gett\sburg,  both 
declined  the  jurisdiction  of  the  I*resbyterian  Church  in 
the  United  States,  on  the  ground  of  their  objections  to 
creeds  and  confessions  of  faith.  The  Synod  of  J^alti- 
more  then  declared  their  congregations  vacant;''  but 
these,  with  great  unanimity,  took  part  with  their  pastors, 
who  continued  to  minister  to  them  as  usual.    Not  long 


14^^       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


afterward,  for  similar  reasons,  the  Presbyterian  church, 
on  Thirteenth  street,  Philadelphia,  renounced  the 
authority  of  creeds  and  Presbyterian  church  courts, 
and  with  their  pastor,  Mr.  Chambers,  continued  to  meet 
as  before,  receiving  numerous  accessions. 

In  several  Baptist  associations  which  Mr.  Campbell 
visited  during  the  fall  he  was  also  much  pleased  to 
observe  the  progress  of  liberal  views  and  the  good  spirit 
which  prevailed.  On  the  Western  Reserve,  all  things 
seemed  to  be  moving  on  favorably,  and  in  the  Stillwater 
Association,  which  had  been  shortly  before  formed  of 
churches  in  the  counties  of  the  same  State  contiguous  to 
the  Ohio  river,  he  found  most  of  the  messengers  disposed 
to  adopt  the  reformatory  views.  The  case  was  far  dif- 
ferent in  the  Redstone  Association,  to  which  James 
Philips,  a  Welsh  Baptist  preacher,  was  sent  as  a  mes- 
senger from  Stillwater,  and  denied  admission  because 
of  his  open  opposition  to  creeds.  The  Redstone  x\sso- 
ciation,  indeed,  under  the  leadership  of  Mr.  Brownfield 
and  others,  refused  at  their  meeting  to  receive  the  mes- 
seno-ers  trom  anv  churches  which  did  not  in  their  letters 
expressly  recognize  the  Philadelphia  Confession  of 
Faith.  They  undoubtedly  had  the  constitution  of  the 
Association  in  their  favor,  for  in  this  there  was  a  clause 
requiring  the  churches  to  recognize  the  Philadelphia 
Confession.  This,  however,  had  not  been  adopted  by 
the  majority  of  the  churches  of  the  Association  individ- 
ually, and  had  remained  heretofore  entirely  inoperative. 

In  Kentucky  a  spirit  somewhat  similar  to  this  marked 
the  course  of  the  Long  Run  Association,  meeting  in 
Bullitt  county.  P.  S.  Fall,  who,  from  ill  health,  had 
given  up  his  charge  in  Louisville,  and  was  now  in 
Frankfort,  had  been  clerk  of  this  Association,  to  which 
the  Louisville  Church  belonged  in  1824,  and  had  been 


SPIRIT  OF  IN^UIRT, 


appointed  to  write  the  circular  letter  for  1825,  and  to  de- 
liver the  introductory  address.  This  address,  which 
was  on  the  Opening  of  the  Reign  of  the  Messiah/*^ 
was  so  novel  in  its  subject,  and  so  different  from  the 
usual  theological  disquisidons  in  its  style,  that  it  excited 
much  remark.  The  Circular  Letter,  however,  which 
maintained  that  **  the  Scriptures  of  the  New  Testament 
were  the  only  and  all-sufficient  rule  of  faith  and  man- 
ners," was  regarded  with  still  greater  suspicion,  and  met 
with  much  hostility.  After  having  been  violently  as- 
sailed and  placed  in  the  hands  of  a  committee  for  inves- 
tigation, by  whom  some  slight  verbal  changes  were 
made  and  an  explanatory  sentence  added,  it  was 
again  read  and  discussed  in  the  Association,  and  finally 
rejected  by  the  casting  vote  of  the  moderator.  Elder 
George  Waller.  On  his  return  to  Frankfort,  Mr.  Fall 
read  the  letter  to  Dr.  Noel  and  Jacob  Creath,  Sr.,  who 
both  warmly  approved  it,  the  former  remarking,  "  If  I 
had  been  there,  it  should  have  passed." 

The  opposition,  however,  of  a  few  leaders  among  the 
Baptists,  who  feared  innovation,  and  desired  to  maintain 
the  usages  of  the  party,  had  but  little  effect  in  arresting 
the  progress  of  the  reformatory  principles  among  the 
churches.  At  the  very  meeting  of  the  Long  Run  Asso- 
ciation which  rejected  the  circular  letter  advocating  the 
Bible  as  the  only  rule  of  faith  and  manners,  the  queries  , 
presented  by  some  of  the  churches  were  quite  signifi- 
cant of  approaching  change.  Among  those  referred  to 
the  churches  for  investigation  were  the  following : 

"  I.  Js  there  any  authority  in  the  New  Testament  for 
religious  bodies  to  make  human  creeds  and  confessions 
of  faith  the  constitutions  or  directories  of  such  bodies 
in  matters  of  faith  or  practice? 

'*  2.  Is  there  any  authority  in  the  New  Testament  for 


r42       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


Associations?  If  so.  what  is  it?  If  not,  why  are  they 
held  ? 

"  3.  Are  our  Associations,  as  annually  attended,  of 
geiieral  utility^' 

Such  inquiries  indicated  that  the  New  Testament 
was  beginning  to  be  recognized  among  the  Kentucky 
churches  also  as  the  true  religious  standard,  and  that 
there  was  a  waning  faith  in  the  existing  order  of  things. 

Soon  afterward,  in  the  beginning  of  1826,  Mr.  F'all 
removed  to  Nashville  at  the  earne.st  invifation  of  the 
church  in  that  city.  Some  of  its  members  were  already 
deeply  interested  in  the  proper  method  of  studying  the 
New  Testament.  Others  had  become  alarmed  at  a 
rumr)r  that  Mr.  Fall  was  ab?jndoning  the  Baptist  faith. 
Dr.  John  C.  Ewing,  however,  the  clerk  of  the  church, 
wrote  to  him  (Aug.  28,  1825;  :  "You  need  have  no 
apprehensions  on  this  ground,  and  \  ou  will  find  enough 
here  to  support  you  who  are  tied  to  no  doctrines  but 
those  that  are  indubitably  scriptural."  He  accordingly 
removed  to  Nashville,  and  in  addition  to  his  labors  in  the 
church,  which  soon  became  entirely  favorable  to  the 
retrjrmatory  principles,  took  charge  of  a  female  acad- 
emv — an  occupation  for  which  he  was  eminendy  fitted, 
and  in  which  he  became  highly  distinguished  both  here 
and  at  Frankfort,  to  which  he  returned  after  some  years. 


CHAPTER  V. 


The  new  version — Its  reception — Andrew  Broaddus — Spiritual  influence— 
R,  B.  Semple— Disruption  at  Redstone— Brush  Kan  Church— Tour  to 
Nashville — Stillwater  Association — Mahoning  Association — Death  of  Mrs. 
Campbell — Religious  movements. 


SECT  is  characterized  by  a  marked  stagnation  of 


religious  thought.  The  tlieological  system  of  each 
party  surrounds  it  with  fixed  boundaries  which  allurd  no 
outlet  to  free  investigation.  A  special  orthodoxy,  like 
the  hardened  shell  of  a  mollusk,  prohibits  any  further 
growth  or  development,  and  the  sect  is  walled  in  by  an 
incrustation  derived  from  itself,  from  which  there  is  no 
escape  except  by  casting  olf  the  entire  covering.  The 
feelings,  views  and  aims  of  each  party  acquire  a  monot- 
onous uniformity  within  the  narrow  precincts  to  which 
its  creed  confines  them.  Even  the  word  of  God  fails  to 
impart  a  single  free  ray  of  knowledge  through  the 
opaque  investiture  which  forbids  its  entrance,  and  which 
opposes  itself  equally  to  light  from  without  and  growth 
from  within.  Hence  it  is  that  advances  toward  higher 
and  nobler  views  of  religion  are  never  made  by  the 
partisan  or  the  bigot,  but  by  men  who  have  been  eman- 
cipated from  spiritual  thraldom,  and  who  are  either 
disconnected  from  all  sects  or  but  loosely  attached  to 
any.  Such  men  have  appeared  at  various  periods  in 
the  history  of  the  Church,  and  it  has  been  through  their 
instrumentality  that  broader  and  better  conceptions  of 
divine  truth  have  been  presented — that  there  has  been 


143 


144       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 

0 

from  time  to  time  an  enforced  readjustment  of  parties^ 
and  upon  the  whole  a  certain  amount  of  progress  toward 
simpler  and  truer  views  of  the  gospel. 

Such  reformers,  however,  have  been  usually  so  far  in 
advance  of  their  times  that  they  have  been  neither  coun- 
tenanced nor  comprehended  by  the  people  with  whom 
they  happened  to  be  associated.  But  an  instinctive 
and  unerring  sympathy  has  ever  united  such  independ- 
ent thinkers  with  each  other,  and  however  separated 
they  may  have  been  by  time  and  space  or  accidental 
differences,  they  have  recognized  each  other  as  fellow- 
laborers  in  God's  husbandry,  and  have  admired  and 
cherished  the  products  of  each  other's  toil.  Thus  Mr. 
Campbell  loved  the  memory  of  the  great  and  good,  and 
availed  himself  of  whatever  influence  and  authority  a 
calmer  judgment  or  an  advancing  knowledge  on  the 
part  of  religious  society  had  conceded  to  their  works,  to 
continue  the  structure  they  had  partly  reared  and  carry 
forward  the  common  purpose  of  religious  reformation. 
Hence  it  was  that  having  for  several  years  highly  es- 
teemed the  character  of  George  Campbell,  of  Aberdeen, 
and  his  admirable  critical  dissertations  upon  the  gospels, 
as  well  as  his  new  version  from  the  Greek  text,  and 
being  greatly  pleased  with  the  free  renderings  and 
annotations  of  Macknight  on  the  Epistles,  and  of  Dod- 
dridge on  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles  and  Revelations,  he 
concluded  to  compile  from  these  three  sources  a  com- 
plete translation  of  the  New  Testament,  with  the  addi- 
tion of  such  hints  and  aids  as  might  be  conducive  to  a 
true  comprehension  of  the  sacred  writings. 

To  this  work  he  therefore  devoted  every  spare  mo- 
ment during  the  winter  of  1826.  Having  collected  all 
translations  of  any  note,  he  carefully  examined  every 
word,  comparing  the  various  renderings,  and  adding 


NEW  TRANSLATION. 


H5 


such  notes  and  observations  as  would  serve  to  elucidate 
the  text  and  assist  the  English  reader.  He  had  formed 
previously  a  very  inadequate  idea  of  the  amount  of 
labor  thus  involved,  but  from  his  great  interest  in  the 
subject  it  became  to  him  a  labor  of  love,  or,  as  he  termed 
it,  "a  delightful  and  profitable  employment,"  a  happy 
necessity"  of  reading,  comparing  and  examining  all  the 
various  translations  for  the  purpose  of  understanding 
more  fully  the  blessed  volume.  In  accordance  with 
his  plan,  he  reserved  to  himself  the  right  of  placing  in 
the  text  the  rendering  of  one  translator  in  preference  to 
that  of  another  if  it  seemed  more  clear  and  accurate, 
placing,  however,,  the  rejected  version  in  the  margin  or 
appendix,  so  that  the  reader  might  have  both  before 
him.  He  also  expressly  announced  in  his  prospectus 
that  he  would  introduce  "  one  improvement"  in  order  to 
render  the  version  complete.  "  Sundry  terms,"  said 
he,  **  are  not  translated  into  English,  but  adopted  into 
those  translations  from  long  usage.  These  terms  are 
occasionally  translated  into  English  by  Campbell  and 
Macknight,  but  not  always.  We  shall  uniformly  give 
them  the  meaning  which  they  have  affixed  to  them 
wherever  they  occur,  and  thus  make  this  a  -pure  Eng- 
lish New  Testament,  not  mingled  with  Greek  words, 
either  adopted  or  anglicized." 

This  work  appeared  in  the  spring,  in  one  volume 
octavo,  of  some  five  hundred  and  fifty  pages,  well 
printed  on  good  paper  and  in  large  type,  with  general 
and  special  prefaces,  hints  to  readers,  and  notes,  consti- 
tuting the  most  important  aid  to  the  study  of  the  New 
Testament  ever  published  in  so  compact  and  cheap  a 
form.  Mr.  Campbell  well  knew  how  much  a  new  ver- 
sion would  tend  to  promote  the  private  reading  and 
examination  of  the  Scriptures,  and  to  overcome  that 

VOL,  a.— K  13 


146       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


slavish  attachment  to  particular  words  and  phrases 
which  were  supposed  to  favor  party  tenets.  He  earn- 
estly desired  to  bring  individual  minds  into  contact  with 
the  word  of  God,  free  from  all  sectarian  bias  and  from 
the  influence  of  the  phraseology  of  I'avorite  proof-texts, 
which  seemed  to  carry  conviction  rather  from  their 
familiar  sounds  than  from  their  actual  meaning  or  their 
relevancy.  In  short,  he  wished  to  foster  that  spirit  of 
inquiry  which  had  been  aroused,  and  to  present  to  the 
people  at  large  a  version  of  the  New  Testament  free 
from  antiquated  and  transferred  terms,  and  accurately 
expressed  in  modern  English,  in  order  that  no  veil 
might  be  interposed  between  men's  understandings  and 
the  sacred  teachings.  He  believed,  furthermore,  that 
as  the  translation  was  the  work  of  Congregational  and 
Presbyterian  "  divines,"  it  would  have  thus  a  passport 
to  public  confidence  which  no  Baptist  version  could 
possess. 

The  ''one  improvement,"  however,  which  he  made, 
as  announced  in  his  prospectus,  was  of  such  a  nature 
as  to  make  it  diflicult  to  decide  whether  most  to  admire 
in  it  his  ingenuity,  his  frankness  or  his  intrepidity. 
Each  one  of  the  translators  had  declared  that  the  word 
rendered  baptism  meant  immersion,  yet  in  deference  to 
usage  they  continued  the  anglicized  Greek  term.  Tak- 
ing them  at  their  word,  Mr.  Campbell  simply  gave  the 
English  meaning,  which  they  had  authorized,  for  this 
w^ord  and  its  cognates,  so  as  to  avoid  ambiguity  and 
make  the  work  complete  as  a  translation.  He  wished 
the  version  to  express  freely  and  fully  the  idea  to  be 
conveyed,  just  as  it  did  to  those  to  whom,  in  the  original 
Greek,  it  was  first  addressed  ;  and  he  could  not  consent 
conscientiously  to  furnish  for  corruptions,  against  which 
he  had  so  successfully  battled,  the  covert  of  untranslated 


RECEPTION  OF  THE  NEW  VERSION.  147 


words  in  which  they  had  so  long  sought  shelter.  He 
therefore  boldly  and  fearlessly  placed  in  the  text  the 
English  of  the  words  in  question,  and  evinced  at  once 
his  supreme  love  of  truth  and  his  superior  moral  cour- 
age in  being  the  very  first  to  furnish  to  the  English 
reader  a  version  of  the  New  Testament  co^nfletely 
re7idered  into  his  own  vernacular.  From  the  moment- 
ous issues  involved  in  simply  rendering  these  words 
into  English,  all  others  had  shrunk  in  dismay,  and 
though  conscientiously  compelled,  as  scholars,  to  admit 
their  true  signification,  they  dared  not  venture,  by  man- 
fully adopting  it,  to  condemn  unchristian  practices  at 
which  they  had  themselves  connived.  There  is,  ac- 
cordingly, perhaps,  no  act  of  Mr.  Campbell's  life  which 
exhibits  in  bolder  relief  the  noble  independence  of  his 
character  than  this  "  one  improvement"  which  he  made 
in  thus  completing  the  translation  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment as  given  by  Doctors  Campbell,  Macknight  and 
Doddridge. 

As  was  to  be  expected,  the  Paedobaptists  were  far 
from  being  pleased  with  a  work  which  gave  such  a 
clinching  to  the  arguments  with  w^hich  Mr.  Campbell 
had  already  transfixed  their  favorite  tenet ;  for  the 
sacred  volume  itself  now  spoke  in  plain  English,  and 
every  subterfuge  was  swept  away.  As  the  translation 
was,  however,  substantially  that  of  their  own  great 
men,  they  were  unable  to  make  any  effective  opposi- 
tion. On  the  other  hand,  the  Baptists  as  a  people  were 
not  much  better  satisfied  with  the  improvement"  which 
Mr.  Campbell  had  made,  since,  while  it  sanctioned 
their  exclusive  practice  of  immersion,  it  took  away  from 
them  the  cherished  Scripture  authority  for  their  name 
as  a  denomination.  In  this  version^  John  was  no  longer 
**the  Baptist,"  but  simply  "the  immerser,"  and  they 


14S        MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


felt  reluctant  to  lose  from  their  farty  so  famous  a  cha- 
racter and  so  honored  a  title.  In  some  of  their  peri- 
odicals, therefore,  those  among  them  who  were  indis- 
posed to  change,  began  to  oppose  the  reformatory 
movement,  and  to  create  suspicion  and  hostility  by 
misrepresentations  of  Mr.  Campbell  and  appeals  to 
denominational  prejudices.  Foremost  among  these 
were  sundry  correspondents  of  the  "  Baptist  Recorder," 
edited  at  Louisville  by  Messrs.  George  Waller  and 
Spencer  Clack.  Others,  in  the  Western  Luminary," 
assailed  the  new  version  with  great  bitterness,  endeav- 
oring to  make  the  impression  that  Mr.  Campbell  had 
made  many  alterations  in  the  text  in  order  to  favor  his 
own  views,  etc.  One  writer  asserted  that  he  had  made 
at  least  eighty  variations  from  Dr.  George  Campbell's 
translation  on  the  single  subject  of  baptism,  because  he 
found  that  Mr.  Campbell  had,  according  to  his  pros- 
pectus, changed  the  word  baptism  and  its  cognates 
wherever  they  occurred  into  immersion  and  immerse, 
etc.  Here  it  was  simply  the  repeated  change  of  a 
single  word  or  the  repetition  of  one  change,  but  the 
desire  was  to  make  the  impression  that  there  were 
eighty  distinct  and  different  alterations.  Mr.  Campbell 
observed  in  reply  that  the  writer  '*  had  told  eighty  lies 
in  telling  one  truth,  as  if  a  man  should  say  he  had 
seen  eighty  pigeons  when  he  had  only  seen  one  pigeon 
eighty  times."  Again,  because  he  had  in  Acts  xx.  28, 
adopted  the  reading  of  Griesbach — "Church  of  the 
Lord,"  instead  of  "  Church  of  God,"  in  harmony  with 
his  plan  to  place  the  most  approved  reading  in  the  text, 
giving  the  others  in  the  appendix,  it  was  insinuated  that 
he  was  an  Arian,  though  the  orthodoxy  of  Griesbach, 
the  author  of  the  change,  was  never  called  in  question. 
Such  was  the  general  character  of  the  pitiful  and  pigmy 


HINTS  TO  READERS. 


149 


efforts  to  discredit  and  oppose  the  reformatory  princi- 
ples which  were  now  making  themselves  very  widely 
felt  and  were  changing  the  sentiments  and  the  practice 
of  entire  religious  communities.*  In  hardly  any  case 
did  the  opposition  assume  a  frank  and  manly  character. 
On  the  contrary,  it  was  almost  invariably  carried  on  by 
means  of  misrepresentation  and  calumny ;  by  anony- 
mous and  irresponsible  writers,  and  by  editors  who 
carefully  excluded  from  their  columns  Mr.  Campbell's 
exposures  of  the  sophistries  and  perversions  they  had 
eagerly  published  against  him.  The  cause,  neverthe- 
less, advanced  with  rapid  strides ;  the  circulation  of  the 
**  Christian  B-aptist"  was  month  by  month  extending 
itself;  new  editions  of  the  earlier  volumes  were  de- 
manded, and  before  the  end  of  October  nearly  the 
whole  of  the  first  edition  of  the  New  Testament  was 
disposed  of,  a  number  of  copies  being  taken  both  by 
Baptist  and  Paedobaptist  preachers  of  liberal  views, 
and  the  work  being  highly  praised  by  many  persons  of 
learning  and  critical  discernment.  The  "  prefaces"  to 
the  different  parts  of  the  work,  and  especially  the 
**  Hints  to  Readers,"  were  much  commended.  These 
were,  indeed,  extremely  valuable,  as  they  gave  a  con- 
nected view  of  the  design  of  each  of  the  sacred  books 
and  of  the  circumstances  under  which  these  were  written. 

*  One  of  the  singular  facts  connected  with  the  opposition  about  this  period, 
was  the  burning  of  the  new  version  of  the  Testament  by  Elder  Edmund 
"Waller,  a  brother  of  one  of  the  editors  of  the  "  Baptist  Recorder."  Having 
kept  the  book  for  some  six  months,  he  then  prayed  ten  days  to  know  whether 
he  should  burn  it  or  not,  and  upon  mature  reflection  came  to  the  conclusion 
to  do  so  ;  so  that  having  a  good  fire  one  day,  and  his  family  being  out,  he 
shook  the  leaves  well  and  burned  it  to  ashes  with  a  clear  conscience.  Such 
an  incident  reveals  more  fully  than  any  description  could  do,  the  state  of 
mind  engendered  by  religious  bigotry,  which,  according  to  circumstances,  can 
celebrate  its  auto-da-fe  as  well  in  burning  the  New  Testament  as  in  commit- 
ting a  heretic  to  the  flames. 

13  » 


150       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 

It  was  quite  a  novel  discovery  to  most  readers  to  find 
that  these  writings  had  really  each  a  special  purpose — 
the  Gospels,  to  show  that  Jesus  was  the  Son  of  God  ;  the 
Acts,  to  relate  the  planting  of  the  Christian  Church  ;  and 
the  Epistles,  to  develop  the  duties  of  the  Christian  life. 
They  were  surprised  to  see  that  in  each  there  was  a 
consecutive  train  of  reasoning  or  arra}^  of  facts,  so 
greatly  had  men's  minds  been  mystified  and  their  un- 
derstandings confounded  by  the  textuary  system  and 
the  speculations  of  theology.  People  now  felt  that  they 
could  understand  the  divine  revelations  without  the  aid 
of  priests,  and  became  everywhere  engaged  in  the 
diligent  study  of  the  word  of  God. 

Among  those  Baptist  ministers  who  approved  the  new 
version,  and  w^ho  especially  commended  the  "  Hints  to- 
Readers,"  was  Andrew  Broaddus,  one  of  the  most 
talented  and  eloquent  preachers  of  Eastern  Virginia. 
He  was  a  man  of  highly-cultivated  intellect  and  of 
liberal  spirit,  though  of  a  somewhat  fastidious  and 
timid  temperament.  Some  months  after  the  appearance 
of  the  letter  from  Bishop  Semple,  who,  notwithstanding 
the  courtesy  of  Mr.  Campbell's  reply,  seemed  disposed 
to  decline  further  correspondence,  Mr.  Broaddus  had 
sent  a  communication  for  the  "Christian  Baptist,"  in 
which  he  expressed  his  approval  of  Mr.  Campbell's 
views  of  the  Christian  religion  as  a  dispensation,  and  his 
general  agreement  with  the  sentiments  in  the  "Sermon 
on  the  Law"  as  to  the  Mosaic  institution.  In  regard  to 
the  "  Christian  Baptist,"  he  said  : 

I  find  in  it  much  to  approve^  something  to  doubly  and 
something,  too,  from  which  I  must  dissent.  Possibly,  how- 
ever, my  dissension  may  be  owing  (in  part  at  least)  to  the 
want  of  a  full  and  correct  understanding  of  your  sentiments. 
I  said,  much  to  approve ;  I  might  use  a  stronger  term  and  say. 


OPERATIONS  OF  THE  HOLT  SPIRIT.         15 1 


much  to  admire.  With  several  of  your  essays  I  liave  been 
not  only  pleased  but  delighted.  Many  of  your  remarks,  too, 
in  opposition  to  the  errors  and  follies  too  prevalent  in  the  re- 
ligious world,  meet  my  own  views  and  receive  my  warm  and 
heartv  commendation.  In  a  word,  I  am  greatly  pleased  with 
what  appears  to  be  your  drift  and  aim — viz.,  to  clear  the  re- 
ligion of  Jesus  of  all  the  adventitious  lumber  with  which  it 
has  been  encumbered,  and  bring  back  the  Christian  Church 
to  its  primitive  simplicity  and  beauty." 

Concurring  with  Mr.  Campbell  as  to  Christianity  con- 
sidered as  a  dispensation,  he  goes  on  to  say : 

I  do  hope  that,  upon  a  more  explicit  declaration  of  your 
sentiments,  I  may  find  no  cause  to  disagree  with  you  as  to 
what  more  nearly  concerns  the  iiature  of  that  religion — the 
agency.,  I  will  say,  which  produces  it  in  us.  I  do  not  wish 
you  to  consider  me,  at  this  time,  as  really  differing  from  you 
on  this  point:  I  only  desire  to  be  better  satisfied.  Let  me 
explain  myself. 

There  are  some  among  us  possessed  of  strong  apprehen- 
sions that  you  are  disposed  to  deny  the  existence  of  the  re- 
generating and  sanctifying  operations  of  the  Holy  Spirit  on 
the  spirit  or  the  heart  of  man,  and  that  you  would  ascribe  all 
the  religi-ous  effects  produced  in  us  solely  to  the  influence  of 
the  written  Word  or  the  external  revelation  of  God.  And 
these  apprehensions,  permit  me  to  add,  are  not,  in  all  cases, 
the  eflect  of  any  prejudice  against  you.  For  myself,  I  have 
said  to  others,  as  I  now  say  to  you,  that  I  cannot  think  this  of 
you.  I  have  seen,  indeed,  many  things  in  your  writings 
which  appear  inconsistent  with  such  a  sentiment — a  senti- 
ment which  obviously  goes  to  the  annihilation  of  all  hope  for 
gracious  aid  in  the  Christian  warfare,  and,  of  course,  to  the 
annihilation  of  prayer  for  any  such  aid.  A  sentiment  which 
would  thus  cut  off  communion  with  God,  and  let  out,  as  I 
may  say,  the  very  life's  blood  of  religion,  I  cannot  think  you 
would  maintain.  Still,  however,  I  would  rather  see  you 
more  explicit  upon  this  point:  it  appears  to  be  due  to  your- 


152       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


self  as  well  as  to  others  :  and  to  a  compliance  with  this  wish 
I  should  suppose  you  can  have  no  objection. 

"  That  the  word  of  God  is  the  instrument  of  our  regenera- 
tion and  sanctification,  I  have  no  doubt ;  nor  would  I  think 
of  saving  it  is  his  usual  method  (whatever  he  may  in  some 
cases  choose  to  do)  to  operate  on  the  soul  independent  of  the 
Word,  But  that  there  is  a  living,  divine  agent,  giving  life 
and  energy  to  the  Word,  and  actually  operating  on  the  soul, 
is,  in  my  view,  a  truth  which  forms  one  of  the  glorious  pecu- 
liarities of  the  religion  of  Jesus  :  and  thus  I  would  say,  in  the 
language  of  the  apostle,  we  are  '  born  again  not  of  corruptible 
seed,  but  of  incorruptible,  by  the  word  of  God,  which  liveth 
and  abideth  for  ever.' " 

This  communication,  elegantly  written  and  marked 
by  the  utmost  Christian  courtesy  and  candor,  was  re- 
ceived by  Mr.  Campbell  with  great  pleasure,  and  he 
remarked  that  there  had  not  appeared  in  the  Chris- 
tian Baptist"  a  letter  from  any^  correspondent  more 
evangelical  in  its  scope  ;  more  clear  and  luminous  in 
its  object ;  more  unexceptionable  in  its  style  ;  more  per- 
fect in  its  soul,  body  and  spirit." 

I  am  not  conscious,"  said  he,  in  reply,  "  that  there  is  one 
point  of  controversy  between  us  in  all  the  items  of  practical 
truth  embraced  in  your  letter.  Whatever  diversity  of  opinion 
might  possibl}'  exist  between  us  in  carrying  out  some  princi- 
ples to  their  legitimate  issue.  I  am  conscious  of  none  in  the 
premises."  .  .  .  Speaking  of  the  agency"  which  produces 
the  Christian  religion  in  men,  he  remarks :  Were  it  not  for 
the  pernicious  influence  of  the  theories  afloat  on  this  subject, 
I  would  assert  m}'  concurrence  in  opinion  with  you.  This 
may  appear  a  strange  saying,  but  it  is  in  accordance  with  the 
spirit  of  this  work.  I  have  taken  a  stand  which  I  am  deter- 
mined, by  the  grace  of  God,  not  to  abandon.  I  will  lay  down 
no  new  theories  in  religion,  contend  for  no  old  theories,  nor 
aid  any  theory  now  in  existence.  For  why.^  Because  no 
theory  is  the  gospel  of  Jesus  the  Messias.     Xor  can  the 


GOVERNING  PRINCIPLE. 


preaching  or  teaching  of  any  theory  be  the  preaching  or 
teaching  of  the  gospel.  And — please  mark  it  well — NO 
MAN  CAN  BE  SAVED  BY  THE  BELIEF  OF  ANY 
THEORY,  TRUE  OR  FALSE :  NO  MAN  WILL  BE 
DAMNED  FOR  THE  DISBELIEF  OF  ANY  THEORY. 
This  position  I  hold  worthy  to  be  printed  in  majestic  capitals. 

.  .  .  Whatever  the  Scriptures  say,  I  say.  The  only  ques- 
tion with  me  is  to  understand  each  sentence  in  the  light  of 
its  own  context.  .  .  .  To  make  new  theories  is  the  way  to 
make  new  divisions.  To  contend  for  the  old  is  to  keep  up 
the  old  divisions^  either  of  which  would  be  in  direct  opposi- 
tion to  all  my  eftbrts,  and,  what  is  still  worse,  in  direct  op- 
position to  the  decisions  of  the  Holy  Spirit." 

We  have  here  a  clear  statement  of  the  principle  which 
governed  Mr.  Campbell  throughout  his  entire  life  a^o 
his  utterances  on  the  subject  of  spiritual  influence^' 
Knowing  how  the  minds  of  the  people  were  engrossed 
with  theories  of  regeneration  to  the  neglect  of  Scripture 
teaching,  and  how  much  such  speculations  contributed 
to  maintain  religious  dissensions,  he  had  resolved  to 
discountenance  every  thing  of  this  nature,  and  to  con- 
fine attention  to  the  plain  declarations  of  the  word  of 
God.  He  could  not  be  induced,  therefore,  to  go  beyond 
its  simple  statements  into  any  inquiries  respecting  the 
unrevealed  links  in  the  chain  of  causation.  By  no 
means  denying  that  influences  were  exerted  in  answer 
to  prayer  in  regard  to  the  conversion  and  sanctification 
of  men,  he  presumed  not  to  define  their  nature,  and 
would  neither  propose  a  new  theory  on  the  subject,  nor 
give  his  assent  to  any  of  those  already  in  vogue.  Mr. 
Broaddus  had  made  a  very  near  approach  to  Mr.  Camp- 
bell's position  when  he  said,  as  above  quoted,  "  that 
the  word  of  God  is  the  instrument  of  our  regeneration 
and  sanctification,"  and  that  he  would  not  say  it  was 
God's  "  usual  method  to  operate  on  the  soul  independent 


154       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


of  the  Word''  But  when  he  added,  "  there  is  a  living 
divine  agent  giving  life  and  energy  to  the  Word,  and 
actually  operating  on  the  soul,"  he  passed  quite  out  of 
Mr.  Campbell's  field  of  view,  the  Bible  alone,  and 
entered  the  domain  of  theological  speculation.  Mr. 
Campbell  could  see  no  practical  utility  in  this  theory, 
as  the  reception  of  it  did  not  in  any  wise  tend  to  induce 
the  supposed  agency,  and  therefore  availed  nothing. 
On  the  other  hand,  its  adoption  at  once  changed  the 
relations  of  those  who  embraced  it  to  the  word  of  God. 
Men  could  no  longer  esteem  this  "  worth}'  of  all  accepta- 
tion," "  greater"  than  the  '-testimony  of  men,"  "able 
to  make  '  them'  wise  unto  salvation,"  or  "  quick  and 
powerful ;"  for  the  theory  declared  it  to  be  deficient  in 
energy  and  to  be  actually  dead,"  requiring  some  un- 
defined agency  to  give  it  "life."  This  Mr.  Campbell 
could  never  for  a  moment  admit,  and  it  was  in  opposi- 
tion to  this  very  theological  dogma  that,  adopting  the 
language  of  the  proto-martyr,  and  in  harmony  with  the 
saying  of  Christ,  "  The  words  that  I  speak  unto  you, 
they  are  spirit  and  they  are  life,"  he  entitled  his  later  edi- 
tions of  the  New  Testament,  "  The  Living  Oracles." 
His  love  for  that  sacred  volume  rendered  him  jealous  of 
every  philosophy  which  would  in  the  slightest  degree 
derogate  from  its  power  and  its  sufficiency  when  brought 
into  contact  with  the  human  mind.  Such  were  his  con- 
ceptions of  the  "  glorious  gospel  of  the  blessed  God," 
that  he  regarded  it  as  embodying  in  itself  "  the  power 
of  God  for  salvation  to  every  one  who  believed  it,"  and 
as  presenting,  in  the  demonstrations  of  the  Spirit  and  of 
power  which  attended  its  introduction,  all  the  evidences 
necessary  to  the  production  of  faith.  He  by  no  means 
doubted  or  denied  the  impartation  and  aids  of  the  Holy 
Spirit,  but  as  the  promise  of  the  Spirit  was  to  believers 


POINT  OF  DIFFTCULTT. 


only,  he  could  not  admit  that  it  was  given  to  unbelievers 
in  order  to  produce  faith,  as  the  theory  in  question  re- 
quired. He,  therefore,  thus  expressed  himself  in  his 
reply  to  Mr.  Broaddus  : 

"  If  any  man  accustomed  to  speculate  on  religion  as  a  mere 
science  should  infer  from  anything  I  have  said  on  these  theories 
that  I  contend  for  a  religion  in  which  the  Holy  Spirit  has 
nothing  to  do  ;  in  which  there  is  no  need  of  prayer  for  the 
Holy  Spirit;  in  which  there  is  no  communion  of  the  Holy 
Spirit ;  in  which  there  is  no  peace  and  joy  in  the  Holy  Spirit, 
— he  does  me  the  greatest  injustice.  .  .  .  All  whom  I  baptize^ 
I  baptize  into  the  name  of  the  Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and  of 
the  Holy  Spirit.  I  pray  for  the  love  of  the  Father,  the  grace 
of  the  Son  and  the  communion  of  the  Holy  Spirit  to  remain 
with  all  the  saints.  A  religion  of  which  the  Holy  Spirit  is 
not  the  author,  the  subject-matter  and  the  perfecter  is  sheer 
Deism.  To  a  man  who  teaches  otherwise  I  would  say :  'Art 
thou  a  teacher  in  Israel,  and  knovvest  not  these  things?'  .  .  . 
The  uncontrovertible  tact  is,  men  must  be  born  from  above^ 
and  for  this  purpose  the  glad  tidings  are  announced.  Let  us 
simply  promulgate  them  in  all  their  simplicity  and  force,  un- 
mixed with  theory,  uncorrupted  with  philosophy,  uncompli- 
cated with  speculation  and  unfettered  by  system,  and  mark 
the  issue." 

However  clear  the  view  Mr.  Campbell  thus  gave  of 
his  position,  and  however  proper,  and,  in  a  -practical 
point  of  view,  sufficient  the  course  he  so  earnestly  ad- 
vocated in  the  interests  of  Christian  peace  and  union,  it 
must  be  confessed  that  the  point  of  real  ditiiculty  re- 
mained still  untouched,  and  that,  for  want  of  a  full  ex- 
planation of  this,  his  views  continued  to  be  misappre- 
hended and  misrepresented.  For  it  was  undeniable 
that  *' influences  "  independent  of  the  gospel  were  ex- 
erted in  regard  to  unbelievers  in  order  to  the  production 
of  faith.    Admitting  that  the  "power"  was  in  the  gospel 


IS^       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


or  word  of  God,  the  question  which  demanded  elucida 
tion  still  recurred — Why  do  not  all  who  hear  the  gospel 
believe  and  obey  it?  Why,  out  of  a  large  audience 
who  hear  the  gospel  announced,  will  perhaps  only  one 
or  two  individuals  receive  it  and  act  upon  their  convic- 
tions? Where  all  have  alike  the  opportunity  of  hearing, 
why  is  the  gospel  brought  into  contact  with  the  heart 
and  mind  of  some  and  not  of  others  or  of  all?  Most 
assuredly  there  is  a  special  influence  here  to  be  ac- 
counted for — an  influence  admitted  by  Mr.  Campbell 
himself  equally  with  his  opponents,  since  with  them  he 
felt  it  his  duty  to  ofl^er  up  prayers  for  the  conversion  of 
sinners,  which  necessarily  supposed  a  special  divine  in- 
tervention in  their  behalf.  It  was  the  conviction  that 
such  aid  was  to  be  expected,  coupled  wdth  the  natural 
and  just  longing  of  the  human  heart  for  some  tangible, 
personal  and  sensible  evidence  of  acceptance  with  God, 
that  first  gave  rise  to  the  mystical  theory  of  regenera- 
tion, which,  engrafted  by  Jacob  Bcehler  upon  the  more 
simple  faith  of  Wesley,  had  at  length  pervaded  almost 
the  entire  religious  community.  As  this  difficulty,  there- 
fore, still  remained  to  be  elucidated  in  the  further  pro- 
gress of  the  Reformation,  Mr.  Campbell's  reply  at  this 
period  failed  to  prove  entirely  satisfactory  to  Mr. 
Broaddus. 

Hence,  in  his  next  letter,  he  said : 

"While  many  things  in  your  answer,  and  many  incidental 
remarks  in  reference  to  this  very  point,  met  my  admiring  ap- 
probation, I  felt  some  degree  of  disappointment  at  the  manner 
in  which  you  considered  it  proper  to  shape  your  reply  in  this 
particular  case.  Your  reasons  are  no  doubt  satisfactory  to 
yourself ;  perhaps  they  ought  to  be  so  to  me  and  to  all.  I 
have  heard  much  said  about  your  answer  to  PauUnus^  for  it 
has  excited  among  us  a  high  degree  of  attentio-n.    Some  of 


VIEWS  OF  ANDREW  BROADDUS. 


•57 


^our  readers  are  satisfied ;  some  are  not.  And  though,  upon 
a  candid,  careful  reperusal  of  your  letter,  I  think  it  justly  due 
to  you  to  say  that  you  arc  an  avowed  friend  to  the  Spirt f s 
operations  in  the  production  of  genuine  religion^  I  must 
own  that  I  could  still  wish  you  had  found  in  your  heart  to 
dispense  with  what  I  consider  an  over-degree  of  scrupulosity, 
and  to  answer  in  a  more  direct  manner.  ...  I  must  think 
you  carry  your  scruples  on  the  subject  of  theories  and  systems 
to  some  excess."  After  expressing  his  own  disapprobation 
of  mere  theorizing,  he  adds  the  following  just  remarks;  "It 
is  to  be  lamented,  indeed,  that  systems  seem  to  please  some 
professors  of  religion  more  than  the  good  news  of  salvation 
by  Christ,  and  that  they  manifest  more  solicitude  for  the  pre- 
servation of  their  beloved  plans  than  for  the  maintenance  of 
vital  and  practical  godliness.  Touch  every  chord  in  the  lyre 
of  salvation,  they  still  remain  listless,  unmoved,  till  the 
darling  notes  be  sounded  to  which  their  spirits  are  in  unison. 
Oh  for  the  time  when  divine  truth — the  whole  of  divine  truth 
— shall  be  relished  as  coming  from  God  ! — when  the  souls  of 
professed  Christians,  tuned  by  grace,  shall  respond  to  every 
declaration  of  the  will  of  God ;  now  with  holy  fear^  now 
with  lively  hope^  now  with  ^joy  unspeakable  and  full  of  glory,* 
and  always  with  obedient  faith  that  works  by  love.'  This 
will  not  be  till  the  Bible  is  taken  in  good  earnest  as  the 
standard  of  faith  and  practice.  Oh,  sir,  may  God  speed  your 
eflbrts  to  call  the  people  to  this  only  standard !  May  he  assist 
us  to  plant  this  standard,  this  milk-white  banner,  on  the 
heights  of  Zion,  no  more  to  be  insulted  by  the  parti-colored 
flags  of  creeds  and  confessions  of  faith  waving  over  it !" 

While  Mr.  Broaddus  was  quite  agreed  with  Mr. 
Campbell  in  his  opposition  to  creeds  as  standards  of 
faith,  and  in  regard  to  the  need  of  reformation  among 
the  Baptists,  and,  in  some  measure,  even  to  the  restora- 
tion of  the  **  ancient  order  of  things,"  he  still  clung 
tenaciously  to  his  theory  of  spiritual  operations  in  con- 
version, to  which  he  seemed  earnestly  desirous  of 

14 


158       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


winning  over  his  highly-esteemed  friend,  the  editor  of 
the  "  Christian  Baptist."  In  reference  to  the  wish  he 
had  expressed  that  Mr.  Campbell  had  given  a  more 
direct  reply  to  his  assertion  that  there  was  a  spiritual 
agency,  giving  life  and  energy  to  the  Word  and 
actually  operatmg  on  the  soul,"  the  latter  replied  : 

"  There  may  be  questions  proposed  on  subjects  of  which 
the  Bible  speaks  which  the  Bible  will  not  answer.  For  ex- 
ample, How  does  the  Spirit  injluejice  the  minds  of  menf 
is  a  question  I  cannot  answer  from  the  Bible.  But  if  I  be  asked. 
Does  the  Spirit  regenerate  the  human  heart.'  Does  it  influ- 
ence the  minds  of  men  I  answer,  the  Bible  teaches  it  does. 
But  I  have  a  great  scrupulosity  of  mind  in  going  beyond  what 
is  written  on  this  subject  in  particular.  The  reason  is,  some 
speculative  theory  of  spiritual  operation  is  the  very  essence, 
the  very  soul,  of  every  system  of  religion  in  Christendom.  .  .  , 
If  any  man  ask  me  how  the  influence  and  aid  of  the  Spirit  is 
obtained,  I  answer.  By  prayer  and  the  word  of  God. 
Thus  I  will  give  direct  answers  so  far  as  I  think  the  Oracles 
authorize. 

But  I  am  governed  more  in  speaking  upon  this  subject  by 
the  following  than  bv  all  other  considerations:  THE  APOS- 
TLES PREACHED  CHRIST,  AND  NOT  THE  HOLY 
SPIRIT  ;  or,  rather,  they  preached  the  Holy  Spirit  when 
they  preached  Christ.  So  the  Saviour  instructed  and  com- 
manded them.  They  preach  the  Spirit  with  inost  success 
who  say  nothing  about  his  work  in  conversion.  So  did 
the  apostles.  In  all  the  sermons  pronounced  by  the  apostles 
to  unregenerated  persons,  of  which  we  have  so  many  samples 
in  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles,  they  never  once  spoke  of  the  work 
of  the  Spirit  in  conversion.  Not  one  example  in  all  the 
volume — not  one  model  of  the  discourses  we  every  day  hear 
about  the  work  of  the  Spirit.  The  apostles  remembered 
that  the  Spirit  was  not  to  speak  of  himself,  his  own  ofiice  and 
work,  but  of  Christ.  Their  good  news,  therefore,  was  about 
Christ  crucified." 


BISHOP  SEMPLE. 


His  earnest  pleading,  however,  for  the  simple  teach-  » 
ings  of  the  word  of  God  availed  but  little  with  the  lead- 
ing Baptist  preachers  in  Virginia,  so  long  as  he  refused 
to  commit  himself  to  their  favorite  theory  of  spiritual 
operations.  Some  speculative  view  of  this  subject  had 
indeed  become,  as  Mr.  Campbell  well  remarked,  "  the 
very  essence,  the  very  soul,"  of  modern  systems  of  re- 
ligion ;  and  because  he  would  not  go  beyond  the  actual 
statements  of  the  Bible  in  reference  to  the  work  of 
human  salvation,  it  was  natural  that  those  opposed  to 
him  should  avail  themselves  of  the  popularity  of  the 
theory  of  "  spiritual  operations"  in  order  to  create  prej- 
udice against  him,  and  that  even  good  and  pious  men, 
accustomed  to  rely  on  w^hat  they  called  their  Christian 
experience,"  should  stand  in  doubt  of  his  religious  posi- 
tion. As  he  continued,  in  perfect  consistency  with  the 
principles  with  which  he  set  out,  to  maintain  the  ground 
he  had  taken,  this  subject  became  a  very  prominent 
theme  of  discussion  throughout  his  entire  ministry,  re- 
curring again  and  again  in  various  forms.  In  order  to 
avoid  a  too  frequent  reference  to  it,  it  may  be  here 
stated  that  in  the  following  year  (1827)  Bishop  Semple 
wrote  a  letter  to  Silas  M.  Noel,  D.D.,  of  Kentucky, 
which  was  published  in  the  Baptist  Recorder,"  in 
which  he  remarked  in  relation  to  the  letters  of  Mr. 
Broaddus,  above  quoted  :  "  He  [Paulinus]  wrote  some- 
thing last  year  in  which  he  certainly  went  too  far.  He 
is  now  convinced  (I  am  persuaded),  and  is  guarded 
against  our  friend  Campbell's  chimeras." 

A  writer,  signing  himself  "  Querens,"  in  the  **  Chris- 
tian Baptist,"  then  publicly  called  upon  Bishop  Semple 
to  point  out  the  "  chimeras"  which  he  attributed  to  Mr. 
Campbell.  This  Bishop  Semple  declined,  saying  that 
Sandeman,  Glas  and  the  Haldanes  had  been  master 


l6o    •  MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


spirits  upon  the  same  system  many  years  ago,  and  had 
been  effectually  answered  by  Fuller  and  others.  He 
added  : 

"  If  I  am  called  upon,  then,  to  establish  my  assertions  as  to 
Mr.  Campbell's  views,  I  refer  '  Qtierenj'  and  all  such  to 
Fuller's  work  against  Sandeman,"  etc.  He  says  he  is  indis- 
posed to  controversy,  but  adds :  "  If,  however,  I  should  be 
disposed  to  become  a  controversialist.  I  believe  I  should  as 
soon  enter  the  lists  with  my  friend  Campbell  as  any  other,  foi 
three  reasons.  One  is,  on  the  points  on  which  we  differ  I 
am  persuaded  he  is  palpablv  on  the  wrong  side,  and  it  would 
not  be  a  hard  task  to  make  it  manifest.  A  second  is,  he  is  so 
much  of  a  champion  that  to  be  beaten  by  him  would  not  be 
so  discreditable  as  it  might  be  with  some  other  antagonists. 
A  third  is,  I  think  him  a  generous  combatant  with  one  who 
wishes  nothing  but  fair  play." 

To  this  letter,  which  Mr.  Campbell  transferred  from 
the  Recorder"  to  the  "  Christian  Baptist,"  he  made  a 
very  kind  and  respectful  reph',  showing  that  the  bishop's 
plan  of  disposing  of  the  matter  was  wholly  unsatisfac- 
tory to  the  public. 

The  reflecting  part  of  the  community,"  he  observed,  "  will 
say,  Why  not  show  that  Campbell  is  wrong  by  the  use  of 
reason  and  Scripture,  rather  than  by  defaming  him?"  He 
concludes  his  answer  thus:  "  As  you  have  more  than  once 
commended  many  excellent  things  in  the  '  Christian  Baptist,* 
and  as  you  are  now  brought  out  or  dragged  out  to  oppose 
me.  it  behooves  you  to  discriminate  the  things  wiiich  you  dis- 
approve from  those  you  approve  in  the  '  Christian  Baptist.' 
And  now,  Brother  Semple,  I  call  upon  you  as  a  man,  as  a 
scholar,  as  a  Christian  and  as  a  Christian  bishop,  to  come 
forward  and  make  good  your  assertions  against  your  'friend 
Campbell.*  My  pages  are  open  for  you.  You  shall  have 
line  for  line,  period  for  period,  page  for  page  with  me.  I 
pledge  myself  to  address  you  and  treat  you  as  a  gentleman 
and  a  Christian  ouglat  to  do.    You  will  not  find  an  insinua- 


ESSArS  OF  PAULINUS. 


i6i 


tion  nor  a  personality  in  all  I  may  say  of  you.  I  wish  to 
give  you  a  fair  specimen  of  that  sort  of  discussion  which  I 
approve,  and  to  show  what  reason,  demonstration  and  Scrip- 
ture declaration  can  achieve  with  an  able  and  an  honorable 
opponent.  There  is  no  man  in  America  I  would  rather  have 
for  an  opponent,  if  I  must  have  an  opponent,  than  thee. 
Come  forward  then,  Brother  Semple — choose  the  topics,  one 
at  a  time;  numerically  arrange  your  arguments  and  proofs; 
make  everything  plain  and  firm,  and  in  good  temper,  spirit 
and  aftection  show  me  where  I  have  erred  ;  and  if  I  cannot 
present  reason,  Scripture  and  good  sense  to  support  me,  I 
will  yield  to  your  superior  discernment,  age  and  experience, 
one  by  one,  the  points  in  which  we  differ.  And  as  this  work 
is  generally  bound  in  volumes,  your  essays,  the  antidote  or 
the  remedy,  will  descend  with  the  poison  to  its  future  readers." 

As  Bishop  Semple  paid  no  attention  to  this  earnest 
appeal,  Mr.  Campbell,  after  waiting  some  months, 
thought  it  due  to  the  cause  he  advocated  to  analyze  the 
bishop's  two  letters  to  Dr.  Noel,  in  which  he  had  spoken 
disparagingly  of  his  views,  and  advocated  creeds,  etc. 
This  analysis,  though  kind  in  manner,  was  searching 
in  its  range,  and  the  result  of  the  whole  affair  was  de- 
cidedly unfavorable  to  Bishop  Semple's  reputation  for 
ability  and  wisdom,  while  his  character  as  a  pious  and 
devoted  Christian  remained  unquestioned.  During  this 
period  Mr.  Broaddus  thought  it  due  to  himself  to  state 
that  Bishop  Semple  was  mistaken  in  supposing  that  he 
had  at  all  changed  his  views  in  reference  to  the  ques- 
tions he  had  treated  in  his  essays  in  the  "  Christian 
Baptist."  He  also  took  occasion  to  renew  his  effort  in 
behalf  of  the  theory  of  "  spiritual  operations,"  and  for- 
warded for  the  "  Christian  Baptist"  two  very  elegantly 
and  carefully  written  articles  on  the  work  of  the  Holy 
Spirit  in  the  salvation  of  men,  in  which  he  considered 
the  reality  of  a  divine  influence,  its  principal  effects 

VOL.  n. — L  14  * 


r62        MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


and  its  practical  importance.  He  did  not  advocate 
**  irresistible  operations,"  or  any  of  the  particular  sys- 
tems of  the  day,  nor  did  he  contend  for  a  divine  influ- 
ence of  a  mere  physical  nature  detached  from  revealed 
truth,  but  admitted  that  there  dwelt  in  the  word  of  truth 
**  a  living  principle  which,  when  that  word  is  received, 
has  a  never-failing  tendency  to  bring  forth  the  fruits  of 
holiness  in  heart  and  life."  The  leadincr  sentiment  of 
the  essays,  however,  was,  in  substance,  "that  we  are 
dependent  on  the  influence  of  the  Holy  Spirit  to  render 
the  word  of  truth  effectual  to  our  conversion  and  final 
salvation." 

In  his  reply,  Mr.  Campbell  said  that  few  of  the  intel- 
ligent readers  of  the  "  Christian  Baptist"  would  dissent 
from  the  above  views. 

"  If  you,  Brother  Paulinus,"  said  he,  "  discard  the  doctrine 
of  irresistible  operations  upon  unbelievers,  you  are  happily 
safe  from  the  systems  which  I  have  been  so  long  combating 
and  endeavoring  to  expose  in  my  various  essays  on  the  work 
of  the  Holy  Spirit  in  the  salvation  of  men.  I  have  contended 
that  the  Spirit  of  God  has  do7ie  something  which  renders  un- 
belief and  unregeneracy  a  sin  in  all  men  who  have  access  to 
the  Bible,  independent  of  anything  to  be  done  ;  and  I  have 
taught  that  it  will  do  something  for  those  who,  from  what  it 
has  done.,  are  immersed  into  the  faith  of  the  gospel.  What 
it  has  done  has  given  strength  to  the  weak,  life  to  the  dead 
and  reclaimed  enemies  to  God  ;  what  it  will  do  is  to  beget  a 
holy  spirit  and  temper — to  fill  with  peace  and  joy  and  right- 
eousness those  who  believe.  I  will  not,  therefore,  with  the 
speculative  philosopher,  make  what  the  Spirit  of  God  has 
already  done  of  none  effect,  to  make  way  for  something  yet 
to  be  done.  Nor  will  I  ascribe  everything  to  what  the  Spirit 
has  done  in  the  inditing  and  confirming  the  testimony,  to  the 
exclusion  of  any  influence  upon  the  minds  of  those  who, 
through  faith,  have  been  immersed  for  the  remission  of  sins 


MAHONING  ASSOCIATION. 


163 


and  this  lieavenly  gift.  .  .  .  The  whole  world,  with  whom  the 
Spirit  of  God  strives  in  the  written  Word  now,  as  it  once  did  1 
in  the  mouths  of  prophets  and  apostles,  have  no  excuse  for  f 
their  unbelief  or  unregeneracy  ;  and  those  who  have  put  on 
the  Lord  Jesus  are  invited  to  abound  in  all  the  joys,  consola-  ; 
tions  and  purifying  influences  of  this  Holy  Spirit." 

Thus  the  matter  ended  as  before.  Both  equally  be- 
lieved that  salvation  was  due  to  the  work  of  the  Wo\\ 
Spirit.  Mr.  Campbell  thought  that  in  conversion  the 
power  was  in  the  word  of  God.  Mr.  Broaddus  sup- 
posed that  the  direct  aid  of  the  Holy  Spirit  was  neces-  ^. 
sary  to  rendt:r  that  Word  effectual.  Both  equally  ad- 
mitted the  presence  and  influence  of  the  Holy  Spirit  in 
believers,  and  as  Mr.  Campbell  thought  it  right  to  pray 
for  the  conversion  of  men,  he  necessarily  admitted  that 
some  influence  additional  to  that  of  the  gospel  was 
exerted  also  in  the  case  of  unbelievers.  The  only 
point,  then,  of  real  difference  was  simply  the  nature  of 
this  influence,  Mr.  Broaddus  regarding  it  as  a  direct 
work  of  the  Spirit  upon  the  heart,  and  Mr.  Campbell  ^. 
pleading  the  Scripture  declarations  that  the  Holy  Spirit;y'^ 
could  be  received  only  by  believers.  As  to  the  nature  ^ 
of  the  influences  or  aids  which  the  latter  virtually  ad- 
mitted in  conversion,  he  at  this  period  offered  no  opinion, 
and  Mr.  Broaddus  had  brought  no  Scripture  evidence 
to  show  that  the  Holy  Spirit  could  be  received  by  an 
unbeliever,  or  that  any  such  theory  of  spiritual  opera- 
tions had  ever  been  propounded  in  primitive  times. 

Pending  these  discussions,  the  cause  of  the  Reform- 
ation continued  to  make  rapid  progress  among  the 
Baptist  churches.  In  the  fall  of  1826,  Mr.  Campbell 
attended  as  usual  the  Mahoning  Association,  which  con- 
vened at  Canfield,  August  25th,  John  Brown  and  John 
Encell  being  associated  with  him  as  messengers  from 


1 64       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


the  church  at  Wellsburg.  On  the  day  of  assembling, 
Mr.  Campbell  preached  at  one  o'clock,  p.m.,  from  2 
Tim.  iii.  2.  Adamson  Bentley  was  appointed  moder- 
ator, and  J.  Gaskill,  clerk.  Those  invited  to  a  seat 
were  Corbley  Martin,  Sidney  Rigdon,  W.  West,  J.  Os- 
borne, Thomas  Campbell  and  Walter  Scott,  it  being  the 
first  visit  of  the  latter  to  the  Western  Reserve.  The 
presence  of  so  many  able  preachers  rendered  the  meet- 
ing one  of  great  interest  and  religious  enjoyment. 
After  completing  its  business  with  entire  harmony,  the 
Association  made  appointments  for  preaching  on  the 
Lord's  day  in  the  Presbyterian  meeting-house.  At  10 
A.M.,  Walter  Scott  spoke  from  the  nth  chapter  of 
Matthew ;  Sidney  Rigdon  then  delivered  an  address 
based  on  i6th  chapter  of  John.  After  an  interval,  Mr. 
Campbell  read  the  last  chapter  of  Malachi,  and  pre- 
sented a  view  of  the  progress  of  the  light  of  divine 
revelation,  which  was  so  grand  in  its  conceptions,  so 
striking  in  its  illustrations  and  so  comprehensive  in  its 
scope  that  it  made  a  most  profound  impression,  and 
was  never  forgotten  by  those  who  heard  it. 

Having  been  appointed  by  the  Association  its  corre- 
sponding messenger  to  both  the  Stillwater  and  Redstone 
Associations,  and  the  latter  meeting  in  the  following 
week,  Mr.  Campbell,  after  tarrying  at  home  one  day, 
set  out  to  visit  his  old  associates  of  disputatious  memory. 
He  found  that  as  at  the  meeting  of  the  previous  3'ear 
they  had  rejected  all  church  letters  which  did  not  refer 
to  the  Philadelphia  Confession,  so  now  the  ruling  spirits 
had  resolved  to  carry  out  their  purposes  with  unsparing 
zeal.  The  Association  consisted  of  twenty-three  or 
twenty-four  churches,  each  entitled  to  a  representation 
by  three  messengers.  As  Elder  Brownfield  and  those 
acting  with  him  were  aware  that  they  could  not  com- 


WA  SUING  TON  AS  SO  CIA  TION. 


mand  a  majority  of  all  the  voters  on  any  motion,  they 
determined  to  prevent  those  opposed  to  them  from  hav- 
ing any  participation  in  the  business  of  the  meeting. 
Out  of  seventy-two  voters  they  found  only  thirty  to  be 
in  their  favor,  and  these  thirty  messengers,  accordingly, 
representing  ten  churches,  constituted  themselves  the 
Association,  and  appointing  their  own  officers,  pro- 
ceeded to  arraign,  under  the  constitution,  those  churches 
which  had  not  formally  accepted  the  Philadelphia  Con- 
fession. The  fate  of  these  churches  was  not  long  in 
suspense.  The  church  at  Washington,  after  having 
been  denounced  as  Arian,  Socinian,  Arminian,  Anti- 
nomian,  etc.,  was  first  denied  admission.  Next  the 
Maple  Creek  Church  was  brought  up  for  trial  and  cut 
off,  though  the  actors  expressed  great  regret  for  its 
pastor,  the  aged  Henry  Spears,  who  was  deservedly 
beloved.  After  this,  the  church  on  Pigeon  Creek,  with 
Matthias  Luse  as  pastor,  shared  the  same  fate,  as  did 
likewise  the  rest,  ten  churches  thus  excluding  thirteen. 
These  high-handed  measures,  however,  failed  of  their 
purpose,  and  ultimately  recoiled  upon  those  who  insti- 
gated them.  The  excluded  messengers  immediately 
assembled  at  a  house  about  a  half  a  mile  distant  and 
requested  Mr.  Campbell  to  deliver  a  discourse,  which 
he  did,  and  upon  their  return  home,  having  reported 
the  case  to  their  respective  churches,  most  of  these 
agreed  to  send  messengers  to  form  a  new  association  at 
Washington  in  November,  which  was  accordingly  done. 
At  the  first  meeting  of  this  Association,  on  Friday,  Sep- 
tember 7,  1827,  the  constitution  drawn  up  at  the  con- 
vention of  churches  in  November  previous  was  adopted 
as  the  constitution  of  the  Association.  It  was  very 
short,  making  no  mention  of  the  Philadelphia  Confes- 
fiion,  but  declaring  as  the  second  article,  "We  receive 


1 66       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


the  Scriptures  as  the  only  rule  of  faith  and  practice  to 
all  the  churches  of  Christ."  As  it  gave  four  messen- 
gers to  each  church,  Brush  Run  Church  was  repre- 
sented by  Thomas  Campbell,  Joseph  Bryant,  John 
Kawkins  and  Joseph  Matthews.  Matthias  Luse  was 
chosen  moderator  and  Ephraim  Estep,  clerk.  James 
Phillips  of  Steubenville.  John  Brown  of  Wellsburg,  S. 
Williams  of  Pittsburg  and  others  present,  were  invited 
to  seats,  and  after  a  pleasant  meeting  the  Association 
adjourned  to  meet  at  Peter's  Creek  in  September  of  the 
following  year.  To  close  the  history  of  the  Redstone 
Association,  it  may  be  here  added  that  the  party  under 
Brownfield  was  as  far  from  being  at  peace  after  the 
disruption  as  before,  since  it  carried  within  it  those  dis- 
cordant elements  which  had  been  the  cause  of  dissen- 
sion in  the  past.  More  liberal  doctrinal  views  and  a 
more  favorable  feeling  toward  missionary  operations 
had  been  for  some  time  gaining  ground  among  the 
churches,  and  now  began  to  prevail,  while  the  hyper- 
Calvinistic  sentiments  and  narrow  policy  of  the  minority 
became  more  and  more  confirmed  by  opposition.  At 
length  overtures  were  made  to  form  a  new  association 
of  the  churches  north  of  the  National  Road,  and  a  con- 
vention held  at  the  Forks  of  Yough  in  May,  1832, 
framed  accordingly  the  constitution  of  the  "  Mononga- 
hela  Association,"  with  which  the  churches  generally 
in  this  region  became  united.  Elder  Brownfield  and  a 
few  others  of  the  "  elect"  remaining  disconnected. 
These  became  soon  after  involved  in  a  suit  at  law  with 
the  others  for  certain  church  property,  which,  after 
causing  them  much  expense  and  trouble,  was  decided 
against  the  Brownfield  party,  so  that  the  final  perse- 
verance" of  those  who  had  manifested  so  much  hostility 
to  Mr.  Campbell,  and  so  overbearing  and  self-willed  a 


BRUSH  RUN  CHURCH. 


spirit  in  the  Redstone  Association,  reduced  them  at  last 
to  a  dissevered,  discontented  and  insij^nificant  faction. 

The  church  at  Brush  Run,  after  its  connection  with 
the  Washington  Association,  did  not  long  maintain  itself 
as  a  separate  organization.  It  had  already  been  greatly 
reduced  in  number  b}'  removals.  The  spirit  of  emigra- 
tion and  the  project  of  forming  a  sort  of  Christian  colony 
in  a  newer  portion  of  the  country,  w^hich  had  once  be- 
fore been  decided  upon,  but  not  executed,  still  occupied 
the  thoughts  of  some  of  the  members.  James  Foster, 
at  length,  in  the  spring  of  1826,  concluded  to  sell  his 
mterest  in  the  farm  on  which  he  lived,  which  he  had  ac- 
quired by  his  second  wife,  a  daughter  of  Mr.  Welsh,  to 
vvhom,  after  the  death  of  his  first  wife,  he  was  married 
March  25,  1813.  John  Wilson  and  some  others  agree- 
ing to  remove  along  with  him,  he  purchased  one  thou- 
sand acres  of  land  in  Marshall  county,  near  what  was 
called  Beeler's  Station,  and  here  formed  a  new  settle- 
me^  H  with  his  friends  and  established  a  small  church, 
whic/i,  in  process  of  time,  increased  and  gave  origin  to 
others.  In  this  retired  and  secluded  region  amidst  the 
hills,  whose  pure  fountains*  and  limpid  rivulets,  mur- 
muring through  deep  and  rocky  dells,  constitute  the 
sources  of  Grave  Creek,  James  Foster  continued  to  re- 
side and  to  labor  in  behalf  of  the  Reformation,  rearing 
a  numerous  family  in  the  simple  and  industrious  habits 
of  the  early  settlers.  After  his  departure  the  few  re- 
maining members  at  Brush  Run  continued  for  a  time  in 
connection  with  the  Washington  Association  ;  but  as  it 
was  more  convenient  to  many  of  them  to  assemble  in 
the  vicinity  of  Mr.  Campbell's  residence,  a  church  was 
finally  constituted  there,  and  the  meeting  at  Brush  Run 
was  discontinued. 

During  the  year  1826,  Mr.  Campbell  was  again  called 


1 68       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


upon  to  suffer  domestic  affliction  in  the  loss  of  his 
youngest  daughter,  Margaretta,  who  sickened  and  died 
in  the  month  of  May,  being  then  seventeen  months  old. 
Mrs.  Campbell's  health,  too,  seemed  at  this  time  to  be 
gradually  failing,  and,  as  symptoms  of  pulmonary  dis- 
ease began  to  appear,  Mr.  Campbell,  after  his  return 
from  the  Associations  in  September,  thought  it  advisable 
to  try  the  effect  of  traveling  and  of  a  milder  climate, 
with  a  view  to  her  recovery.  Setting  out  accordingly 
in  November,  he  journeyed  with  her  to  Kentucky,  ac- 
companied also  by  his  eldest  daughter,  now  about  six- 
teen, but  intelligent  beyond  her  years  and  possessed 
of  remarkable  personal  beauty.  Proceeding  by  easy 
stages  through  Mason  county,  visiting  man}-  friends  and 
preaching  at  various  points,'  he  reached  Versailles  in 
December,  where  he  delivered  a  discourse  upon  the 
typical  revelations  of  the  Bible,  based  chiefly  upon  the 
fourth  and  sixth  chapters  of  Nehemiah.  The  character 
of  the  theme  was  well  suited  to  his  peculiar  powtntyp.nd 
such  was  the  grandeur  of  the  conceptions  presented  of 
the  different  dispensations,  and  so  striking  the  applica- 
tions made  to  the  existing  conditions  of  religious  society, 
that  an  indelible  impression  was  produced  upon  the 
minds  of  those  who  heard  it.  He  visited  Louisville  in 
January,  filling  also  some  appointments  in  Indiana,  and 
passing  thence  to  Nashville,  spent  some  weeks  there, 
preaching  frequendy,  to  the  great  delight  of  the  Church 
and  of  the  community,  amongst  whom  the  welcome 
strangers  formed  many  agreeable  acquaintances  and 
found  many  warm  friends. 

The  church  at  Nashville,  under  the  labors  of  Mr. 
Fall,  was  at  this  time  fully  engaged  in  the  reformatory 
movement.  The  previous  year  it  had  declined  uniting 
with  any  association,  but  during  the  fall  of  this  year 


C  ox  CORD  AS  SO  CIA  1  ION 


169 


(1826^  had  concluded  to  apply  for  admission  into  the 
Concord  Association  on  terms  similar  to  those  upon 
which  the  Brush  Run  Church  had  first  entered  Red- 
stone— viz.,  that  no  creed  other  than  the  Bible  should 
be  required,  and  that  the  Association  should  have  no 
power  to  interfere  with  the  order,  doctrine  or  govern- 
ment of  the  church,  if  the  latter  was  governed  in  all 
these  matters  by  the  New  Testament.  Quoting  the 
code  of  government  published  by  the  Association  in 
1825,  as  declaring  that  this  body  "  shall  have  no  power 
to  lord  it  over  God's  heritage,  neither  shall  it  have  any 
classical  power  or  infringe  upon  any  of  the  internal 
rights  of  the  churches,"  the  letter  of  the  church  goes 
on  to  say  : 

"We  understand  this  sentence  as  saying  that  the  Associa- 
tion has  no  power  to  determine  what  any  church  shall  re- 
ceive as  her  creed  :  or  whether  she  shall  have  any  creed  or 
confession  at  all  other  than  the  Bible  ;  and,  consequently,  that 
she  has  no  power  so  to  lord  it  over  God's  heritage  as  to  con- 
demn any  church  for  holding  or  teaching  any  scriptural 
truths^  though  they  be  at  variance  with  the  opinions  of  this 
body  concerning  such  truths." 

To  the  basis  of  union  thus  defined  the  Concord  Asso- 
ciation had  sufficient  liberality  to  agree,  thus  affording 
quite  a  contrast  to  the  proceedings  and  spirit  which 
about  the  same  time  caused,  as  already  mentioned,  the 
disruption  at  Redstone,  and  which  were  beginning  to  be 
more  or  less  manifest  in  other  Associations  in  ditferent 
parts  of  the  country. 

During  Mr.  Campbell's  sojourn  in  Nashville  his  wife's 
health  continued  to  fail,  and  she  became  fully  impressed 
with  the  conviction  that  she  would  not  recover.  She 
was  of  a  very  thoughttul  and  reflective  turn  of  mind, 
very  calm,  patient  and  resigned  to  the  Divine  will,  and 

15 


170       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


with  an  uncommon  tendency  to  look  at  every  event  in  a 
direct,  plain  and  practical  way.  Of  this  she  gave  her 
husband,  while  here,  a  singular  proof.  After  stating  to 
him  one  day  in  private  her  conviction  that  the  disease 
under  which  she  labored  could  not  be  cured,  she  went 
on  to  say  that  it  would  give  her  the  greatest  happiness 
to  be  assured,  in  case  he  should,  after  her  decease,  be 
disposed  to  marry  again,  and  it  should  prove  in  accord- 
ance with  his  own  feelings,  that  he  would  take  her  dear 
friend  Miss  Bakewell  to  be  a  mother  to  her  children. 
Mr.  Campbell,  grieved  that  she  should  cherish  such 
forebodings  respecting  her  case,  sought  to  cheer  her 
with  hopes  of  recovery,  and  exerted  himself  to  tlie 
utmost  to  remove  all  melancholy  anticipations.  Finding 
him  thus  unwilling  to  share  in  those  convictions  of  a 
fatal  issut?  which  she  calmly  entertained,  she  forbore 
at  this  time  to  urge  the  matter  farther.  It  was,  how- 
ever, soon  after  decided  that  it  would  be  best  to  return 
to  their  home  in  Virginia,  which  they  safely  reached  in 
March  (1827),  after  a  four  montlis'  absence. 

During  this  tour  Mr.  Campbell  delivered  many  dis- 
courses, and  gave  great  impetus  to  the  progress  of 
liberal  views  in  the  region  visited,  while  at  the  same 
time  he  kept  up  the  regular  issues  of  the  Christian 
Baptist."  It  was  his  custom  always,  before  leaving 
home  even  on  the  shortest  excursion,  to  send  on  all  the 
appointments  for  public  speaking  which  it  was  j-jos- 
sible  for  him  to  fill,  so  that  he  had  always  before  him  a 
series  of  meetings,  and  addressed  the  public  somevvhere, 
in  town  or  country,  in  houses  of  worship  or  in  private 
dwellings,  daily,  and  often  twice  a  day,  on  the  great 
themes  of  human  salvation  and  the  means  of  effecting 
a  universal  union  among  the  people  of  God.  To  these 
great  ends  his  life  was  consecrated,  and  to  them  all 


REAL  CAMPBELLITES. 


171 


Other  matters  were  viewed  as  subordinate  or  merely 
accessory.  The  opportunity  he  had  enjoyed  during  his 
recent  tour  of  seeing  more  and  more  of  the  condition  of 
reHgious  society  under  the  influence  of  modern  systems, 
had  but  the  more  stirred  his  zeal  for  the  introduction  of 
a  better  order  of  things.  Apart  from  his  religious  asso- 
ciations, he  had  also  hosts  of  friends  among  those  who 
made  no  profession  of  religion,  who  were  won  by  his 
genial  personal  qualities  and  greatly  admired  his  high 
intelligence  and  transcendent  abilities.  For  such  persons 
he  felt  ever  a  tender  solicitude,  and  sought  to  use  his 
influence  over  them  so  as  to  lead  them  to  Christ,  being 
well  aware  how  prone  men  are  to  substitute  personal 
esteem  for  a  religious  teacher,  or  an  intellectual  assent 
to  some  proposed  system  or  plan,  for  the  love  of  Christ 
and  the  obedience  of  the  gospel.  Hence,  in  retrospect- 
ing  his  tour,  he  said  : 

'*  While  we  rejoice  in  the  assurance  of  meeting  many  of 
our  friends  in  that  blessed  state  where  there  is  no  more  sep- 
aration, it  must  be  acknowledged  that  there  are  some  per- 
sonally attached  to  us,  and  we  to  them,  from  various  reasons, 
concerning  whose  eternal  life  we  can  entertain  but  a  very 
slender  hope.  It  is  perhaps  natural,  but  so  it  is,  that  while 
we  exercise  benevolence  toward  all  mankind,  we  more 
ardently  desire  the  salvation  of  some  than  of  others.  Hence 
it  is  that  on  our  list  of  friends  there  are  some  of  whose  salva- 
tion we  are  not  always  sanguine,  yet  from  their  social  and 
merely  human  virtues,  we  feel  compelled,  with  more  than 
ordinary  zeal,  to  exclaim,  '  Would  to  God  that  they  were  not 
only  almost,  but  altogether  Christians  !*  The  Saviour  once 
looked  upon  and  loveil  a  young  man  of  extraordinary  virtue, 
wlio  with  a  sad  and  sorrowful  heart  bade  him  adieu.  .  .  , 
But  this  is  a  subject  on  which  we  can  neither  think  nor  write 
with  pleasure.  We  shall,  therefore,  dismiss  it  with  the  ex- 
pression of  a  wish  that  none  may  construe  attachments  or 


4 


172       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


friendships,  based  on  considerations  merely  human,  into  an 
affectionate  regard  for  the  Saviour  and  his  disciples." 

The  remarkable  attractive  power  possessed  by  Mr. 
Campbell  reacted  upon  himself,  and  he  could  not  avoid 
feeling  a  peculiar  interest  in  those  who  sought  his  friend- 
ship, as  the  magnetized  iron  attracts  in  turn  the  magnet ; 
but  he  had  the  faculty  of  lifting  himself  above  all  at- 
tachments merely  temporal,  and  of  rendering  them  sub- 
sidiary to  the  higher  claims  of  a  spiritual  and  eternal 
union.  With  regard  to  the  Baptist  communities  which 
he  had  visited,  he  found  them,  to  his  regret,  greatly  de- 
ficient in  congregational  and  family  discipline,  and  ob- 
serving an  order  of  things  far  from  being  either  scrip- 
tural or  beneficial.  The  practice  of  having  but  one 
elder  or  preacher  for  four  churches  ;  monthly  meetings  ; 
sitting  in  judgment  on  "  Christian  experiences  ;"  specu- 
lative and  textuar}'  preaching,  and  the  introduction  of 
doctrinal  questions  even  into  psalms  and  hymns  ;  the 
great  neglect  of  the  study  of  the  Scriptures  and  various 
similar  aberrations  from  the  teachings  of  the  Bible,  were 
noticed  and  lamented. 

During  the  previous  year,  Mr.  Campbell  had  bap- 
tized among  others  at  Wellsburg,  a  young  lad,  Cyrus 
McNeely,  a  son  of  Squire  McNeely,  of  Cadiz,  Ohio, 
who  was  a  Presbyterian,  but  of  somewhat  liberal  views, 
and  with  whom  he  used  to  stop  in  his  early  tours  through 
this  region.  For  a  year  after  his  baptism  young  Mr. 
-McNeely  continued  to  attend  meeting  at  Wellsburg,  dis- 
tant some  twenty  miles,  and  on  the  opposite  side  of  the 
river.  James  Phillips  had  some  time  before  gathered 
together  a  few  members  at  Cadiz,  and  as  he  in  the 
spring  of  1827  removed  to  Steubenville,  Mr.  McNeely 
obtained  a  letter  from  Wellsburg,  and  united  with  the 
Cadiz  Church.    Being  possessed  of  ability  and  moral 


MAHONIXG  ASSO CIA  TION. 


courage,  and  being  a  very  decided  and  earnest  advocate 
of  the  ancient  order  of  things,  he  at  once  induced  the 
church  to  commence  the  practice  of  weekly  communion. 
This  innovation  upon  Baptist  customs  became  accord- 
ingly a  matter  of  complaint  at  the  meeting  of  the  Still- 
water Association,  which  was  held  at  Wills'  Creek,  near 
the  border  of  Guernsey  county.  Among  the  preachers 
present,  including  Elijah  Stone,  Sedgwick.  Pritchard, 
Headley,  Headington  and  others  of  Mr.  Campbell's 
old  opponents  in  Redstone,  there  was  but  one,  a  Welsh 
preacher,  Mr.  Lee,  who  was  in  favor  of  allowing  the 
practice.  As  the  lay  delegates  present,  however,  were 
in  favor  of  it,  they  outvoted  the  preachers,  and  the  op- 
position failed.  Thus,  the  people,  beginning  to  inquire 
for  themselves,  had  already  advanced  beyond  those 
who  assumed  to  be  their  spiritual  guides. 

On  his  way  with  John  Brown  to  the  Mahoning  meet- 
ing, which  was  to  take  place  at  New  Lisbon  on  the  23d 
of  August,  Mr.  Campbell  called  with  Walter  Scott  at 
Steubenville.  Mr.  Scott  had,  during  the  spring,  issued 
a  prospectus  for  a  monthly  paper,  to  be  called  the 
*'  Millennial  Herald"  and  to  be  devoted  to  the  exposition 
of  his  views  of  the  primitive  gospel  and  of  the  coming 
millennium,  in  which  latter  subject  he  had  become 
much  interested,  and  on  which  he  had  already  writ- 
ten several  articles  for  the  "  Christian  Baptist."  Mr. 
Campbell  had  kindly  noticed  his  prospectus  in  his 
June  number,  and  as  he  had  obtained  some  subscribers, 
he  was,  at  the  time  of  Mr.  Campbell's  visit,  preparing 
to  have  the  first  number  printed.  After  considerable 
persuasion,  however,  he  agreed  to  accompany  the  latter 
to  the  meeting  of  the  Association. 

At  the  first  session,  Mr.  Scott,  with  Samuel  Holmes, 
W.  West  and  Sidney  Rigdon,  were  invited  as  usual  to 


174       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


take  seats  in  the  Association.  In  the  evening.  Sidney 
Rigdon  delivered  a  discourse  on  John  viii.  On  the 
following  day,  the  first  item  of  business  to  be  considered 
was  a  request  sent  up  from  the  church  at  Braceville,  of 
which  Jacob  Osborne  was  elder,  as  follows:  '*We 
wish  that  the  Association  may  take  into  serious  con- 
sideration the  peculiar  situation  of  the  churches  of  this 
Association,  and  if  it  would  be  a  possible  thing  for  an 
evangeHcal  preacher  to  be  employed  to  travel  and  teach 
among  the  churches,  we  think  that  a  blessing  would 
follow."  Some  other  preachers.  J.  Merrill,  with  J. 
Secrest  and  Joseph  Gaston  of  the  Christian  party,  com- 
ing in,  were  invited  to  seats,  and  it  was  voted  that  all 
the  teachers  of  Christianity  present  be  a  committee  to 
nominate  a  person  to  travel  and  labor  among  the 
churches,  and  to  suggest  a  plan  for  the  support  of  the 
person  so  employed."  It  was  also  voted  "that  a^cir- 
cular  letter  be  written  on  the  subject  of  itinerant  preach- 
ing, for  the  next  Association,  by  A.  Campbell,"  and 
that  he  deliver  the  introductory  sermon  of  that  year, 
his  alternate  being  Jacob  Osborne,  who  at  this  time  was 
the  moderator  of  the  Association.  After  tliis,  the  com- 
mittee of  nomination  made  the  following  report: 

"  I.  That  Brother  Walter  Scott  is  a  siiital)le  person  for  the 
task,  and  that  he  is  willing,  providetl  liie  Association  concur 
in  his  appointment,  to  devote  his  wluile  energies  to  the  work. 

2.  That  voluntary  and  liberal  contributions  he  recom- 
mended to  the  cliurches,  to  raise  a  fumi  for  his  support. 

3.  That,  at  the  discretion  of  l^rother  Scott,  as  far  as  re- 
spects time  and  place,  four  quarterly  nieetiuiTs  be  hcM  in  the 
bounds  of  this  Association  this  year  for  public  worsliip  and 
edification,  and  that  at  these  Tneetinj:^s  such  contrihutions  as 
have  been  made  in  the  churches  in  these  vicinities  he  liandcd 
over  to  l>rotlier  Scott,  and  an  account  kej)t  of  t!ie  same,  to  be 
produced  at  the  next  Association.    Also,  that  at  any  time  and 


PROVIDENTIAL  ARRANGEMENTS.  1 75 


at  any  church  where  Brother  Scott  may  be  laboring,  ^.ny  con- 
tributions made  to  him  shall  be  accounted  for  in  the  next 
Association." 

This  report  being  adopted,  John  Secrest  delivered  a 
discourse  in  the  evening  from  John  iii.  Next  morning, 
being  the  Lord's  day,  the  Association  met  at  sunrise  in 
the  Baptist  meeting-house  for  prayer.  At  ii  o'clock,  • 
A.  M.,  Jacob  Osborne  delivered  a  discourse  in  the  Pres- 
byterian meeting-house,  based  on  first  chapter  of  He- 
brews. He  was  followed  by  Mr.  Campbell  in  a  sermon 
from  the  close  of  the  seventh  and  the  twenty-fifth  chap- 
ters of  Matthew.  A  collection,  amounting  to  $11.75, 
was  then  taken  up  as  a  commencement  in  accordance 
with  the  report  of  the  committee,  and  a  recess  being 
taken  to  immerse  some  who  had  come  forward,  the 
brethren  afterward  assembled  in  the  Baptist  meeting- 
house to  break  the  loaf,  after  which  they  dispersed, 
*'  much  edified,"  as  the  minutes  state,  and  comforted 
by  the  exercises  of  the  day." 

Such  are  the  brief  records  of  a  meeting  which  proved 
to  be  prolific  of  important  consequences,  not  at  all  fore- 
seen by  those  who  were  the  actors  in  it.  The  unex- 
pected request  from  the  Braceville  Church  ;  the  unusual 
course  of  the  Association  in  appointing  an  itinerant 
preacher  ;  the  accidental  presence  of  Walter  Scott ;  his 
willingness  to  engage  in  the  work ;  the  attendance  and 
co-operation  of  prominent  preachers  from  a  religious 
denomination  known  as  "  Christians,"  who  were  now 
making  many  converts  among  the  people, — the  whole 
peculiar  combination  of  circumstances,  indeed,  was 
such  as  Providence  alone  could  have  arranged  for  the 
accomplishment  of  a  great  design. 

Mr.  Campbell  was  delighted  that  one  in  whom  he 
had  so  much  confidence,  and  who  was,  he  thought,  so 


176        MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 

well  fitted  to  promote  the  public  interests  of  the  Refor- 
mation, as  Walter  Scott,  had  so  readily  consented  ta 
enter  into  active  service.  He,  in  turn,  overcoming  the 
timidity  and  irresolution  of  his  own  nature,  and  over- 
ruled by  the  steadier  purpose  and  bolder  enterprise  of 
Mr.  Campbell,  threw  off  at  once  all  his  entanglements, 
gave  up  his  paper,  dissolved  his  academ}^  and  taking 
leave  of  his  family,  at  once  devoted  himself  to  a  laborious 
and  active  public  ministry,  in  which  he  soon  began  to 
develop  those  latent  powers  which  the  quick  perception 
of  Mr.  Campbell  had  long  since  noticed  and  admired. 

During  the  fall  months,  Mrs.  Campbell's  disease, 
which  in  the  summer  had  seemed  slightly  alleviated, 
began  rapidly  to  increase,  and  it  soon  became  apparent 
that  recovery  was  hopeless.  Of  this  she  had  herself 
long  been  convinced,  and  looked  forward  to  the  time  of 
her  release  with  the  utmost  composure.  Her  chief  de- 
sire seemed  to  be  that  she  might  first  see  her  youngest 
daughter,  Clarinda,  able  to  read  the  New  Testament. 
One  day,  when  Miss  Counselman  called  in  to  see  her, 
she  found  her  listening  to  her  little  daughter,  now  six 
years  old,  reading  to  her  out  of  the  sacred  volume,  upon 
which  occasion  she  remarked  that  the  Lord  had  granted 
her  desire,  and  that  she  was  fully  ready  to  depart.  A 
few  days  before  her  death  she  took  the  opportunity,  when 
Mr.  Campbell  was  alone  with  her  watching  by  her  bed- 
side, to  renew  the  subject  of  his  future  marriage,  and  to 
express  to  him  again  her  earnest  wish  that,  as  her  de- 
parture was  now  nigh  at  hand,  he  would,  should  he  con- 
clude to  marry  again  and  it  should  prove  in  harmony 
with  his  own  feelings,  choose  her  beloved  friend,  Miss 
Bakewell.  Deeply  moved  and  unable  any  longer  to 
cherish  the  hope  that  she  might  be  spared  to  him,  Mr. 
Campbell  could  not  withhold  his  assent,  and  his  acqui- 


MATERNAL  SOLICITUDE. 


177 


€scence  in  her  wishes  gave  her  the  utmost  happiness. 
This  was  on  Tuesday.  The  next  day,  Mr.  Campbell 
was  requested  to  go  to  Mr.  Gist's,  about  one  and  a  half 
miles  distant,  to  unite  a  daughter  of  the  latter  in  mar- 
riage with  John  Encell.  He  did  not  like  to  leave  his 
suffering  wife,  but  she  herself  urged  him  to  go,  and  he 
finally  consented,  coming  back  immediately  after  the 
ceremony.  Miss  Bakewell  had  come  out  to  attend  the 
wedding,  and  came  down  afterward  in  company  with 
Mary  Encell  to  see  Mrs.  Campbell.  All  unconscious 
of  what  had  occurred  in  relation  to  herself,  she  spent 
most  of  the  day  in  singing  hymns  for  Mrs.  Campbell, 
in  which  the  latter  took  great  delight,  especially  in  the 
one  beginning, 

"  We  sing  the  Saviour's  wondrous  death  : 
He  conquered  when  he  fell." 

In  the  evening  Miss  Bakewell  was  compelled  to  return 
to  Wellsburg,  and  Mrs.  Campbell  died  on  the  following 
Monday,  October  22d.  Shortly  before  her  death,  she 
assembled  her  five  remaining  daughters  around  her 
bed,  and  made  to  them  an  address  expressive  of  her 
hopes  and  wishes  in  regard  to  their  future  course  in  life. 
After  speaking  of  her  gratification  in  knowing  that  they 
could  all  now  read  the  Scriptures,  she  thus  continued : 

"  The  happiest  circumstance  in  all  my  life  I  consider  to  be 
that  which  gave  me  a  taste  for  reading  and  a  desire  for  under- 
standing the  New  Testament.  This  I  have  considered,  and 
do  now  consider,  to  be  one  of  the  greatest  blessings  which  has 
resulted  to  me  from  my  acquaintance  with  your  father.  Al- 
though I  have  had  a  religious  education  from  my  father,  and 
was  early  taught  the  necessity  and  importance  of  religion,  yet 
it  was  not  until  I  became  acquainted  with  the  contents  of  this 
book,  which  you  have  seen  me  so  often  read,  that  I  came  to 
understand  the  character  of  God,  and  to  enjoy  a  fiiim  and 

VOL.  II. — M 


17S       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


unbounded  confidence  in  all  his  promises.  .  .  .  I  say  to  you, 
then,  with  ail  the  atlection  of  a  mother,  and  now  about  to 
leave  you,  I  entreat  you,  as  you  love  me  and  your  own  lives, 
study  and  meditate  upon  the  words  and  actions  of  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ.  Remember  how  kindly  he  has  spoken  to  and 
of  little  children,  and  that  there  is  no  good  thing  which  he 
will  withhold  from  them  who  love  him  and  walk  uprightly. 

*' With  regard  to  yoin-  father,  I  need  onlv,  I  trust,  tell  vou 
that  in  obeying  him  you  obey  God,  for  God  has  commanded 
you  to  honor  him,  and  in  honoring  vour  father  you  honor  Him 
that  bade  you  do  so.  It  is  my  greatest  joy  in  leaving  \  ou  that 
I  leave  you  under  the  care  of  one  who  can  instruct  yon  in  all  the 
concerns  of  life,  and  who.  I' know,  will  teach  you  to  clioose  the 
good  part  and  to  place  your  affections  upon  the  onlv  object  su- 
premely worthy  of  them.  Consider  him  as  your  best  earthly 
friend,  and,  next  to  your  heavenly  Father,  your  wisest  and  most 
competent  instructor,  guardian  and  guide.  While  he  is  over 
you,  or  you  under  him,  never  commence  nor  undertake  nor 
prosecute  any  important  object  without  advising  with  him. 
Make  him  your  counselor,  and  still  remember  the  first  com- 
mandment with  a  promise. 

As  to  your  conversation  with  one  another,  when  it  is  not 
upon  the  ordinary  duties  of  life,  let  it  be  on  subjects  of  import- 
ance, improving  to  your  minds.  I  beseech  you  to  avoid  that 
light,  foolish  and  vain  conversation  about  dress  and  fashion 
so  common  among  females.  Neither  let  the  subject  of  ap- 
parel fill  your  hearts  nor  dwell  upon  your  tongues.  You 
never  heard  me  do  so.  Let  your  apparel  be  sober,  clean  and 
modest,  but  everything  vain  and  fantastic  avoid.  .  .  . 
have  often  told  you,  and  instanced  to  you,  when  in  health, 
the  vain  pursuits  and  unprofitable  vanities  of  some  females 
who  have  spent  the  prime  and  vigor  of  their  lives  in  the  ser- 
vile pursuits  of  fashion,  .  .  .  and  what  and  where  are  they 
now  ?  Let  these  be  as  beacons  to  yon.  I  therefore  entreat  you 
neither  to  think,  nor  talk  of,  nor  pursue  these  subjects.  Strive 
only  to  approve  yourselves  to  God,  and  to  commend  your- 
selves to  the  discerning,  the  intelligent,  the  pious.    Seek  their 


MARITAL  TRIBUTE. 


179 


society,  consult  their  taste  and  make  yourselves  worthy  of 
their  esteem. 

But  there  is  one  thing  which  is  necessary  to  all  goodness, 
which  is  essential  to  all  virtue,  godliness  and  happiness;  I 
mean  necessary  to  the  daily  and  constant  exhibition  of  every 
Christian  accomplisiiment,  and  that  is  to  keep  in  mind  the 
words  that  Hagar  uttered  in  iier  solitude:  ^Thou  God  seest 
mc*  You  must  know  and  feel,  my  dear  children,  that  my 
affection  for  you,  and  my  desires  for  your  present  and  future 
happiness,  cannot  be  surpassed  by  any  human  being.  The 
God  that  made  me  your  mother  has,  with  his  own  finger, 
planted  this  in  my  breast,  and  his  Holy  Spirit  has  written  it 
upon  my  heart.  Love  you  I  must,  feel  for  you  I  must,  and  I 
once  more  say  unto  you,  remember  these  words,  and  not  the 
words  only,  but  the  truth  contained  in  them  :  ''Thou  God  seest 
me.'  This  will  be  a  guard  against  a  thousand  follies  and 
against  every  temptation.  .  .  . 

**  I  cannot  speak  to  you  much  more  upon  this  subject.  I 
have  alreadv,  and  upon  various  occasions,  suggested  to  you 
other  instructions,  which  I  need  not,  as  indeed  I  cannot,  now 
repeat.  .  .  .  That  we  may  all  meet  together  in  the  heavenly 
kingdom  is  my  last  praver  for  you,  and,  as  you  desire  it.  re- 
member the  words  of  Him  who  is  the  zvay^  the  truth  and  the 
lifer 

Such  were  the  last  words  and  some  of  the  tender  ap- 
peals of  this  address,  which  Mr.  Campbell  subsequently 
published  entire  in  the  Christian  Baptist,"  and  which 
strikingly  exhibits  the  calm  resignation,  the  pious 
yearnings  and  the  conhding,  earnest  trust  of  this  Chris- 
tian mother  and  faithful  wife,  of  whom  in  her  obituary 
notice  her  husband  bore  this  testimony  : 

The  deceased  was  a  Christian  in  profession  and  practice, 
and  did  in  her  life  and  deportment  for  many  years  recommend 
the  excellency  of  the  Christian  profession  to  all  her  acquaint- 
ance ;  and  during  her  long  illness,  and  in  her  death,  she  did 
exhibit  to  her  numerous  connexions  and  friends  how  tran- 


I  So       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


quilly  and  cheertully  a  Christian  can  meet  death  and  resign 
the  spirit  into  the  hands  of  a  gracious  and  divine  Redeemer. 
'  I  die,'  she  said,  '  without  an  anxiety  about  anything  upon  the 
earth,  having  committed  all  that  interests  me  into  the  hands 
of  my  faithful  and  gracious  heavenly  Father,  and  in  the  con- 
fident expectation  of  a  glorious  resurrection  when  the  Lord 
Jesus  appears  unto  the  salvation  of  all  who  trust  in  him.' " 

It  was  evident  to  all  that  Mr.  Campbell  felt  his  be- 
reavement most  deeply.  Forbidden,  however,  to  sor- 
row as  those  without  hope,  possessed  of  remarkable 
control  over  his  emotional  nature,  and  prompted  to 
cheerful  activities  by^  an  innate  unflagging  energy,  his 
sadness,  chastened  by^  Christian  resignation,  w^as  re- 
served and  silent,  betraying  itself  only  at  times  in  the 
quiet  moments  of  confidential  intercourse,  in  the  sub- 
dued spirit  which  marked  his  subsequent  essays,  and  in 
the  character  of  the  brief  extracts  which  he  occasion- 
ally placed  in  the  "  Christian  Baptist,"  as  "  The  Dying 
Mother,"  from  Pollock's  Course  of  Time,  and  the  beau- 
tiful passage  from  Irving  upon  "  Sorrow  for  the  Dead" 
— "the  only^  sorrow  from  which  we  refuse  to  be  di- 
vorced." 

Having  been  much  dissatisfied  with  the  character  of 
many  of  the  psalms  and  hymns  in  general  use,  whose 
sentiments  he  thought  were  not  in  accordance  with  the 
New  Testament,  Mr.  Campbell  was  at  this  time  en- 
gaged in  preparing  a  hymn-book  from  which  unscrip- 
tural  sentiments  were  to  be  excluded,  and  which  he 
hoped  to  render  acceptable  to  the  now  nurnerous  friends 
of  the  Reformation.  This  volume,  published  in  May, 
1828,  contained  onl}'  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  pieces, 

^  together  with  a  treatise  on  Psalmody  as  a  preface  and 
an  essay  on  prayer  at  the  close,  making  in  all  two  hun- 

*      dred  pages.    In  addition  to  his  other  business,  he  was 


WALTER  SCOTT. 


l8l 


now  acting  as  postmaster.  Having  found  it  inconve- 
nient to  send  his  letters  and  publications  to  West  Lib- 
erty office,  distant  four  miles,  he  had  induced  the  post- 
office  department  to  establish  a  post-office  at  his  own 
residence,  which  was  thenceforth  denominated  Beth- 
any, there  being  a  post-town  called  '*  Buffalo"  in  Mason 
county.  This  was  highly  advantageous  to  him  in  many 
respects.  Being  appointed  postmaster,  he  enjoyed  the 
franking  privilege,  and  was  enabled  greatly  to  extend 
his  correspondence.  As  he  was  much  occupied,  how- 
ever, and  often  absent  from  home,  he  was  under  the 
necessity  of  employing  constantly  a  deputy  to  attend  to 
the  business  of  the  office,  which  he.  continued  to  retain 
at  his  own  pleasure  for  thirty  years,  through  all  the 
different  administrations  and  political  changes  in  the 
government. 

Meanwhile,  upon  the  Western  Reserve,  the  Reform- 
ation had  received  an  extraordinary  impetus.  Placed 
at  length  in  a  field  where  his  religious  aspirations  and 
fertile  genius  had  room  for  development,  Walter  Scott 
had  entered  upon  his  labors  with  a  fervid  zeal  which 
silenced  timid  counsels  and  disregarded  conventional 
impediments.  He  was  then  in  the  full  vigor  of  life, 
being  nearly  thirty-one  years  of  age,  having  been  born 
in  December,  1796,  in  the  town  of  Moffat,  and  his 
preparation  for  the  work  before  him  had  been  ample. 
Educated  at  the  University  of  Edinburgh,  he  had 
largely  added  to  his  literary  acquirements  by  assiduous 
devotion  to  study  and  self-culture  while  engaged  in 
teaching  during  the  ten  years  preceding  his  appoint- 
ment as  evangelist.  Much  more  had  he  accumulated 
vast  stores  of  accurate  Scripture  knowledge  and  en- 
larged religious  observation  and  experience.  His 
memory  was  thoroughly  furnished  with  the  word  of 

16 


l82       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


God  :  his  faith  and  love  had  culminated  in  an  affection- 
ate personal  attachment  to  the  Redeemer,  who  was 
ever  present  to  his  thoughts,  and  his  imagination  had 
been  tired  by  the  glorious  hopes  and  promises  of  the 
gospel,  which  he  ardently  longed  to  see  triumphant,  in 
its  primitive  purity,  over  the  errors  and  corruptions  of 
the  time.  Having  an  agreeable  musical  voice  and 
graceful  manner,  a  lively  fancy  replete  with  classical 
and  sacred  imagery  and  abounding  in  striking  illustra- 
tions, he  possessed  man\-  of  the  qualities  of  the  suc- 
cessful orator.  At  the  same  time,  his  genius  for  analy- 
sis and  classification,  and  his  thorough  insight  into  the 
nature  of  the  Chrislian  institution,  enabled  him  to  pre- 
sent its  great  and  stirring  themes  with  a  force  and  clear- 
ness seldom  equaled.  The  circumstances,  too,  around 
him  were  propitious.  The  churches  had  already  been, 
in  a  good  measure,  liberated  from  the  usages  and  opin- 
ions of  the  regular  Baptists,  and  prepared  to  receive 
the  simple  teachings  of  the  Scriptures.  There  was  no 
longer  that  stagnation  of  religious  thought  which  cha- 
racterizes a  sect.  There  had  been  for  some  years  a 
spirit  of  religious  inquiry,  and,  with  many,  a  diligent 
searching  of  the  Scriptures,  which  had  created  a  long- 
ing for  a  greater  contbrmity  to  the  primitive  standard. 
There  was,  in  consequence,  a  considerable  increase  ot 
knowledge  and  a  corresponding  growth  of  liberality  of 
sentiment,  which  had  extended  far  beyond  the  Baptist 
community,  and  rendered  the  people  of  this  whole  re- 
gion more  favorable  to  religious  investigation.  Other 
religious  movements,  too,  had  been  for  some  time 
operating  to  weaken  the  power  of  sectarianism  and  to 
restore  the  Bible  to  its  proper  position.  Prominent 
among  these,  was  one  in  many  respects  nearly  allied  to 
the  Reformation  advocated  by  Mr.  Campbell,  and  which 


CHRISTIAN  CONNECTION. 


183 


was  at  this  time  making  great  progress  in  Ohio,  under 
the  labors  of  several  popular  preachers.  Two  of  these, 
as  already  mentioned,  John  Secrest  and  Joseph  Gaston, 
had  attended  the  late  meeting  of  the  Mahoning  x\sso- 
ciation,  participating  in  its  exercises  and  in  the  ap- 
pointment of  Walter  Scott,  and  sympathizing  in  the 
principles  of  the  Reformation.  The  religious  body  to 
which  they  belonged,  had  an  earlier  origin  than  that 
which  sprung  from  Mr.  Campbell's  labors ;  but  as  this 
was  the  first  occasion  on  which  the  reformers  came 
fairly  into  contact  with  the  Christian  Connection,"  it 
will  be  proper  here  to  notice  the  chief  points  in  its 
history. 


CHAPTER  VI. 


Reformatory  efforts—"  Christian  Connection  "— B.  \V.  Stone— Religious  ex- 
citement—Divinity of  Christ— Joseph  Gaston— Office  of  baptism  restored 
— Incidents — Aylett  Raines — Ancient  gospel. 

THE  command  to  preach  the  gospel  to  every  crea- 
ture implied  that  it  was  adapted  to  the  compre- 
hension of  every  creature.  As  the  great  mass  of  man- 
kind are  incapable  of  comprehending  abstruse  and 
mysterious  subjects,  the  primitive  gospel  must  have 
been,  therefore,  something  extremely  simple  in  its  state- 
ment and  evident  in  its  nature.  Moreover,  as  this  gos- 
pel was  designed  and  titted  to  save  mankind  and  restore 
them  to  the  favor  and  fellowship  of  God,  it  must  have 
been  equally  designed  and  fitted  to  bring  them  into 
union  and  fellowship  with  each  other.  When  men  sub- 
stituted the  incomprehensible  dogmas  of  theology  for 
the  simple  word  of  God,  and  when  these,  elaborated 
and  systematized  in  the  form  of  authoritative  creeds, 
became  the  means  of  perpetuating  division  and  aliena- 
tion, it  is  not  strange  that  some,  mistaking  these  systems 
for  Christianity,  should  denounce  it  as  false  and  injurious 
to  society,  or  that  those  who  loved  the  truth  should  re- 
gard with  aversion  those  false  divisive  standards  and 
those  sectarian  titles  and  designations  by  which  religious 
partyism  and  strife  were  constantly  maintained.  While 
sectarianism  had  thus,  on  the  one  hand,  been  the  fruitful 
parent  of  infidelitNS  it  had,  on  the  other,  provoked  those 
who  perceived  its  baleful  influence  to  seek  its  overthrow, 

184 


REPUBLICAN  METHODISTS. 


185 


and  to  endeavor  to  restore  to  the  world  the  simple  gos- 
pel as  it  was  preached  in  the  beginning,  and  presented 
upon  the  faithful  page  of  inspiration. 

The  close  of  the  eighteenth  and  the  early  part  of  the 
present  century  were  remarkably  characterized  by  efforts 
of  this  kind,  originating  almost  simultaneously  in  widely- 
separated  regions  and  amidst  different  and  antagonistic 
sects.  The  one  with  which  the  Reformers  were  now 
brought  into  communication  on  the  Western  Reserve  was 
itself  a  combination  of  several  distinct  and  independent 
attempts  at  the  much-desired  reformation  of  religious 
society.  One  of  these  originated  among  the  Methodists 
when  the  establishment  of  American  independence  had 
released  them  from  all  foreign  control  and  the  subject 
of  church  government  became  necessarily  a  matter  of 
discussion  among  them.  Thomas  Coke,  Francis  Asbury 
and  others  labored  to  establish  prelacy,  being  them- 
selves regarded  as  "  superintendents  "  or  bishops.  On 
the  other  hand,  James  O'Kelly,  of  North  Carolina,  and 
some  other  preachers  of  that  State  and  of  Virginia,  with 
a  number  of  members,  pleaded  for  a  congregational  sys- 
tem, and  that  the  New  Testament  should  be  the  only 
creed  and  discipline.  As  the  episcopal  party,  however, 
were  largely  in  the  ascendant,  these  Retbrmers  were 
unable  to  accomplish  their  Welshes,  and  finally  seceded 
at  Manakin  Town,  North  Carolina,  December  25, 1793. 
At  first  they  took  the  name  of  '^Republican  Methodists," 
but,  at  a  conference  subsequently  held,  resolved  to  be 
known  as  Christians  only,  to  acknowledge  no  head 
over  the  Church  but  Christ,  and  to  have  no  creed  or  dis- 
cipline but  the  Bible.  The  success  of  this  movement 
in  the  South,  as  it  respects  increase  of  numbers,  was 
not  great,  and  it  was  after  a  time  weakened  by  changes 
and  removals,  but  its  principles  were  still  maintained 

16  * 


1 86       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


by  certain  churches  and  a  good  many  individuals 
throughout  this  region. 

Not  long  afterward,  a  physician  of  Hartland,  Ver- 
mont— Abner  Jones,  then  a  member  of  a  Baptist  church 
— becoming  greatly  dissatisfied  with  sectarian  names 
and  creeds,  began  to  urge  that  ail  these  should  be 
abolished,  and  that  true  piety  alone  should  be  made  the 
ground  of  Christian  fellowship.  In  September,  1800, 
he  succeeded,  by  persevering  zeal,  in  establishing  a 
church  of  twenty-five  members  at  Lyndon,  Vermont, 
and  subsequently  one  in  Bradford  and  one  in  Pierpont, 
New  Hampshire,  in  March,  1803.  A  Baptist  preacher, 
named  Elias  Smith,  who  was  about  this  time  laboring 
with  great  success  in  Portsmouth,  New  Hampshire,  nowr 
adopted  Dr.  Jones'  views  and  carried  his  church  along 
with  him.  Several  other  ministers,  both  from  the  Reg- 
ular and  the  Freewill  Baptists,  soon  after  followed,  and 
with  other  zealous  preachers,  who  were  raised  up  in  the 
newly-organized  churches,  traveled  extensively  and 
made  many  converts  in  the  New  England  States,  as 
well  as  in  New  York,  Penns3'lvania,  Ohio  and  the 
British  Provinces.  Those  concerned  in  this  movement 
also  assumed  the  title  of  "  Christians and  adopted  the 
Bible  as  the  only  standard  of  faith  and  practice. 

About  the  same  period,  a  third  movement  of  a  similar 
character  originated  in  Kentucky,  under  the  influence 
V  of  a  Presbyterian  preacher.  Barton  Warren  Stone,  who, 
/  on  his  own  account  no  less  than  from  his  subsequent 
connection  with  the  subject  of  these  memoirs,  deserves  a 
more  extended  notice.  He  was  a  native  of  Maryland, 
born  December  24,  1772.  His  father  dying  not  long 
after,  the  family  removed  in  1779  to  Pittsylvania 
county,  Virginia,  where  he  remained  until  about  six- 
teen years  of  age.    Being  fond  of  learning,  he  made 


BARTON  WARREN  STONE. 


187 


great  proficiency  in  the  school  to  which  he  had  access, 
and  speedily  mastered  the  ordinary  branches  of  an 
English  education.  After  the  Revolutionary  war,  the 
Baptists,  and  then  the  Methodists,  created  great  religious 
excitement  in  the  neighborhood,  and  he  became  greatly 
impressed  and  agitated  in  relation  to  religion.  Vacil- 
lating between  the  two  parties,  and  not  knowing  what 
course  to  pursue,  his  religious  impressions  soon  wore 
off,  and  having  determined  to  obtain  a  liberal  education 
with  a  view  of  engaging  in  the  legal  profession,  he 
entered,  in  1790,  a  noted  academy  in  Guilford.  North 
Carolina,  under  the  care  of  Dr.  D.  Caldwell.  Here  he 
found  great  religious  excitement  existing  under  the 
ministrations  of  James  McGready,  an  earnest  and  popular 
Presbyterian  preacher.  Although  the  subject  of  religion 
had  now  become  distasteful  to  him,  he,  after  some  time, 
consented  to  accompany  his  room-mate  to  hear  Mr. 
^IcGready,  upon  which  all  his  religious  feelings  revived 
with  tenfold  force,  and  for  a  whole  year  he  was,  as  he 
states,  "  tossed  on  the  waves  of  uncertainty,  laboring, 
praying  and  striving  to  obtain  saving  faith — sometimes 
desponding  and  almost  despairing  of  ever  getting  it.** 
After  a  long  struggle,  he  at  length  obtained  peace  of 
mind  in  a  retired  wood,  to  which  he  had  resorted  with 
his  Bible,  after  hearing  a  touching  discourse  from  William 
Hodge  on  the  text,     God  is  love.'' 

After  completing  his  course  of  studies  amidst  pecu- 
niary difficulties,  he  experienced  a  great  desire  to  preach 
the  gospel,  but  was  again  involved  in  disquietude  and 
doubt  in  relation  to  his  being  divinely  called  and  sent. 
Assured  by  his  friend.  Dr.  Caldwell,  that  a  hearty  de- 
sire to  glorify  God  and  save  sinners  was  a  sufficient 
encouragement  to  make  the  trial,  he  became  a  candi- 
date for  the  ministry  in  the  Orange  Presbytery,  and 


l8S       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


placed  himself  under  the  direction  of  William  Hodge, 
of  Orange  county,  North  Carolina.  Here  "Witsius 
on  the  Trinity" — a  doctrine  to  which  he  had  as  yet  paid 
little  attention — was  placed  in  his  hands,  and  threw  his 
mind  into  a  state  of  great  perplexity,  so  that  he  began 
to  think  of  relinquishing  entirely  the  study  of  theology. 
Finding  some  relief,  however,  after  reading  Dr.  Watts* 
views  on  this  subject,  he  appeared  before  the  Presbytery 
and  was  examined  by  the  Rev.  Henry  Patillo,  a  learned 
and  estimable  Scotchman,  now  advanced  in  years. 
Before  the  next  session  of  the  Presbytery,  however, 
when  he  was  to  receive  license,  he  fell  again  into  a 
depressed  state,  partly  owing  to  pecuniary  embarass- 
ments,  but  more  to  the  conflicting  and  abstruse  doctrines 
of  the  theology  with  which  he  had  been  occupied. 
Concluding  finally  to  give  up  the  idea  of  preaching,  he 
set  out  for  Georgia  to  engage  in  some  other  pursuit. 
Here,  through  the  influence  of  his  brothers,  who  lived 
in  Oglethorpe  county,  he  was  appointed  professor  of 
languages  in  an  academy  near  Washington,  where  he 
taught  with  great  acceptance  until  the  spring  of  1796. 
Being  now  provided  with  means  to  pay  his  debts  and 
his  desire  to  preach  having  revived,  he  resigned  his 
position  and  attended  the  meeting  of  the  Orange  Pres- 
bytery, where  he  received  license,  the  venerable  old 
father  who  addressed  the  candidates  presenting  to  each, 
not  the  Confession  of  Faith,  but  the  Bible,  with  the 
solemn  charge,  "  Go  ye  into  all  the  world  and  preach 
the  gospel  to  every  creature." 

Such,  however,  was  his  sense  of  the  responsibility 
of  the  ministerial  office  and  of  his  own  insutTiciency, 
that  during  his  early  efibrts  at  preaching  he  became 
again  so  much  discouraged  as  to  think  of  abandoning 
the  field ;  but  being  advised  to  go  to  the  West,  he  at 


THEOLOGICAL  PERPLEXITIES. 


189 


length  made  his  way,  through  many  dangers  and  trials, 
to  the  then  small  village  of  Nashville,  being  much 
encouraged  by  the  result  of  his  efforts  in  preaching  at 
various  points  along  the  route.  Afterward  he  visited 
Kentucky  on  a  preaching  tour,  and  remaining  some 
time  at  Caneridge  and  Concord,  in  Bourbon  county,  his 
labors  were  so  acceptable  to  the  churches  there  that 
he  was  invited  to  become  a  regular  pastor.  Before 
doing  this,  having  to  visit  Georgia  to  settle  some  busi- 
ness, he  was  appointed  by  the  Transylvania  Presbytery 
to  visit  Charleston,  in  South  Carolina,  in  order  to  solicit 
funds  to  establish  a  college  in  Kentucky.  It  was  during 
this  trip  that  he  became  wholly  adverse  to  the  institution 
of  slavery,  from  witnessing  its  results  as  he  had  never 
seen  them  before.  From  this  time,  he  constantly  used 
his  influence  in  favor  of  every  plan  likely  to  ameliorate 
or  change  the  condition  of  the  African  race,  and  inher- 
iting subsequently  some  slaves  belonging  to  his  mother's 
estate,  in  place  of  which  he  could  have  received  money, 
he  brought  them  out  to  Kentucky  and  set  them  free. 

Previous  to  his  ordination,  as  he  knew  he  would  be 
required  to  adopt  the  Westminster  Confession  as  the 
system  of  doctrine  taught  in  the  Bible,  he  determined 
to  give  it  once  more  a  thorough  examination.  This  re- 
vived all  his  old  perplexities  in  reference  to  the  Trinity, 
election,  reprobation,  etc.,  as  taught  in  the  standard. 
These  difliculties  he  had  for  a  considerable  time  man- 
aged to  evade  by  considering  the  above  subjects  as  un- 
fathomable mysteries,  and  by  dwelling  almost  wholly 
upon  the  practical  duties  of  religion.  But  now,  upon 
re-examination,  he  found  them  to  be  essential  parts  of 
the  system  he  would  be  required  to  teach.  He,  there- 
fore, with  that  candor  which  was  a  marked  feature  of 
his  character,  determined  to  tell  the  Presbytery  the 


190       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


state  of  his  mind  and  request  a  delay  until  he  could  be 
better  satisfied.  Before  the  Presbytery  was  constituted, 
he  took  Dr.  James  Blythe  and  Robert  Marshall,  two  of 
the  chief  ministers,  aside  and  made  known  to  them  his 
difficulties.  These  they  endeavored  in  vain  to  remove, 
and  finally  inquired  how  far  he  was  willing  to  receive 
the  Confession.  He  replied,  '*  As  far  as  it  is  consistent 
with  the  word  of  God."  They  concluded  this  was  suffi- 
cient, and  this  therefore  was  the  answer  distinctly  given 
by  Mr.  Stone  to  the  question,  "  Do  you  receive  and 
adopt  the  Confession  of  Faith  as  containing  the  system 
of  doctrine  taught  in  the  Bible?"  No  objection  being 
offered  by  any  one,  he  was  then  ordained. 

The  account  of  his  subsequent  mental  trials  which 
he  gives  in  his  autobiography,  from  which  the  above 
facts  are  taken,  is  strikingly  graphic  and  exhibits  the 
natural  results  of  theological  speculations  upon  a  heart 
yearning  for  truth. 

"About  this  time,"  says  he,  "my  mind  was  continually 
tossed  on  the  waves  of  speculative  divinity,  the  all-engrossing 
theme  of  the  religious  community  at  that  period.  Clashing, 
controversial  theories  were  urged  by  the  different  sects  with 
much  zeal  and  bad  feeling.  No  surer  sign  of  the  low  state 
of  true  religion.  I  at  that  time  believed  <?nd  taught  that 
mankind  were  so  totally  depraved  that  they  could  do  nothing 
acceptable  to  God  till  his  Spirit,  by  some  physical,  almighty 
and  mysterious  power,  had  quickened,  enlightened  and  re- 
generated the  heart,  and  thus  prepared  the  sinner  to  believe 
in  Jesus  for  salvation.  I  began  plainly  to  see  that  if  God 
did  not  perforin  this  regenerating  work  in  all,  it  must  be  be- 
cause he  chose  to  do  it  for  some  and  not  for  others,  and  that 
this  depended  upon  his  own  sovereign  will  and  pleasure.  It 
then  required  no  depth  of  intellect  to  see  that  this  doctrine  is 
inseparably  linked  with  unconditional  election  ar.d  reproba- 
tion, as  taught  in  the  Westminster  Confession  of  Faith.  They 


CAUSE  OF  UNBELIEF. 


191 


are  virtually  one,  and  this  was  the  reason  why  I  admitted  the 
decrees  of  election  and  reprobation,  having  admitted  the  doc- 
trine of  total  depravity.  They  are  inseparable.  Scores  of 
objections  would  continually  roll  across  my  mind  against  this 
system.  These  I  imputed  to  the  blasphemous  suggestions  of 
Satan,  and  labored  to  repel  them  as  satanic  temptations  and 
not  honestly  to  meet  them  with  Scripture  arguments.  Often 
when  I  was  addressing  the  listening  multitudes  on  the  doc- 
trine of  total  depravity,  on  their  inability  to  believe  and  on  the 
physical  power  of  God  to  produce  faith,  and  then  persuading 
the  helpless  to  repent  and  believe  the  gospel,  my  zeal  in  a 
moment  would  be  chilled  by  the  contradiction.  How  can 
they  believe?  How  can  they  repent.^  How  can  they  do 
impossibilities?  How  can  they  be  guilty  in  not  doing  them? 
Such  thoughts  would  almost  stifle  utterance,  and  were  as 
mountains  pressing  me  down  to  the  shades  of  death.  I  tried 
to  rest  in  the  common  salvo  of  that  day — /.  the  distinction 
between  natural  and  moral  ability  and  inability.  The  pulpits 
were  continually  ringing  with  this  doctrine  ;  but  to  my  mind 
it  ceased  to  be  a  relief ;  for  by  whatever  name  it  be  called, 
the  inability  was  in  the  sinner,  and  therefore  he  could  not  be- 
lieve nor  repent,  but  must  be  damned.  Wearied  with  the 
works  and  doctrines  of  men  and  distrustful  of  their  influence, 
'  I  made  the  Bible  my  constant  companion.  I  honestly,  earn- 
estly and  prayerfully  sought  for  the  truth,  determined  to  buy 
it  at  the  sacrifice  of  everything  else.  .  .  . 

From  this  state  of  perplexity  I  was  relieved  by  the  precious 
word  of  God.  From  reading  and  meditating  upon  it,  I  be- 
came convinced  that  God  did  love  the  whole  world,  and  that 
the  reason  why  he  did  not  save  all  was  because  of  their  un- 
belief, and  that  the  reason  why  they  believed  not  was  not 
because  God  did  not  exert  his  physical  almighty  power  in 
them  to  make  them  believe,  but  because  they  neglected  and 
received  not  his  testimony  given  in  the  Word  concerning  his 
Son  :  '  These  are  written  that  ye  might  believe  that  Jesus  is 
the  Christ,  the  Son  of  God,  and  that  believing  ye  might  have 
life  through  his  name.*    I  saw  that  the  requirement  to  be- 


192       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


lieve  in  the  Son  of  God  was  reasonable,  because  the  testi- 
mony given  was  sufficient  to  produce  faith  in  tlie  sinner,  and 
the  invitations  and  encouragement  of  the  gospel  were  suffi- 
cient, if  believed,  to  lead  him  to  the  Saviour  for  the  promised 
Spirit,  salvation  and  eternal  life. 

This  glimpse  of  faith,  of  truth,  was  the  first  divine  ray 
of  light  that  ever  led  my  distressed,  perplexed  mind  from  tlie 
labyrinth  of  Calvinism  and  error  in  which  I  had  so  long  been 
bewildered.  .  .  . 

"  Let  me  here  speak  when  I  shall  be  lying  under  the  clods 
of  the  grave.  Calvinism  is  among  the  heaviest  clogs  on 
Christianity  in  the  world.  It  is  a  dark  mountain  between 
heaven  and  earth,  and  is  amongst  the  most  discouraging  hin- 
/  drances  to  sinners  from  seeking  the  kingdom  of  Gotl,  and 
engenders  bondage  and  gh^oniiness  in  the  saints.  Its  in- 
fluence is  felt  throughout  the  Christian  world,  even  where  it 
is  least  suspected.  Its  first  link  is  total  depravity.  Yet  are 
there  thousands  of  precious  saints  in  this  system." 

About  this  period,  the  churches  had  fallen  into  a 
state  of  religious  apathy,  and  the  power  of  religion 
over  the  community  seemed  to  be  but  feebly  exerted. 
A  reaction,  however,  soon  began,  and  a  great  excite- 
ment occurred  in  the  south  of  Kentucky  and  in  Ten- 
nessee under  the  labors  of  certain  Presbyterian  minis- 
ters, among  whom  was  the  same  James  McGready 
whose  preaching  had  so  strongly  affected  B.  W.  Stone, 
while  a  youth,  in  North  Carolina.  Hearing  of  this  re- 
vival, Mr.  Stone,  in  the  spring  of  iSoi,  went  down  to 
attend  one  of  the  camp-meetings  held  in  Logan  county. 
Here  he,  for  the  first  time,  witnessed  those  strange 
agitations  and  cataleptic  attacks  which  had  formerly 
occurred  under  the  preaching  of  Whitefield  and  others. 
Many  of  the  people  were  struck  down  as  in  battle,  re- 
maining for  hours  motionless,  and  then  reviving  in  the 
agonies  of  remorse  or  in  the  ecstasies  of  spiritual  joy. 


RELIGIOUS  AWAKENING. 


Young  and  old,  saints  and  sinners,  seemed  equally 
subject  to  these  strange  affections,  which  Mr.  Stone, 
after  full  consideration,  believed  to  be  the  work  of  God, 
designed  to  arouse  men  to  attend  to  their  spiritual  inter- 
ests. Upon  his  return  to  Caneridge,  similar  effects 
occurred  under  his  own  labors,  and  a  protracted  meet- 
ing being  appointed  in  August,  the  interest  felt  through- 
out the  community  brought  together  a  multitude  esti- 
mated at  more  than  twenty  thousand.  Methodist  and 
Baptist  preachers  aided,  several  preaching  in  different 
parts  of  the  encampment  at  the  same  time,  and  it  was 
believed  that  not  less  than  one  thousand  persons,  among 
whom  were  many  infidels,  were  struck  down  or  other- 
wise affected  with  these  singular  agitations. 

It  cannot  be  denied  that  great  good  resulted  from  the 
intense  religious  excitement  which  thus  prevailed  in 
various  portions  of  Kentucky  and  Tennessee.  Nor 
were  its  effects  by  any  means  transient,  but  were  felt 
for  some  years  in  the  rapid  growth  of  the  churches  in 
general  and  in  a  greater  degree  of  religious  fervor. 
There  were  at  this  time  several  other  preachers  in  the 
Presbyterian  connection  who  coincided  in  religious 
views  with  Mr.  Stone.  These  were  McNamar,  Thomp- 
son, Dunlavy,  Marshall  and  David  Purviance,  the  lat- 
ter being  then  a  candidate  for  the  ministry.  As  they 
boldly  preached  the  sufficiency  of  the  gospel  to  save 
men,  and  that  the  testimony  of  God  was  designed  and 
able  to  produce  faith,  "  the  people  appeared,"  says  Mr. 
Stone,  "  as  just  awakened  from  the  sleep  of  ages  ;  they 
seemed  to  see  for  the  first  time  that  they  were  respon- 
sible beings,  and  that  the  refusal  to  use  the  means  ap- 
pointed was  a  damning  sin." 

This  departure  from  the  doctrines  of  the  Confession 
of  Faith  soon  occasioned  a  virulent  opposition  on  the 

VOL.  II. — N  17 


'94       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


pait  of  those  who  adhered  to  it.  The  Presbytery  of 
Springfield,  in  Ohio,  arraigned  McNamar,  and  the  case 
came  before  the  Synod  at  Lexington.  Perceiving  that 
the  decision  would  be  adverse,  the  five  preachers  above 
named  drew  up  a  protest  against  the  proceedings  and 
withdrew  from  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Synod.  The 
Synod  then  suspended  them  and  declared  their  congre- 
gations vacant.  This  act  produced  great  commotion 
and  division  among  the  churches,  and  confirmed  the 
seceding  ministers  in  their  opposition  to  creeds  and  au- 
thoritative ecclesiastical  systems.  They  at  first  formed 
themselves  into  a  Presbytery,  called  the  Springfield  Pres- 
bytery, and  published  an  "  x\pology,"  in  which  they 
stated  their  objections  to  the  Confession  of  Faith,  and 
their  abandonment  of  everything  but  the  Bible  as  the 
rule  of  faith  and  practice.  This  called  out  pamphlets 
and  sermons  from  the  opposite  side,  and  the  views  thus 
canvassed  became  widely  disseminated. 

Soon  after  his  separation,  Mr.  Stone  called  his  con- 
gregation together  and  informed  them  that  he  could  no 
longer  preach  to  support  Presbyterianism,  but  that  his 
labors  should  henceforth  be  directed  to  advance  Christ's 
kingdom  irrespective  of  party,  absolving  them  from  all 
pecuniary  obligations  to  him.  He  continued  preaching, 
however,  almost  daily  to  the  people  around,  and  en- 
deavored to  gain  a  support  by  cultivating  with  his  own 
hands  his  little  farm,  toiling  often  at  night  to  accomplish 
his  task.  Co-operating  with  his  associates  in  the 
*' Springfield  Presbytery"  in  preaching  and  planting 
churches,  a  year  had  scarcely  elapsed  until  such  an 
organization  was  perceived  to  be  unscriptural,  and  was 
by  common  consent  renounced,  all  agreeing  to  take  the 
name  of  Christian,  which  they  thought  the  only  proper 
title  for  Christ's  followers,  and  believed  to  have  been 


V/£t^^  OF  THE  ATONEMENT. 


:given  by  Divine  appointment  to  the  disciples  at  An- 
tioch.  This  step  occasioned  fresh  attacks  from  the  sects, 
but  in  spite  of  all  opposition  the  cause  advanced  and 
churches  and  preachers  were  multiplied,  the  independ- 
ency of  each  congregation  being  recognized  and  all 
legislative  and  delegated  authority  abolished. 

Shortly  after  this  (in  1807),  Mr.  Stone  became  much 
engaged  in  considering  the  difficult  questions  connected 
with  the  atonement,  and  published  some  pamphlets  on 
this  subject,  objecting  to  both  the  Calvinian  and  Ar- 
minian  views  of  it.  The  commercial  idea  of  the  atone- 
ment, satisfaction  for  debt,  and  that  Christ  died  a  tem- 
poral, spiritual  and  eternal  death  for  sinners,  involved, 
he  thought,  insuperable  difficulties.  Nor  did  the  view 
that  Christ  died  to  reconcile  the  Father  to  men  seem  to 
him  consistent  with  the  fact  that  while  men  were  yet 
sinners  Christ  was  sent  to  save  them,  or  with  the  Scrip- 
ture entreaty  addressed  to  them,  "  Be  ye  reconciled  to 
God."  Admitting  that  men  are  "  reconciled  to  God  by 
the  death  of  his  Son^''  he  regarded  this  restoration  of 
union  and    fellowship  with  God   as  constituting  the 

atonement,"  taking  this  word  in  its  ordinary  ety- 
mology as  compounded  of  at  and  one^  and  as  signify- 
ing that  God  and  man  were  thus  once  more  at-one — 
that  man,  having  received  pardon  through  faith  in  Christ, 
and  being  made  holy,  was  thus  admitted  to  fellowship 
with  God.* 


*  The  word  atone'''  was  formerly  spelled  "  attoite,^^  which  indicates  its 
proper  pronunciation.  That  it  is  compounded  of  "a/"  and  one'"'  is  a  mere 
hypothesis,  and  certainly  a  forced  and  awkward  derivation.  Coleridge  re- 
anarks  of  it  in  his  appendix  to  his  "  Statesman's  Manual :  "  This  is  a  mis- 
taken etymology.  .  .  .  Our  atojie  is  doubtless  of  the  same  stock  with  the 
Teutonic  aiissdhnen,  versdhuen,  the  Anglo-Saxon  taking  the  'V  for  the  "  j." 
Upon  these  words  Prof.  C.  L.  Loos  thus  remarks:  "The  simple  verb  is 
5UHNEN,  to  pay  tlie  ransom  for  anything ;  to  expiate.    The  prefix  aus  denotes 


196       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 

Mr.  Stone  possessed  a  mind  disposed  to  inquiry,  but 
one  which  could  not  long  endure  a  state  of  indecision 
or  perplexity,  and  must  therefore  soon  settle  down  upon 
whatever  view  seemed  to  him  the  simplest  and  the  most 
satisfactory.  But  the  wonderful  problem,  How  an  infi- 
nitely just  and  holy  God  could  forgive  sin  in  harmony 
with  his  character,  was  not  one  to  be  resolved  into  a 
form  so  simple  as  to  be  fully  comprehended  by  man's 
finite  understanding  ;  neither  was  it  to  be  disposed  of  by 
omitting  to  consider  it  at  all.  Hence  the  above  inade- 
quate conception  of  this  most  vital  subject,  which  left 
out  of  view  the  relations  of  the  death  of  Christ  to  the 
Divine  character  and  government,  and  confounded  the 
cause  with  one  of  its  effects^  at  once  exposed  Mr.  Stone 
to  the  charge  of  Arianism,  Socinianism,  etc.,  and  led 
to  a  protracted  controversy,  in  which  he  manifested 
much  ingenuity  and  ability,  but  was  led  into  trains  of 
reasoning  more  speculative  than  practical,  and  which 
were  calculated  to  lead  the  mind  away  from  the  simple 
teachings  of  the  Bible. 

About  this  period,  the  subject  of  baptism  began  to 
claim  particular  attention.  Previous,  indeed,  to  the 
great  excitement  in  1801,  Robert  Marshall  had  become 
satisfied  that  the  Baptists  were  right  in  regard  to  this 
question ;  upon  which  Mr.  Stone  tried  to  convince  him 
of  error,  but  in  the  course  of  the  discussion  was  made 
so  to  doubt  Pasdobaptism  that  he  discontinued  the  prac- 
tice entirely.  The  religious  awakening,  however,  soon 
engrossed  the  minds  of  all,  and  for  some  considerable 
time  baptism  was  left  out  of  view.    At  length,  many  be- 

tkorojighness^  as  per  in  Latin;  ver  indicates  reconciling  with  some  one  or 
some  thing  reciprocally.  The  noun  sUhne  (the  o  and  u  are  often  inter- 
changed) is  an  offering  or  sacrifice^  or  other  act  of  expiation — frequently  an  act 
of  sufferings  either  by  way  of  punishment  or  self-imposed." 


A  NOVEL  INVITATION. 


197 


coming  dissatisfied  with  their  infant  baptism,  a  meeting 
was  convened  to  consider  the  subject,  and  it  was  con- 
cluded that  each  one  should  act  freely  in  regard  to  it  ac- 
cording to  his  convictions  of  right,  and  that  it  should  be 
a  matter  of  forbearance. ,  As  the  Baptists  would  not  bap- 
tize except  on  condition  of  union  with  them,  and  none 
of  the  reformers  had  been  immersed,  a  difficulty  pre- 
sented itself  which  was  overcome,  as  a  similar  one  had 
been  in  the  case  of  Roger  Williams  and  his  coadjutors, 
the  preachers  baptizing  one  another,  on  the  ground  that 
if  authorized  to  preach  they  were  equally  authorized  to 
baptize.  The  practice  of  immersion  soon  prevailed  very 
generally  among  the  churches,  and  even  its  design  ap- 
pears to  have  been  at  one  time  dimly  recognized  by  Mr. 
Stone.  At  a  great  meeting  at  Concord  soon  after,  when 
mourners  were  daily  invited  to  collect  before  the  stand, 
and  many  of  the  same  persons  were  often  prayed  for 
without  receiving  the  expected  comfort,  "  the  words  of 
Peter  at  Pentecost,"  says  he,  *'  rolled  through  my  mind  : 
*  Repent  and  be  baptized  for  the  remission  of  sins,  and 
you  shall  receive  the  gift  of  the  Holy  Spirit.'  I  thought 
were  Peter  here  he  would  thus  address  these  mourners. 
I  quickly  arose  and  addressed  them  in  the  same  lan- 
guage, and  urged  them  to  comply."  The  effect  of  this 
novel  invitation,  however,  was  the  reverse  of  what  was 
intended.  Instead  of  affording  any  comfort,  it  only  per- 
plexed and  confused  the  "  mourners"  by  directing  their 
attention  to  an  untried  course  of  proceeding  utterly  un- 
known at  "  revivals,"  and  for  which  they  were  wholly 
unprepared.  While  their  hearts  were  lilled  with  ardent 
desires  for  special  operations  of  the  Holy  Spirit  and  of 
jlre^  this  unexpected  presentation  of  water  very  natur- 
ally produced  a  chilling  effect,"  as  Mr.  Stone  after- 
ward remarked,  and  tended  only  to  cool  the  ardor  of 

17  * 


ME  MO  IBS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 

their  excited  imaginations.  Mr.  Stone  himself,  indeed^ 
quoted  Peter's  language  on  this  occasion  evidently  more 
from  his  anxiety  to  suggest  some  means  of  relief,  and 
from  his  unbounded  confidence  in  the  word  of  God, 
than  from  any  proper  understanding  of  the  relation  of 
baptism  to  remission  of  sins.  Hence,  disappointed  in 
the  result,  he  declined  to  repeat  the  experiment,  and 
when,  subsequently,  the  doctrine  of  baptism  for  remis- 
sion of  sins  was  publicly  taught  by  Mr.  Campbell,  mani- 
fested at  first  some  repugnance  to  it. 

This  religious  movement  under  Mr.  Stone,  rapidly 
extending  itself  through  the  Western  States,  had,  some 
time  previously,  been  combined  with  those  two  similar 
ones  which,  without  concert  or  communication,  had 
originated  in  the  East  and  in  the  South.  These  three 
branches  thus  proceeding  Irom  the  three  principal 
parties — the  Methodists,  the  Baptists  and  the  Presby- 
terians— had  then  formed  what  was  called  the  '*  Chris- 
tian Connection."  agreeing  in  general  in  their  views 
and  having  associations  called  conferences  in  each 
State,  consisting  of  ministers  and  delegates  from  the 
churches,  but  exercising  no  control  over  them.  The 
leading  purposes  of  the  entire  movement  were  not  to 
establish  any  peculiar  or  distinctive  doctrines,  but  to  as- 
sert lor  individuals  and  churches  Christian  liberty  ;  to 
escape  the  thraldom  of  human  creeds :  to  make  the 
Bible  the  only  guide ;  to  secure  the  right  of  private 
judgment;  and  to  follow  the  simplicity  of  the  primitive 
Christians. 

While  the  features  of  this  organization  were  thus,  in 
a  good  measure,  similar  to  those  of  the  Reformation  in 
which  Mr.  Campbell  \\  as  engaged,  there  were  some 
characteristic  differences.  With  the  former,  the  idea 
of  uniting  all  men  under  Christ  was  predominant ;  with 


DISTINCTIVE  DIFFERENCES. 


199 


the  latter,  the  desire  of  an  exact  conformity  to  the  primi- 
tive faith  and  practice.  The  one  occupied  itseh*  chiefly 
in  casting  abroad  the  sweep-net  of  the  gospel,  which 
gathers  fishes  of  every  kind  ;  the  other  was  more  intent 
upon  collecting  "the  good  into  vessels"  and  casting  "the 
bad  away."  Hence  the  former  engaged  mainly  in 
-preaching — the  latter  in  teaching.  The  revivalist  ma- 
chinery of  protracted  meetings,  warm  exhortation,  per- 
sonal entreaty,  earnest  prayers  for  conversion  and 
union,  accompanied  by  a  belief  in  special  spiritual 
operations  and  the  use  of  the  mourner's  seat,  existed 
with  the  one,  while,  with  the  other,  the  matters  of  chief 
interest  were  the  disentanglement  of  the  Christian  faith 
from  modern  corruptions  of  it  and  the  recovery  of  the 
gospel  ordinances  and  ancient  order  of  things.  There 
had  indeed  been  an  almost  entire  neglect  of  evangeli- 
zation on  the  part  of  the  few  churches  which  were 
originally  connected  with  Mr.  Campbell  in  his  reform- 
atory efforts.  They  had  not  a  single  itinerant  preacher, 
and,  although  they  made  great  progress  in  biblical 
knowledge,  they  gained  comparatively  few  converts. 
The  churches  of  the  Christian  Connection,  on  the  other 
hand,  less  inimical  to  speculative  theories,  granting 
membership  to  the  unimmersed  and  free  communion  to 
all,  and  imperfectly  acquainted  with  the  order,  discipline 
and  institutions  of  the  churches,  made,  through  an  effi- 
cient itineracy,  large  accessions  everywhere,  and  in- 
creased with  surprising  rapidity.  They  were  charac- 
terized by  a  simplicity  of  belief  and  manners  and  a 
liberality  of  spirit  highly  captivating,  and  possessed,  in 
general,  a  striking  and  praisew^orth}-  readiness  to  receive 
additional  light  from  the  Bible.  They  gained  over, 
consequently,  from  the  religious  community  many  of 
the  pious  and  peace-loving  who  groaned  under  the  evils 


200       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


of  sectarianism,  while  the  earnest  exhortations  of  zealous 
preachers  and  their  direct  personal  appeals  to  sinners 
obtained  large  accessions  from  the  world. 

Mr.  Campbell  had  for  some  years  been  aware  of  the 
existence  of  this  body  of  reformers,  and  in  1824  had, 
at  Georgetown,  Kentucky,  as  formerly  related,  formed 
an  agreeable  personal  acquaintance  with  B.  W.  Stone, 
which  became  still  more  intimate  during  subsequent 
visits.  In  the  3'ear  1826,  Mr.  Stone  commenced  pub- 
lishing a  monthly  periodical  called  the  "Christian  Mes- 
senger," which  was  well  sustained.  In  this  paper  he  had 
addressed,  in  the  earlier  part  of  this  year  (1827),  a 
communication  to  the  editor  of  the  "  Christian  Baptist" 
in  reference  to  an  exposition  which  Mr.  Campbell  had 
given  of  John  i.  i,  objecting  to  some  expressions  as 
tantamount  to  those  of  the  Calvinists,  and  descanting 
upon  some  of  the  difficulties  involved  in  their  views  of 
the  Trinity.  In  the  commencement  of  this  article,  Mr. 
Stone  speaks  thus  of  Mr.  Campbell's  labors  and  of  the 
good  effect  they  had  already  produced  in  correcting  a 
tendency  to  theological  speculation  : 

''Your  talents  and  learning  we  have  highly  respected  ;  your 
course  we  have  generally  approved  ;  your  religious  views  in 
many  points  accord  with  our  own  ;  and  to  one  point  we  have 
hoped  we  both  were  directing  our  efforts,  which  point  is,  to 
unite  the  flock  of  Christ  scattered  in  the  dark  and  cloudy 
day.  We  have  seen  you,  with  the  arm  of  a  Sampson  and  the 
courage  of  a  David,  tearing  away  the  long-established  founda- 
tion of  partyism,  human  authoritative  creeds  and  confessions; 
we  have  seen  you  successfully  attacking  many  false  notions 
and  speculations  in  religion,  and  against  every  substitute  for 
the  Bible  and  its  simplicity  we  have  seen  you  exerting  all 
your  mighty  powers.  Human  edifices  begin  to  totter  and 
their  builders  to  tremble.  .  .  .  Not  as  unconcerned  spectators 
have  ve  looked  on  the  mighty  war  between  you  and  your  op 


RELIGIOUS  THEORIES. 


20 1 


posers — a  war  in  which  many  of  us  had  been  engaged  for 
many  years  before  you  entered  the  field.  You  have  made  a 
diversion  in  our  favor,  and  to  you  is  turned  the  attention  of 
creed-makers  and  party- spirits,  and  on  you  is  hurled  their 
ghostly  thunder.  We  enjoy  a  temporary  peace  and  respite 
from  war  where  you  are  known.  From  you  we  have  learned 
more  fully  the  evil  of  speculating  on  religion,  and  have  made 
considerable  proficiency. in  correcting  ourselves." 

He  then  intimated  that  Mr.  Campbell  had  departed 
from  his  own  principles  in  his  commentary  on  John  i.  I, 
by  indulging  in  speculative  views  concerning  the  pre- 
existent  state  of  Christ,  and  goes  on  at  considerable 
length  to  dwell  upon  the  difficulties  arising,  on  princi- 
ples of  reason,  from  the  hypothesis  that  the  "  Son  of 
God,"  either  under  this  title  or  as  *'  the  Word,"  had  an 
independent  existence  in  eternity.  In  the  conclusion, 
however,  he  says  :  "  We  believe  the  intelligent  person, 
the  Word  or  the  Son  of  God,  existed  long  before  he 
was  called  Jesus,  Christ  or  Messiah."  * 

*  Mr.  Stone  was  quite  mistaken  in  supposing  that  Mr.  Campbell  designed 
to  advance  any  theory  upon  the  subject  of  Christ's  pre-existence.  This  object 
indeed  was  expressly  disavowed  in  the  article  referred  to  (C.  B.,  vol.  iv.,  p. 
230).  He  desired  merely  to  assist  the  mind  of  the  inquirer  in  conceiving 
relation  existing  between  the  Father  and  the  Son,  as  set  forth  by  John  in  the 
beginning  of  his  testimony.  Availing  himself  of  his  remarkable  skill  in 
tracing  analogies,  he,  in  a  very  striking  manner,  had  compared  the  relation 
existing  between  an  idea  and  the  word  by  which  it  is  expressed,  with  thai 
indicated  by  John  i.  i  between  God  and  the  Word.  "  As  a  word,"  said  he^ 
"is  an  exact  image  of  an  idea,  so  is  '  The  Word''  an  exact  image  of  the  in- 
visible God.  As  a  word  cannot  exist  without  an  idea,  nor  an  idea  without  a 
word,  so  God  never  was  without  *  The  Word,^  nor  *  The  Word'  without  God; 
or  as  a  word  is  of  equal  age  or  co-etaneous  with  its  idea,  so  '  The  Word'  and 
God  are  co-eternal.  And  as  an  idea  does  not  create  its  word,  nor  a  word  its 
idea,  so  God  did  not  create  *  The  Word,'  nor  •  The  Word;  God.  Such  a 
view  does  the  language  of  John  suggest.  And  to  this  do  all  the  Scriptures 
agree.  For  *  The  Word'  was  made  flesh,  and  in  consequence  of  becoming 
incarnate  he  is  styled  the  Son  of  God,  the  Only  Begotten  of  the  Father.  As 
from  eternity  God  was  manifest  in  and  by  *  TJu  Word,'  so  now  God  is  mam. 


202       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


Mr.  Campbell  commences  his  reply  thus  : 

Brother  Stone  :  I  will  call  you  brother  because  you 
once  told  me  that  you  could  conscientiously  and  devoutly 
pray  to  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  as  though  there  was  no  other 
God  in  tlie  universe  than  he.  I  then  asked  you  of  what  con- 
sequence was  all  the  long  controversy  you  had  waged  with 
the  Calvinists  on  the  Trinitarian  questions.  They  did  prac- 
tically no  more  than  pray  to  Jesus,  and  you  could  consistently 
anil  conscientiously  do  no  less.  Theoretically  you  dilVered, 
but  practically  you  agreed.  I  think  you  told  me  you  were 
forced  into  tliis  controversy  and  that  you  regretted  it." 

lie  then  takes  advantage  of  the  occasion  to  lay  down 
certain  principles  designed  to  correct  the  tendency  he 
had  noticed  to  speculation  and  theory  in  regard  to  mat- 
ters utterly  beyond  the  powers  of  human  reason.  He 
sliows  that  when  evidence  addressed  to  reason  has  con- 
vinced any  one  that  the  Bible  is  from  God,  he  is  then 
to  receive  its  statements  as  first  principles  w^ithout 
further  question,  and  that  while  the  terms  used  are  to 
be  understood  in  their  usual  acceptation,  the  things  re- 
vealed are  to  be  accepted,  not  because  proved  by  rea- 
son, but  simply  because  God  has  revealed  them.  He 
then  takes  the  ground  that  as  the  subject  of  the  Divine 
nature  is  one  confessedly  beyond  the  grasp  of  human 
reason,  there  is  nothing  contrary  to  reason  in  the  Trini- 
tarian hypothesis,  any  more  than  in  the  belief  of  its  op- 
poneius  in  an  Eternal  First  Cause.    I'lius  he  remarks, 

fest  in  tlie  flesh.  As  rK.d  was  always  with  *  Thf  IVord'  so  when  'The 
Word'  became  Hesh,  he  is  Enmianuel  God  with  its.  As  God  never  was  mani- 
fest f>iU  by  ''rhc  Word,'  so  the  heavens  and  the  earth  and  all  things  were 
created  by  •  The  Word.'  Ant!  as  *  7'fu-  IVorJ"  ever  was  the  efiTulgence  or 
representation  of  the  invisible  (iod,  so  he  will  ever  be  known  and  adored  as 
'  7'/te  Woiii  of  God.""  So  much  for  the  divine  and  eternal  relation  between 
the  Saviour  anil  Ciud.  Vou  \\\\\  easily  perceive  that  I  carry  these  views  no 
further  than  ti^  e.xpl.iin  the  nature  of  that  relation^  uncreated  and  unoriginated, 
which  the  inspired  language  inculcates." 


LIMITS  OF  REASON. 


It  is  contrary  to  all  the  facts  before  us  in  the  whole  world 
that  any  cause  can  be  the  cause  of  itself,  or  not  the  etlect  of 
some  other  cause.  No  man  from  analogy  can  reason  farther 
than  that  every  cause  is  the  eHect  of  another,  ad  injinitum. 
Here  reason  shuts  the  door;  here  analogy  puts  up  her  ride 
and  shuts  her  case  of  instruments.  Now  in  tliis  case  the 
Unitarian  and  the  Trinitarian  are  alike  unphilosopiiic — 
alike  unreasonable.*  .  .  .  Your  error  is  this;  you  know 
nothing  of  the  existence  of  spirits  at  all.  All  bodies  you 
know  anything  of,  occupy  both  tiine  and  space  ;  consequently 
it  wf)uld  be  absurd  to  suppose  that  three  beings  wliose  modes 
of  existence  are  such  as  to  be  governed  by  time  and  space 
could  be  one  being.  But  inasmuch  as  we  do  know  not/iing 
of  the  mode  of  existence  of  spirits,  we  cannot  say  that  it 
would  be  incompatible  with  their  nature  or  modes  of  exist- 
ence that  three  might  be  one,  and  that  one  might  exist  in 
three  beings.  Now,  as  no  man  can  rationally  oppose  tiie 
Calvinistic  hypothesis  on  principles  of  reason,  so  neither  can 
he  prove  it  to  be  correct  by  any  analogy  or  principle  of  reason 
whatsoever.  Why  then  wage  this  warfare.'*  We  may  dis- 
prove a  theory  by  what  the  Bible  declares,  but  not  by  our 
reasoning  on  such  topics.  Why  not,  then,  abide  in  the  use 
of  tiie  Bible  terms  alone  .'^  .  .  .  But  I  adopt  neitiier  system, 
and  will  fight  for  none.  I  believe  that  God  so  loved  the 
world  tiiat  he  sent  his  only  begotten  Son  ;  that  Jesus  was  the 
Son  of  God,  in  the  true,  full  and  proper  import  of  these 
words;  that  the  Holy  Spirit  is  the  Spirit  of  God,  the  Spirit 

*  Mr.  CampbeH's  idea  of  the  limited  range  ot  human  reason  is  pDetically 
and  beautifully  expressed  by  Coleridge  at  the  close  of  his  Hi(»graphia  l.it- 
eraria  :  "  Religion,"  says  he,  "  passes  out  of  the  ken  of  reason  only  when  the 
eye  of  reason  has  reached  its  own  hori/.on  ;  and  faith  is  then  but  its  con- 
tinuation ;  even  as  the  day  softens  away  into  the  sweet  twilight,  and  twilight, 
hushed  and  breathless,  steals  into  the  darkness.  It  is  night,  sacred  nighi  I 
the  upraised  eye  views  only  the  starry  heaven  which  manifests  itself  alone ; 
and  the  outward  beholding  is  fixed  on  the  sparks  twinkling  in  the  awful 
depth,  though  suns  of  other  worlds,  only  to  preserve  the  soul  steady  and 
collected  in  its  pure  act  oi  inward  adoration  to  the  great  I  AM,  and  to  the 
filial  Word  that  reaffirnieth  it  from  eternity  to  eternity,  whose  choral  echo 
is  the  universe  :  GEii  M0NS2  AOHA." 


204       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


of  Christ,  which  was  sent  by  the  concurrence  of  the  Father 
and  the  Son  to  attest  and  establish  the  truth,  and  remain  a 
comforter,  an  advocate  on  earth  when  Jesus  entered  the  heav- 
ens. If  any  man's  faith  in  this  matter  is  stronger  or  greater 
than  mine,  I  have  no  objection.  I  only  request  him  not  ta 
despise  my  weakness,  and  I  will  not  condemn  his  strength. 

"  I  am  truly  sorry  to  find  that  certain  opinions  called  Arian 
or  Unitarian,  or  something  else,  are  about  becoming  the  badge 
of  a  people  assuming  the  sacred  name  of  Christian ;  and  that 
some  peculiar  views  of  atonement  or  reconciliation  are  likely 
to  become  characteristic  of  a  people  who  have  claimed  the 
high  character  and  dignified  relation  of  the  Church  of  Christ. 
I  do  not  say  that  such  is  yet  the  fact ;  but  things  are,  in,  my 
opinion,  looking  that  way;  and  if  not  suppressed  in  the  bud, 
the  name  Christian  will  be  as  much  a  sectarian  name  as 
Lutheran^  Methodist  or  Presbyterian.'' 

Upon  these  simple  principles,  Mr.  Campbell  thus,  in  a 
few  words,  reduced  to  naught  the  religious  controversies 
of  centuries,  and  pointed  out  at  once  the  folly  of  attempt- 
ing to  be  "wise  above  what  is  written,"  and  the  wisdom 
of  knowing  what  is  actually  revealed.  Mr.  Stone  had 
endeavored  to  establish  his  views  of  the  Deity  against 
those  of  the  Trinitarians ;  the  true  principle  presented 
by  Mr.  Campbell  showed  that  both  were  equally  un- 
reasonable and  unprofitable.  The  course  of  the  former 
tended  to  justify  discussions  which  had  for  ages  broken 
religious  society  into  fragments  ;  that  of  the  latter  indi- 
cated the  only  basis  on  which  a  true  Christian  union 
could  ever  be  re-established. 

Such  being  the  friendly  relations  existing  between 
these  two  bodies  of  Reformers,  it  was  natural  that  the 
preachers  of  the  Christian  Connection  on  the  Western 
Reserve  should  have  taken  an  active  interest  in  the  pro- 
ceedings of  the  Mahoning  Association  and  in  the  ap- 
pointment of  Walter  Scott  as  an  itinerant.    It  was  in- 


PROVIDENTIAL  GUIDINGS. 


205 


deed  the  great  success  of  the  Christian  preachers  in 
gaining  converts  that  had  awakened  the  churches  of  the 
Association  to  the  importance  of  making  an  effort  in 
that  direction ;  for,  having  largely  imbibed  the  spirit  of 
the  movement  directed  by  Mr.  Campbell,  and  being 
much  occupied  with  their  own  improvement  in  Scripture 
knowledge  and  with  questions  of  church  order,  they  had 
neglected  for  some  time  to  make  proper  evangelizing 
efforts,  and  were  receiving,  consequently,  very  few  ad- 
ditions. One  of  the  two  Christian  preachers  present  at 
the  Association,  John  Secrest,  was  particularly  noted 
for  the  large  number  of  converts  he  was  in  the  habit  of 
reporting.  The  other,  Joseph  Gaston,  was  distinguished 
for  his  piety  and  his  mild  and  unassuming  disposition. 
He  was  a  young  man,  tall  in  stature,  with  dark  hair,  a 
large  head,  broad  shoulders  and  agreeable  features,  and 
possessed  a  deep,  sonorous  voice  and  great  powers  of 
exhortation.  He  was  full  of  affection  for  men  and  zeal 
for  the  cause  of  Christ,  and  devoted  himself  with  great 
energy  to  the  promotion  of  Christian  union  upon  the 
Bible.  As  soon  as  he  and  Walter  Scott  became  ac- 
quainted, they  formed  a  warm  attachment  for  each  other, 
and  their  intercourse  tended  to  modify  each  other's  views 
and  modes  of  proceeding.  Mr.  Scott  admired  Mr.  Gas- 
ton's powerful  appeals  to  sinners.  The  latter,  on  the 
other  hand,  was  attracted  by  Mr.  Scott's  warm  feelings 
and  amiable  qualities,  as  well  as  profoundly  impressed 
by  his  thorough  knowledge  of  the  Scriptures  ;  and  being 
a  sincere  lover  of  truth,  he  listened  with  interest  to  the 
clearer  views  of  the  gospel  and  its  institutions  which 
were  presented  to  him. 

The  providence  which  had  led  to  the  appointment  of 
Walter  Scott  as  an  itinerant  was  not  long  in  developing 
its  meaning.    Brought  into  immediate  communication 

18 


2o6       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


with  the  Christian  preachers,  who,  as  remarked,  were 
laboring  with  much  success,  he  imbibed  somewhat  of 
their  spirit,  but  he  was  still  far  from  approving  all  their 
views  or  modes  of  procedure.  At  the  same  time  he 
perceived  the  ineffectiveness  of  the  course  heretofore 
pursued  by  the  Haldanean  and  other  churches  in  the 
Reformation  in  presenting  the  gospel  theoretically,  so  to 
speak,  without  making  a  direct  and  practical  application 
of  its  requirements  to  the  unconverted.  There  seemed 
to  be  a  link  wanting  to  connect  an  avowed  faith  in 
Christ  with  an  immediate  realization  of  the  promises  of 
the  gospel.  These  seemed  placed  at  an  almost  infinite 
distance  from  the  penitent,  bowed  down  under  a  sense 
of  guilt,  and  longing  for  some  certain  evidence  of  ac- 
ceptance, which  he  often  vainly  sought  in  the  special 
spiritual  illuminations  upon  which  men  were  taught  to 
rely.  The  Mahoning  Association,  being  itself  in  a 
transition  state,  had  prescribed  to  Mr.  Scott  no  particular 
course  whatever,  simply  appointing  him  as  an  evangelist 

to  travel  and  teach  among  the  churches,''  partly  with 
a  view  of  bringing  them  more  fully  upon  Reformation 
ground,  but  chiefly  in  order  that,  by  means  of  itinerant 
labor  and  the  quarterly  meetings  designated,  their  num- 
bers miglit  be  augmented.  It  was  his  duty,  therefore,  to 
consider  how  the  proclamation  of  the  gospel  could  be 
ren<lered  most  effective  for  the  conversion  of  sinners. 

This  was,  in  view  of  all  the  circumstances,  a  very 
difficult  and  perplexing  question.  Calvinistic  views 
still  lingered  to  a  large  extent  among  the  Mahoning 
churches.  Election,  efl'ectual  calling,  theories  of  regen- 
eration, still  occupied  the  minds  of  many.  Various 
satisfactory  evidences  of  a  true  faith  were  still  required 
before  admission  to  baptism,  which  was  looked  upon  as 
a  means  of  admission  into  the  Church — a  command  to  be 


BAPTISM  FOR  REMISSION  OF  SINS. 


207 


obeyed  by  those  who  were  already  converted.  No 
special  promises  were  recognized  as  connected  with  it, 
and  it  was  very  unusual  to  hear  this  subject  presented 
at  all,  except  when  some  one  was  about  to  be  baptized. 
Mr.  Scott,  Elder  Bentley  and  some  others  of  the  promi- 
nent preachers,  were  indeed  aware  that  Mr.  Campbell 
had  spoken  of  it  at  the  McCalla  debate  as  a  pledge  of 
pardon,  but  in  this  point  of  view  it  was,  as  yet,  corftem- 
plated  only  theoretically^  none  of  them  having  so  under- 
stood it  when  they  were  themselves  baptized,  and  being 
yet  unable  properly  and  pracucally  to  realize  or  appre- 
ciate its  importance  in  this  respect.  Hence,  almost 
from  the  first  moment  of  his  appointment,  Mr.  Scott's 
mind  was  thrown  into  a  state  of  great  perplexity  amidst 
the  discordant  and  confused  views  relating  to  conversion. 
Baptism  still  seemed  to  present  itself  as  in  some  way  in- 
timately connected  with  the  personal  enjoyment  of  tlie 
blessings  of  the  gospel,  but  he  was  unable  as  yet  to  per- 
ceive the  exact  position  which  it  occupied  in  relation  to 
other  requirements. 

About  this  time,  Adamson  Bentley  went  down  to 
Braceville,  with  Jacob  Osborne,  to  hold  a  meeting.  In 
a  discourse  which  he  delivered  on  the  occasion  he  was 
led  to  speak  of  baptism,  and  gave  the  views  which  Mr. 
Campbell  had  presented  in  the  McCalla  debate,  atlirm- 
ing  that  it  was  designed  to  be  a  pledge  of  remission  of 
sins.  While  they  were  on  their  way  back  to  Wan  en, 
after  meeting,  Jacob  Osborne  said,  '*  Well,  Brother 
Bentley,  you  have  christened  baptism  to-day."  How 
so?"  said  Mr.  Bentley.  You  termed  it  a  remitting 
institution''  "  Well,"  rejoined  Mr.  Bentley,  *'  1  do  not 
see  how  this  conclusion  is  to  be  avoided  with  the  Scrip- 
tures before  us."  It  is  the  truth,"  said  Mr.  Osborne, 
who  was  a  great  student  of  the  Bible ;     and  1  have  for 


2oS        MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


some  time  thought  that  the  waters  of  baptism  must  stand 
in  the  same  position  to  us  that  the  blood  of  sacrifices 
did  to  the  Jews.  '  The  blood  of  bulls  and  of  goats 
could  never  take  away  sins,'  as  Paul  declares,  yet  when 
offered  at  the  altar  by  the  sinner  he  had  the  divine  as- 
surance that  his  sin  was  forgiven  him.  This  blood  was 
merely  typical  of  the  blood  of  Christ,  the  true  sin-offer- 
ing \o  which  it  pointed  prospectively,  and  it  seems  to 
me  that  the  water  in  baptism,  w^hich  has  no  power  in 
itself  to  wash  away  sins,  now  refers  retrospectively  to 
the  purifying  power  of  the  blood  of  the  Lamb  of  God." 

Soon  afterward,  meeting  with  Mr.  Scott,  they  all 
three  went  down  to  Rowland,  and  the  discourse  at 
Braceville  and  subsequent  conversation  being  brought 
up,  Mr.  Scott  fully  coincided  in  the  views  expressed. 
In  one  of  his  discourses  at  Rowland,  Mr.  Osborne 
again  introduced  the  subject,  and  proceeded  to  say 
further  that  no  one  had  the  promise  of  the  Roly  Spirit 
until  after  baptism.  This  remark  seemed  to  strike  Mr. 
Scott  with  surprise,  and  after  meeting  he  said  to  Mr. 
Osborne,  "You  are  a  man  of  great  courage;"  and 
turning  to  Mr.  Bentley,  he  added  :  "  Do  you  not  think 
so,  Brother  Bentley."  "Why?"  said  Mr.  Bentley. 
*'  Because,"  said  he,  "  he  ventured  to  assert  to-day  that 
no  one  had  a  right  to  expect  the  Roly  Spirit  until  after 
baptism."  From  this  moment,  Mr.  Scott's  mind  seemed 
to  be  engrossed  with  the  consideration  of  the  consecu- 
tive ordej-  appropriate  to  the  various  items  in  the  gospel, 
and  being  greatly  given  to  analysis  and  arrangement, 
he  proceeded  to  place  them  thus:  i,  faith;  2,  repent- 
ance; 3,  baptism;  4,  remission  of  sins ;  5,  Roly  Spirit. 
This  view  relieved  at  once  his  previous  perplexities,  and 
the  gospel,  with  its  items  thus  regularly  disposed, 
seemed  to  him  almost  like  a  new  revelation.    Re  felt 


DISCOURA  CEMENTS. 


209 


that  he  had  now  obtained  a  clue  which  would  extricate 
men's  minds  from  the  labyrinth  in  which  they  were  in- 
volved in  relation  to  conversion,  and  enable  him  to  pre- 
sent the  gospel  in  all  its  original  simplicity. 

While  meditating  on  these  things,  and  debating  with 
his  own  irresolution  in  regard  to  their  presentation  to 
the  public,  he  met  with  Joseph  Gaston,  to  whom  he 
freely  communicated  his  thoughts,  and  who,  delighted 
with  the  new  view  of  the  gospel  thus  given,  at  once 
declared  it  to  be  the  truth,  and  that  it  ought  to  be 
preached  to  the  world.  Thus  encouraged,  Mr.  Scott 
determined  to  make  the  experiment ;  but  fearing  to 
give-  cause  of  offence  to  the  churches  who  had  employed 
him,  he  sent  an  appointment  outside  of  the  Association 
ground,  and  with  considerable  trepidation,  but  in  an 
earnest  and  interesting  manner,  laid  before  the  audience 
his  analysis  of  the  gospel,  and  at  the  close  gave  a 
formal  invitation  to  any  so  disposed  to  come  forward 
and  be  baptized  for  the  remission  of  sins.  No  one, 
however,  came.    The  effort  was  a  failure. 

This,  indeed,  might  have  been  anticipated.  The 
whole  community  were  filled  with  the  notion  that  some 
special  spiritual  influence  was  to  be  exerted  upon  men's 
hearts — that  some  supernatural  visitation  must  occur 
before  any  one  could  be  a  fit  subject  for  baptism.  This 
spiritual  operation,  too,  all  had  been  taught  to  regard 
as  the  evidence  of  acceptance  and  pardon,  and  hence 
when  they  were  simply  invited  to  come  directly  forward 
and  be  baptized  for  the  remission  of  sins,  they  were 
filled  with  amazement  that  any  one  should  thus  propose 
to  dispense  with  all  the  usual  processes  to  which 
*'  mourners"  and  penitents  were  subjected.  Like  the 
Syrian  noble,  they  were  offended  because  the  usual 
ceremonies  were  not  observed,  and  because  they  were 

VOL.  11.— o  18  * 


2IO       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


merely  directed  to  *'  wash  and  be  clean."  None  of 
them  had  ever  witnessed  or  heard  of  such  a  proceeding. 
They  could  find  no  precedent  for  it  among  all  the  rites 
and  ceremonies  of  the  religious  parties,  and  hence, 
being  without  the  authority  conferred  by  usage,  they 
could  regard  it  only  as  an  innovation.  It  was  not  there- 
fore strange  that  no  one  ventured  to  comply  with  the 
invitation,  and  that  the  discourse  seemed  to  have  been 
preached  in  vain.  With  regard  to  Mr.  Scott  himself, 
however,  it  was  by  no  means  fruitless.  He  had  now 
broken  through  the  restraints  imposed  by  a  general  but 
false  religious  sentiment.  He  had  assumed  a  position 
which  required  to  be  maintained,  and  as  he  had  now 
overcome  the  difficulties  connected  with  the  first  step, 
he  felt  encouraged  to  proceed.  More  especially  had 
his  effort  awakened  in  his  own  mind  new  trains  of 
thought  and  given  him  wider  and  better  views  of  the 
whole  subject,  so  that  he  felt  himself  prepared  to  pre- 
sent it  in  a  much  more  full  and  forcible  manner.  He 
determined,  therefore,  to  assume  the  whole  responsi- 
bility, and  to  preach  boldly  in  the  very  place  where  he 
had  received  his  appointment  the  sacred  truths  which 
burned  within  his  own  heart.  He  accordingly  gave 
notice  that  he  w^ould  deliver  in  New  Lisbon  a  series  of 
discourses  upon  the  Ancient  Gospel. 

At  the  time  appointed  there  was  a  considerable  audi- 
ence, and  the  novel  manner  in  which  the  speaker  intro- 
duced his  theme,  along  with  his  own  obvious,  intense 
engagedness  and  excitement,  created  no  little  interest 
and  expectation.  His  discourse  was  based  upon  Peter's 
confession.  Matt.  xvi.  i6,  in  connection  with  the  same 
apostle's  answer  to  the  inquiry,  "What  shall  we  do?'* 
given  to  the  penitents  on  the  day  of  Pentecost.  Acts  ii. 
3S.    As  the  lordship  and  glory  of  Christ,  the  Son  of 


MYSTERIOUS  SUCCESS. 


21  r 


God,  was  his  favorite  theme,  and  he  was,  on  this  occa- 
sion, animated  with  more  than  usual  fervor,  he  became 
most  eloquent,  and  held  the  audience  in  a  state  of  rapt 
attention  as  he  gradually  developed  the  power  of  the 
simple  but  comprehensive  Christian  creed — the  rock 
which  Christ  announced  as  the  foundation  on  which  he 
would  build  his  Church  ;  the  grand  proposition  proved 
by  the  miracles  of  fulfilled  prophecy,  supernatural  wis- 
dom, divine  love,  healing  power  and  victory  over  the 
grave,  detailed  by  the  evangelists,  that  men  might  be- 
lieve, and,  **  believing,  have  life  through  his  name." 
And  when  he  went  on  to  show  how  this  gospel  was 
administered  in  the  beginning,  and  that  believers  w^ere 
baptized  into  the  name  and  into  the  death  of  Christ, 
and  being  thus  buried  with  him  and  raised  again  to  a 
new  life,  received  in  this  symbolic  act  the  remission  of 
sins  and  the  promised  Holy  Spirit,  which  was  the  seal 
of  the  Christian  covenant  and  the  earnest  of  an  eternal 
inheritance,  his  hearers,  while  charmed  with  such  a 
novel  view  of  the  simplicity  and  completeness  of  the 
gospel,  were,  as  on  the  former  occasion,  filled  with 
doubt  and  wonder  and  were  ready  to  ask  each  other, 
**  How  can  these  things  be?" 

Just  as  he  was  about  closing  his  long  discourse,  and 
while  he  was  exhorting  the  people  to  trust  in  the  word 
of  God  in  preference  to  all  human  systems  of  religion, 
a  stranger  entered  the  assembly,  and  when,  a  few  mo- 
ments afterward,  the  speaker  closed  by  again  quoting 
Peter's  words  and  inviting  any  present  to  come  forward 
and  be  baptized  for  the  remission  of  sins,  this  stranger, 
to  the  surprise  of  all,  at  once  stepped  forward  and  pre- 
sented hiit'self.  Here  was  a  singular  circumstance. 
This  person  had  not  been  enlightened  and  convinced 
by  the  preacher,  for  he  had  heard  only  his  few  closing 


2  12       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


remarks.  Yet  he  came  forward  with  all  the  firmness 
of  an  assured  purpose,  and  all  the  tokens  of  intelligent 
apprehension,  to  request  baptism  for  the  remission  of 
sins  I  Mr.  Scott  knew  not  w^hat  to  think  of  it.  The 
individual,  when  carefully  questioned,  seemed  perfectly 
to  understand  the  matter,  just  as  did  the  preacher  him- 
self. There  being,  therefore,  no  ground  for  objection 
and  no  reason  for  delay,  Mr.  Scott,  taking  the  confes- 
sion of  the  candidate,  baptized  him  in  presence  of  a 
large  concourse  ^^for  the  remission  of  sins^^'^  thus  an- 
nexing to  the  usual  formula  the  words  of  Peter,  Acts 
ii.  38,  explanatory  of  the  purpose  of  the  institution. 
The  people  were  filled  with  bewilderment  at  the  strange 
truths  brought  to  their  ears,  and  now  exemplified  before 
their  eyes  in  the  baptism  of  a  penitent  for  a  purpose 
\vhich  now,  on  the  i8th  of  November,  1827,  for  the 
first  time  since  the  primitive  ages  was  fully  and  prac- 
tically realized.  A  great  excitement  at  once  ensued  ; 
the  subject  was  discussed  everywhere  through  the  town, 
and  Mr.  Scott,  continuino-  dailv  to  address  increasinor 
audiences  and  developing  his  views  of  the  gospel  in  all 
its  parts,  succeeded,  before  the  close  of  the  meeting,  in 
inducing  in  all  seventeen  persons  to  accept  the  primitive 
faith  and  baptism.  Thus  the  charm  w^as  broken  ;  the 
word  of  God  had  triumphed,  and  the  veil  which  theology 
had  cast  over  men's  hearts  was  removed.  Henceforth 
the  Reformation,  which  had  already  restored  to  the 
Church  the  ancient  order  of  things  and  the  simplicity 
of  the  primitive  faith,  was  enabled  to  make  a  practical 
application  of  the  gospel  to  the  conversion  of  the  world. 

In  reflecting  upon  the  circumstances  connected  with 
his  appointment,  and  the  suggestions  and  encourage- 
ments he  had  providentially  received,  Mr.  Scott  could 
easily  perceive  how  he  had  himself  been  led  to  decisions 


KEYS  OF  THE  KINGDOM, 


SO  important.  It  remained,  however,  still  a  mystery 
that  his  first  two  discourses  should  have  failed  to  con- 
vince any  one,  and  that  at  the  close  of  the  second  an 
individual  who  had  heard  neither  of  them  should  have 
come  forward  intelligently  with  little  more  than  a  sim- 
ple invitation.  In  order  to  clear  up  the  matter,  he 
thought  best  after  some  time  to  address  a  letter  to  the 
individual  in  question,  requesting  him  to  explain  the 
reasons  which  had  induced  him  to  present  himself.  To 
this  he  replied  as  follows  : 

"  In  order  to  show  these  things  aright,  I  must  go  back  a 
piece.  I  was  at  that  time  a  member  of  that  strait  sect  called 
Presbyterians,  taught  many  curious  things,  as  election,  fore- 
ordination,  etc.  ;  that  belief  In  these  thino:s  was  necessary  ;  that 
this  faith  resulted  from  some  secret  impulse  ;  and  worse,  that 
I  could  not  believe  ;  and  finally,  that  I  must  hope  and  pray 
that  God  would  have  mercy  upon  me.  In  this  wilderness  I 
became  wearied,  turned  about  and  came  home  to  the  book  of 
God,  took  it  up  as  if  it  had  dropped  from  heaven,  and  read  it 
for  myself  just  one  year. 

"This  inquiry  led  me  to  see  that  God  so  loved  the  world  as 
to  give  his  only  begotten  Son,  that  whosoever  believed  on  him 
might  not  perish,  but  have  eternal  life.  I  then  inquired  how 
I  must  believe.  Paul  said,  '  Faith  cometh  by  hearing,  and 
hearing  by  the  word  of  God.*  Also,  that  faith  was  '  the  sub- 
stance of  things  hoped  for,  the  evidence  of  things  not  seen.*^ 
Peter  spoke  of  election,  saying,  '  Save  yourselves.'  Paul  said, 
'  I  must  be  dead  to  sin  and  buried,  and  raised  with  Christ 
Jesus  to  newness  of  life.'  The  Saviour  said,  '  I  must  be  born 
again  if  I  would  enter  the  kingdom  of  God.' 

"  Now,  here  it  was  I  discovered  myself  to  stand  in  the 
garden  of  nature  and  not  in  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  but  I 
learnt  that  of  this  kingdom  Peter  received  the  keys,  and  I  was 
anxious  to  see  what  he  would  do  with  them.  Jesus  said, 
'  Proclaim  the  gospel  to  all  nations  ;  he  that  believeth  and  is 
baptized  shall  be  saved,'  etc.    I  then  moved  a  little  forward 


214       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


till  I  found  these  words,  '  And  tbey  were  all  pricked  to  the 
heart,  and  said  to  Peter  and  to  the  other  apostles,  Men  and 
brethren,  what  shall  we  do?  Peter  said,  Repent  and  be  bap- 
tized every  one  of  you,  in  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ,  for  the  re- 
mission of  sins,' etc.  To  this  Scripture  I  often  resorted;  I 
saw  how  Peter  had  opened  the  kingdom  and  the  door  into  it, 
but  to  my  great  disappointment  I  saw  no  man  to  introduce 
me,  though  I  prayed  much  and  often  for  it. 

"  Now,  my  brother,  I  will  answer  your  questions.  I  was 
baptized  on  the  iSth  of  November,  1827,  and  will  relate  to 
you  a  circumstance  which  occurred  a  few  days  before  that  date. 
I  had  read  the  second  chapter  of  Acts,  when  I  expressed 
myself  to  my  wife  as  follows :  Oh  this  is  the  gospel ;  this  is 
the  thing  we  wish — the  remission  of  our  sins  !  Oh  that  I  could 
hear  the  gospel  in  these  same  words  as  Peter  preached  it!  I 
hope  I  shall  some  day  hear  it,  and  the  first  man  I  meet  who 
will  preach  the  gospel  thus,  with  him  will  I  go.*  So,  my 
brother,  on  the  day  you  saw  me  come  into  the  meeting-house 
my  heart  was  open  to  receive  the  word  of  God,  and  when 
you  cried,  '  The  Scripture  shall  no  longer  be  a  sealed  book. 
God  means  what  he  says.  Is  there  any  man  present  who  will 
take  God  at  his  word  and  be  baptized  for  the  remission  of 
sins?' — at  that  moment  my  feelings  were  such  that  I  could  have 
cried  out,  *  Glory  to  God  !  I  have  found  the  man  whom  I  have 
long  sought  for.'  So  I  entered  the  kingdom  when  I  readily 
laid  hold  of  the  hope  set  before  me. 

"  Let  us,  then,  dear  brother,  strive  so  to  live  as  to  obtain 
an  abundant  entrance  into  the  everlasting  kingdom  of  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ  at  his  coming,  there  to  join  with  the 
heavenly  throng  in  a  song  of  praise  to  God  and  to  the  Lamb 
for  ever  and  ever.  Wm.  Amend." 

The  enigma  was  thus  satisfactorily  solved.  So  great 
a  matter  as  the  practical  restoration  of  the  design  of 
baptism  was  not  to  be  the  result  of  the  private  studies 
or  public  efforts  merely  of  the  preacher.  Had  persons 
been  convinced  and  induced  to  present  themselves  for 


RESPONSIBILITIES  AND  TRIALS. 


baptism  at  his  lirst  or  second  discourse,  he  might  have 
supposed  that  by  his  own  power  or  superior  intelligence 
in  the  Scripture  he  had  caused  them  to  obey.  But  it 
was  ordered  otherwise,  that  -'the  excellency  of  the 
power"  might  be  seen  to  be  of  God  and  not  of  man. 
Mr.  Scott's  heart  and  mind  had  indeed  been  providen- 
tially prepared  and  strengthened  to  deliver  faithfully 
the  divine  message,  but  it  was  equally  necessary  that 
the  hearts  of  the  hearers  should  be  prepared  to  receive  it. 
Unfitted  by  false  theories  of  conversion  to  accept  the 
simple  truth,  and  without  one  modern  precedent  to  en- 
courage obedience  to  it,  a  special  adaptation  was  re- 
quired on  their  part,  which,  under  the  circumstances,  the 
preacher  was  unable  to  supply,  and  he  therefore  cast 
the  good  seed  of  the  kingdom  in  vain  until  it  happened 
to  fall  upon  the  good  soil  which  had  been  prepared  by 
God  alone. 

The  onerous  nature  of  the  task  assicrned  to  Mr.  Scott 

o 

on  this  cccasion  should,  however,  by  no  means  be  un- 
derrated. It  is  impossible  for  those  who  have  now  be- 
come familiarized  with  the  primitive  method,  to  conceive 
adequately  of  the  anxieties  and  fears  and  responsibilities 
which  attended  its  restoration.  The  sanctions  of  cus- 
tom and  the  complete  establishment  of  the  truth  before 
the  bar  of  public  sentiment  have  now  taken  away  the 
reproach  and  discredit  which  attached  to  the  first  ad- 
ministration of  baptism  for  the  remission  of  sins.  Then, 
the  introduction  of  such  a  practice  demanded  that  all 
the  cherished  interests  which  belong  to  position,  charac- 
ter and  life  should  be  imperiled,  and  that  all  the  odium 
and  hostility  which  exasperated  sectarian  feeling  could 
excite  should  be  directly  and  personally  encountered. 
To  have  been  willing  to  brave  such  consequences  for 
the  love  he  bore  to  truth,  and  from  his  deep  sense  of 


2i6       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


religious  obligation,  must  for  ever  redound  to  the  honor 
of  Walter  Scott,  and  the  more  when  the  obstacles  arising 
from  his  own  somewhat  vacillating  and  timid  nature  are 
considered.  It  is  true  that,  as  to  the  import  of  the  ordi- 
nance, he  had  before  him  the  public  declarations  of 
Thomas  and  Alexander  Campbell,  which  had  become 
a  part  of  the  teachings  of  the  reformatory  movement. 
But  it  is  equally  true  that  as  yet  no  direct  and  practical 
application  had  been  made  of  these  teachings,  and  that 
even  those  who  had  delivered  them  were  far  from  hav- 
ing a  just  sense  of  their  importance.  The  strange 
power  which  the  human  mind  possesses  of  contemplat- 
ing things  abstractly,  and  of  separating  matters  which 
in  reality  are  or  should  be  indissolubly  united,  had  here 
interposed  and  had  arrested  progress  at  the  brink  of  the 
chasm  which  it  had  itself  created  between  theory  and 
practice.  The  same  illicit  severance,  indeed,  and  in 
reference  to  the  very  same  question,  existed  already  in 
the  case  of  the  popular  religious  parties,*whose  creeds, 
almost  without  exception,  assigned  to  baptism  the  same 
position  and  declared  it  to  be  for  the  remission  of  sins, 
and  who,  nevertheless,  in  point  of  fact,  utterly  neglected 
and  denied  the  legitimate  application  of  their  own  doc- 
trine. Thus  the  Presbyterian  Confession  declared,  chap, 
xxviii.,  sec.  i  : 

Baptism  is  a  sacrament  of  the  New  Testament,  ordained 
by  Jesus  Christ,  not  only  for  the  solemn  admission  of  (he 
party  baptized  into  the  visible  Church,  but  also  to  be  to  him 
a  sign  and  seal  of  the  covenant  of  grace,  of  his  engrafting  into 
Christ,  of  regeneration,  of  remission  of  sins,  and  of  his  giving 
up  unto  God,  through  Jesus  Christ,  to  walk  in  newness  of 
hfe." 

Calvin  himself  had  made  remission  the  principal 
thing  in  baptism. 


ASSURANCE  OF  PARDON. 


217 


"Baptism,"  said  he  (Inst.,  c.  xvi.,  p.  327),  '*  resembles  a 
legal  instrument  properly  attested,  by  which  he  assures  us 
that  all  our  sins  are  canceled,  effaced  and  obliterated  so  that 
they  will  never  appear  in  his  sight,  or  come  into  his  remem- 
brance, or  be  imputed  to  us.  For  he  commands  all  who  be- 
lieve to  be  baptized  for  the  remission  of  their  sins." 

John  Wesley  too  had  declared,  in  his  "  Commentary  on  the 
New  Testament"  (p.  350),  that  "Baptism  administered  to 
penitents  is  both  a  means  and  a  seal  of  pardon.  Nor  did  God 
ordinarily,"  he  adds,  "  in  the  primitive  Church,  bestow  this 
upon  any  unless  through  this  means." 

The  same  truth  was  equally  attested  by  Baptist  and 
Episcopal  creeds ;  but  all  these  theoretic  concessions  to 
Scripture  teaching  remained  alike  perfectly  meaningless 
and  inoperative  in  a  practical  point  of  view ;  and  even 
the  more  emphatic  averments  of  the  Campbells  as  to 
the  purport  of  baptism  would  probably,  like  the  recorded 
declaration  of  Peter  himself  on  Pentecost,  have  re- 
mained fruitless,  had  not  a  guiding  Providence  unex- 
pectedly verified  the  correctness  of  the  doctrine  by  a 
direct  and  practical  application.  "We  can  sympathize," 
said  Mr.  Campbell  afterward,  in  reference  to  this  matter, 
"  with  those  who  have  this  doctrine  in  their  own  creeds 
unregarded  and  unheeded  in  its  import  and  utility  ;  for 
we  exhibited  it  fully  in  our  debate  with  Mr.  McCalla  in 
1823,  without  feeling  its  great  importance  and  without 
beginning  to  practice  upon  its  tendencies  for  some  time 
afterward."  It  is,  hence,  proper  to  estimate  aright  the 
agency  through  which  a  blessing  of  such  inestimable 
value  as  the  personal  assurance  of  pardon  was  placed 
once  more  within  the  reach  of  believing  penitents. 

The  occurrences  at  New  Lisbon  were  soon  noised 
abroad,  and  occasioned  a  great  commotion.  From  the 
meeting  there,  Mr.  Scott  went  at  once  to  Warren  and 

19 


21 8       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


held  a  successful  one  there  with  Elder  Bentley.  Joseph 
Gaston,  entering  at  once  into  the  spirit  of  the  move- 
ment, co-operated  earnestly  with  Mr.  Scott  at  subsequent 
meetings.  All  the  leading  preachers  of  the  Association, 
as  well  as  others  of  the  Christian  Connection,  hastened 
to  adopt  that  primitive  order  of  the  different  parts  of  the 
gospel  which  was  then  no  less  a  novelty,  and  no  less  im- 
portant in  certain  points  of  view,  than  the  discovery  of 
the  practical  relations  of  baptism,  to  which  it  had  indeed 
directly  contributed.  Everywhere  the  confusion  which 
had  involved  the  subject  of  conversion  was  removed ; 
the  mourning  bench  was  abandoned ;  an  intelligent 
obedience  was  substituted  for  visionary  theories,  and  a 
divine  assurance  replaced  delusive  frames  and  feelings. 
As  a  great  many  converts  were  now  made  to  the  primi- 
tive faith  and  received  into  the  churches,  those  members 
who  were  still  wedded  to  Regular  Baptist  usages,  dis- 
pleased at  seeing  these  wholly  disregarded,  began  to 
manifest  an  active  opposition,  which  subsequently,  in 
the  case  of  two  or  three  churches,  resulted  in  division. 
Mr.  Scott,  meanwhile,  fully  conscious  of  the  momentous 
nature  of  the  issues  he  had  evoked,  but  confident  in  the 
power  of  the  gospel  and  all  aflame  with  zeal,  passed 
rapidly,  like  a  meteor,  throughout  the  Western  Reserve^ 
startling  the  people  by  the  abruptness  and  directness  of 
his  appeals,  but  exciting  many  to  inquiry  and  obedience. 
As  usual  under  such  circumstances,  the  country  w^as 
filled  with  exaggerated  rumors  and  with  the  grossest 
misrepresentations  of  both  his  doings  and  his  doctrines. 

Some  of  these  reports  coming  to  the  ears  of  Mr. 
Campbell,  he  began  to  fear  that  Mr.  Scott's  precipitancy 
had  betrayed  him  into  indiscretions  which  might  be  pre- 
judicial to  the  cause ;  and  upon  counseling  with  his 
father,  it  was  concluded  that  the  latter  should  visit  the 


THEORY  AND  PRACTICE. 


Western  Reserve  and  examine  for  himself  the  pi  ogress 
of  affairs.  Upon  arriving  early  in  the  spring,  he  heard 
Mr.  Scott's  presentations  of  the  gospel  and  witnessed 
his  direct  method  of  procedure  in  the  reception  of  con- 
verts with  surprise  and  pleasure.  He  saw  at  once  that 
what  he  and  his  son  Alexander  had  plainly  taught  was 
now  reduced  to  practice ;  that  the  simple  primitive 
method  of  administering  the  gospel  was  really  restored, 
and  that  the  rumors  which  had  reached  Bethany  were 
untrue.  He  therefore  concluded  to  remain  for  some 
time  in  this  inviting  field,  and  by  his  earnest  and  efficient 
labors  gave  additional  impetus  to  the  work.  From 
New  Lisbon  he  WTote  to  his  son  Alexander  on  April 
9th,  giving  his  impressions  as  follows  : 

I  perceive  that  theory  and  practice  in  religion,  as  well  as 
in  other  things,  are  matters  of  distinct  consideration.  .  .  .  We 
have  spoken  and  published  many  things  correctly  concerning 
the  ancient  gospel,  its  simplicity  and  perfect  adaptation  to  the 
present  state  of  mankind,  for  the  benign  and  gracious  pur- 
poses of  its  immediate  relief  and  complete  salvation  ;  but  I 
must  confess  that,  in  respect  of  the  direct  exhibition  and  ap- 
plication of  it  for  that  blessed  purpose,  I  am  at  present,  for 
the  first  time,  upon  the  ground  where  the  thing  has  appeared 
to  be  practically  exhibited  to  the  proper  purpose.  '  Compel 
them  to  come  in,'  saith  the  Lord,  *  that  my  house  may  be 
filled.' 

Mr.  Scott  has  made  a  bold  push  to  accomplish  this  object^ 
by  simply  and  boldly  stating  the  ancient  gospel  and  insisting 
upon  it ;  and  then  by  putting  the  question  generally  and  par- 
ticularly to  males  and  females,  old  and  young — Will  you 
come  to  Christ  and  be  baptized  for  the  remission  of  your  sins 
and  tlie  gift  of  the  Holy  Spirit.?  Don't  you  believe  this 
blessed  gospel.^  Then  come  away,  etc.,  etc.  This  elicits  a 
personal  conversation  ;  some  confess  faith  in  the  testimony- 
beg  time  to  think  ;  others  consent — give  their  hands  to  be- 


220        MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 

baptized  as  soon  as  convenient;  others  debate  the  matter 
friendly;  some  go  straight  to  the  water,  be  it  dav  or  night; 
and,  upon  the  whole,  none  appear  ofiended." 

About  this  time,  the  Restorationists  were  making  great 
efforts  on  the  Western  Reserve.  One  of  their  itinerants 
was  Aylett  Raines,  a  young  preaclier  of  much  more 
than  ordinary  abilities  :  in  stature,  five  feet  seven  inches, 
with  li^ht  hair,  penetrating  eyes  and  features  expressive 
of  intelligence.  Having  heard  ma:iy  .strange  reports 
about  Mr.  Scott's  doctrines  and  occasional  eccentricities, 
he  became  filled  with  an  irrepressible  desire  to  hear  him  ; 
and  learning  that  he  was  to  preach  on  a  certain  night 
at  Samuel  Robbins',  in  Windham,  he  resolved  to  attend. 
Mr.  Raines  was  somewhat  fond  of  controversy,  and  as 
he  did  not  believe  in  water  baptism,  but  in  the  baptism 
of  fire  and  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  had  been  informed  that 
Mr.  Scott  was  in  the  habit  of  calling  upon  the  audience 
for  any  objections  to  his  doctrine,  he  expected  to  have  a 
discussion  with  him,  as  he  stated  at  the  time  to  some  of 
his  brethren  who  accompanied  him.  Mr.  Scott  spoke 
from  tiie  first  chapter  of  First  Corinthians,  and  presented 
the  points  of  the  gospel  in  the  order  in  which  he  had 
arranged  tliem.  Mr.  Raines  was  so  impressed  with  the 
correctness  of  what  he  heard, -and  so  unable  to  find  any 
fault  with  it,  that  he  felt  quite  confounded,  knowing  that 
his  friends  expected  him  to  reply  when  Mr.  Scott  paused 
for  objections.  Being  unwilling  to  oppose  what  seemed 
to  be  the  truth,  he  kept  his  seat,  and  when  called  upon 
to  close  the  meeting,  made  an  excellent  prayer,  desiring 
that  all  might  have  a  spirit  of  obedience,  etc.,  but  taking 
care  to  introduce  his  favorite  petition  that  they  might 
have  a  Pentecostean  season  and  be  baptized  with  the 
Hojv  Ghost  and  with  fire.  Next  dav  Mr.  Raines  went 
to  hear  Mr.  Scott  again,  hoping  that  he  would  now  be 


POWER  OF  TRUTH. 


221 


more  successful  in  detecting  errors.  The  subject  of  the 
discourse  was  the  resurrection,  and  Mr.  Scott  read  the 
fifteenth  chapter  of  First  Corinthians.  For  this  cliapter 
Restorationist  preachers  had  but  little  use,  with  the  ex- 
ception of  a  single  sentence  in  it — *'As  in  Adam  all  die, 
even  so  in  Christ  shall  all  be  made  alive  " — and  were 
generally  ignorant  of  its  general  scope  and  purport. 
In  the  hands,  however,  of  Walter  Scott,  who  was  accus- 
tomed to  take  the  Scriptures  connectedly,  this  chapter 
soon  presented  itself  to  Mr.  Raines  as  a  thing  of  Hfe, 
and  made  to  him  a  revelation  of  such  lofty  trains  of 
thought  and  unspeakable  glories  that  his  heart  was 
touched,  and  he  found  his  prejudices  and  his  opposition 
fast  melting  away.  Two  days  afterward  he  heard  Mr. 
Scott  deliver  a  discourse  upon  the  two  covenants,  when 
he  discovered,  for  the  first  time,  that  he  had  heretofore 
been  unacquainted  with  the  diflerences  between  them, 
and  in  making  "  a  chaos  of  them,"  as  he  afterward 
stated,  "  had  been  preaching  the  darkness  that  was 
upon  the  face  of  the  deep."  Soon  after  this  he  heard 
Mr.  Scott  preach  on  the  subject  of  faith,  and  the  brilliant 
and  happy  manner  in  which  he  handled  the  eleventh 
chapter  of  Hebrews  and  expounded  the  nature  and  the 
power  of  faith,  completely  swept  away  from  the  mind 
of  Mr.  Raines  every  thought  of  opposition,  and  fully 
convinced  him  of  the  truth.  He  concluded,  however, 
not  to  be  precipitate  in  making  a  public  profession. 
Having  a  preaching  tour  of  several  weeks  before  him, 
he  resolved  that  he  would  fill  his  appointments  and 
preach  the  truth  as  he  now  understood  it,  openly  and 
candidly,  giving  to  his  brethren  the  opportunity  of  con- 
vincing him  of  any  error.  Their  arguments,  however, 
were  so  feeble  that  he  became  only  the  more  con- 
vinced that  what  he  had  heard,  and  now  read  with 

19  » 


2i2       MEMOiKS  of  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELl.. 


enlarged  vision  in  the  New  Testament,  was  indeed 
the  gospel  of  Christ  and  worthy  of  all  acceptation.  At 
the  end  of  his  tour,  he  called  upon  another  Restoration- 
ist  preacher  of  high  standing,  E.  Williams,  and  after  a 
friendly  discussion  of  four  days'  duration,  convinced  him 
also  of  the  truth,  and  both  of  them  going  down  to  a 
beautiful  little  lake  in  Portage  county,  and  officiating 
in  turn,  immediately  submitted  to  immersion  for  the  re- 
mission of  sins.  In  the  course  of  five  weeks  from  this 
time,  Mr.  Raines  baptized  fifty  persons,  and  among  the 
number  there  were,  including  Mr.  Williams,  no  less 
than  three  Restorationist  preachers.  Soon  afterward  he 
'  met  with  Thomas  Campbell,  whose  intelligence  and 
Christian  graces  he  greatly  admired,  and  as  neither  of 
them  had  any  special  engagements,  they  agreed  to  travel 
in  company.  Thomas  Campbell  took  the  deepest  interest 
in  his  young  friend,  who  gave  the  highest  proofs  of  sin- 
cerity and  ability,  while  the  latter  was  happy  to  avail 
himself  of  the  profound  scriptural  knowledge  and  en- 
larged experience  of  his  venerated  companion. 

While  these  things  were  taking  place  upon  the  West- 
ern Reserve,  Mr.  Campbell  was  pursuing  his  editorial 
and  other  labors  with  his  accustomed  activity.  He  had 
in  hand  a  new  edition  of  the  Testament,  with  sundry 
improvements  suggested  by  scholars  from  among  even 
the  Pasdobaptists,  some  of  whom  were  much  pleased 
with  the  work.  New  editions  also  of  the  earlier  vol- 
umes of  the  "Christian  Baptist"  were  called  for  and 
put  to  press.  Meanwhile,  his  ministerial  duties  were 
regularly  fulfilled  at  Bethany  and  Wellsburg,  with  oc- 
casional visits  to  other  points,  and  he  continued  to  direct 
and  superintend  the  management  of  his  farm,  in  which 
he  constantly  took  a  lively  interest.  Ardently  devoted 
to  every  species  of  improvement,  he  had  already  brought 


CHURCH  CORRESPONDENCE. 


223 


from  a  distance  the  fine-wooled  Merino  and  Saxony 
sheep,  to  which  he  thought  the  grasses  and  climate  of 
West  Virginia  well  adapted.  The  experiment  proving 
decidedly  successful,  he  soon  had  a  large  flock,  and  by 
his  representations  and  example  greatly  contributed  to 
the  introduction  of  that  sheep-husbandry  which  in  a  few 
years  replaced,  to  a  large  extent,  wasteful  methods  of 
agriculture  and  promoted  in  an  eminent  degree  the 
prosperity  of  the  entire  region.  These  attentions  to 
material  interests,  however,  though  sufficiently  extended 
to  have  occupied  almost  the  entire  time  and  thoughts  of 
many  a  one,  were  with  Mr.  Campbell  mere  relaxa- 
tions from  those  earnest  religious  and  reformatory 
labors  to  which  his  life  was  devoted. 

During  the  past  year,  as  a  sort  of  sequel  to  his  essays 
on  the  "  Ancient  Order  of  Things,"  he  had  published 
some  church  letters,  which,  at  the  time,  created  much 
interest.  These  were  occasioned  by  a  circular  from  the 
church  at  New  York,  transmitted  in  1818,  to  various 
independent  churches  in  Great  Britain  and  Ireland, 
giving  a  sketch  of  its  own  order  of  public  worship, 
along  with  its  views  in  brief  of  Christian  duty,  and 
requesting  in  return  a  similar  statement  from  each  of 
the  churches  addressed.  This  circular,  with  the  letters 
it  elicited  from  the  churches  at  Glasgow  and  Edinburgh, 
in  Scotland;  Tubermore  and  Dublin,  in  Ireland,  and 
Manchester,  in  England,  presented  a  very  clear  and 
interesting  view  of  the  relative  progress  of  these  differ- 
ent churches.  The  general  agreement  and  the  Chris- 
tian spirit  which  the  letters  exhibited  served  to  confirm 
in  a  very  high  degree  the  advantages  of  the  apostolic 
order,  and  tended  greatly  to  promote  its  adoption 
among  the  reforming  churches  in  America.  They 
revealed,  however,  some  differences,  which  were  can- 


224       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


didly  and  kindly  presented  for  consideration,  each 
church  professing  its  desire,  as  well  as  its  entire  liberty, 
to  conform  still  more  closely  to  the  apostolic  pattern. 

In  speaking  of  the  views  presented  in  these  letters, 
Mr.  Campbell  highly  commended  the  manifest  agree- 
ment in  all  the  essential  matters  of  the  primitive  faith 
and  practice.  As  the  New  York  letter,  however,  re- 
vealed a  disposition  to  adhere  to  a  fixed  routine  in  the 
order  of  worship,  based  upon  a  narrow  and  textuary 
method  of  construing  the  Scriptures,  and  to  insist  upon 
a  unity  of  opinion.,  he  took  occasion  to  express  his  dis- 
sent from  such  rules  as  being  relics  of  popery.  ''When 
men,"  said  he,  "  make  communion  in  religious  worship 
dependent  on  uniformity  of  opinion,  they  make  self- 
love,  instead  of  the  love  of  God,  the  bond  of  union, 
and  elevate  matters  of  mere  speculation  above  the  one 
faith,  the  one  Lord  and  the  one  immersion."  As  to  a 
rigid  observance  of  a  particular  order  of  worship,  after 
remarking  that  *' the  patriarchal  age  was  the  infancy, 
the  Jewish  age  the  minority  and  the  Christian  age  the 
manhood  of  the  religious  world,  and  that  in  the  latter 
condition  persons  are  allowed  to  have  a  judgment  of 
their  own  and  to  exercise  it,"  he  deprecates  any  attempt 
to  prescribe  positive  rules  in  matters  of  mere  expe- 
diency. 

During  this  year  he  published  a  series  of  essays  upon 
the  "Ancient  Gospel,"  which,  as  he  said,  consisted  in 
the  simple  facts  connected  with  the  work  of  Christ  in 
the  redemption  of  man.  These  facts,  as  he  endeavored 
to  show,  again  appeared  in  the  symbolic  ordinances  of 
the  gospel.  In  the  Lord's  supper,  the  Lord's  day,  and 
especially  in  the  immersion  of  a  believer,  tlie  death, 
burial  and  resurrection  of  Christ  were  pointed  out  as 
the  grounds  of  justification  and  of  hope.  Baptized 


MILLENNIAL  HOPES, 


225 


into  the  death  of  Christ,  buried  with  him  in  baptism, 
and  therein  raised  again  to  walk  in  a  new  life,  the 
penitent  believer  thus  put  on  Christ,"  and  of  necessity 
entered  into  the  enjoyment  of  his  salvation.  Having 
thus  "  put  on  Christ,"  it  now  became  his  duty  and  his 
happiness  to  "  walk  in  him,"  and  to  bring  forth  in  life 
and  conduct  the  fruits  of  that  Holy  Spirit  of  promise 
which  he  received  upon  the  obedience  of  faith.  Thus 
the  gospel  was  discovered  to  be  of  so  simple  a  nature 
as  to  be  perfectly  adapted  to  the  understanding  of  every 
creature,  and  yet  so  effective  in  its  direct  and  practical 
application,  through  its  expressive  ordinances,  as  to 
secure  to  the  penitent  the  divine  assurance  of  pardon, 
the  renewing  power  of  the  Holy  Spirit  and  the  indwell- 
ing earnest  of  an  eternal  inheritance. 

The  wonderful  success  which  everywhere  attended 
the  primitive  gospel  thus  presented  by  its  advocates 
filled  them  with  the  most  ardent  hopes  that  the  per- 
plexed and  erroneous  religious  systems  of  the  day 
would  be  speedily  overthrown,  and  that  happy  millen- 
nial period  be  ushered  in  when  the  gospel  would  tri- 
umph and  Christ's  people  be  united.  These  fond  ex- 
pectations were  especially  cherished  by  Walter  Scott 
and  some  others  of  a  like  excitable  and  ardent  tempera- 
ment. Mr.  Campbell,  however,  while  he  shared  in 
them  to  some  extent,  was  too  well  aware  of  the  nature 
of  the  obstacles  in  the  way  to  anticipate  an  easy  victory. 
The  restoration  of  the  simple  gospel  and  its  institutions 
to  the  world  was  by  no  means  all  that  was  to  be  accom- 
plished. As  for  himself,  there  was  yet  another  part  of 
the  work  for  which  Providence  had  destined  and  pecu- 
liarly fitted  him,  to  which  he  was  now  about  to  be 
called,  and  which  will  be  considered  in  the  following 
chapter. 

VOL.  11. — P 


CPIAPTER  VII. 


Skepticism — Natural  Theology — Socialism— Robert  Owen— Second  marriage 
— Mahoning  Association— Basis  of  union — Prominent  fellow-laborers— 
Their  unselfish  devotion  to  the  cause. 

MR.  CAMPBELL  had,  from  the  first,  courted  free 
discussion  in  the  pages  of  the  "Christian  Bap- 
tist." As  he  sought  for  truth  alone,  he  felt  that  he  had 
nothing  to  lose  in  giving  his  opponents  equal  space 
with  himself,  and  publishing  all  they  had  to  say  against 
the  views  he  taught.  This  liberality  afforded  a  stand- 
ing contrast  with  the  narrow  course  pursued  by  the 
sectarian  editors,  who,  while  they  allowed  him  to  be 
grossly  misrepresented  in  their  various  periodicals, 
denied  to  him  the  opportunity  to  correct  the  false  im- 
pressions made  upon  their  readers.  In  all  this,  how- 
ever, their  course  was  consistent  with  sectarian  policy. 
They  had  adopted  certain  articles  of  belief  as  unques- 
tionably true,  and  did  not  wish  to  have  any  misgivings 
created  in  regard  to  them.  They  had  begun  with  cer- 
tainties, and  very  naturally  felt  unwilling  to  end  with 
doubts.  Mr.  Campbell  and  those  with  him,  on  the 
other  hand,  had  begun  with  doubts,  in  order  that  they 
might  end  with  certainties.  Conservation  was  the  aim 
of  the  former,  but  progress  that  of  the  latter.  The 
religious  faith  and  practice  of  the  former  were  stereo- 
typed and  fixed,  and  to  them  change  involved  danger, 
if  not  destruction  ;  those  of  the  latter  were  yet  in  pro- 

226 


INFIDELS  AND  SKEPTICS. 


227 


cess  of  formation,  and  to  these  change  only  implied 
an  increased  knowledge  of  truth  and  an  augmentation 
of  power.  The  discoveries  already  made  from  the 
sacred  oracles  had  revealed  to  Mr.  Campbell  the  sad 
defections  of  the  Christian  world  and  the  means  by 
which  the  Church  could  be  restored  to  its  original 
efficiency.  It  was  not  strange,  therefore,  that  he 
should  strive  to  awaken  religious  society  from  its  sleep 
of  error,  nor  was  it  singular  that  sectarians,  peacefully 
slumbering  on  the  couch  of  orthodoxy,  should  dislike 
to  be  disturbed.  They  accordingly,  in  general,  re- 
fused fair  discussion,  and  sought  to  evade  unwelcome 
issues,  either  by  misrepresentation  or  by  a  more  politic 
silence.  These  methods,  however,  were  peculiarly  dis- 
tasteful to  one  of  Mr.  Campbell's  open  temperament, 
who  seemed  to  realize  in  his  very  inmost  nature  the 
truth  of  what  is  so  well  said  by  Sir  William  Drum- 
mond  at  the  close  of  his  "Academical  Qiiestions  :** 

He  who  will  not  reason  is  a  bigot;  he  who  cannot 
is  a  fool,  and  he  zvho  dare  not  is  a  slave.'''' 

The  fearless  and  straiglitforward  course  which  he 
adopted  made  a  very  favorable  impression,  not  only, 
as  has  been  seen,  on  many  who  were  identified  with 
the  various  religious  parties,  but  on  a  very  large  class 
outside  of  them,  who  had  found  so  many  contradictions, 
and,  as  they  tliought,  absurdities  in  the  creeds,  and  so 
much  inconsistency  in  the  conduct  of  the  various  re- 
ligious parties,  that  they  had  fallen  into  difficulty  and 
doubt  in  regard  to  the  truth  of  religion  itself.  A  great 
many  of  those  denominated  "  skeptics"  and  "  infidels** 
were  doubtless  such  from  a  depraved  w^ill,  which  re- 
fused to  weigh  impartially  the  Christian  evidences,  and 
yielded  a  credulous  assent  to  things  far  more  difficult 
to  believe  than  miracles.    A  still  larger  portion,  how- 


22S       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


ever,  consisted  of  men  of  clear  discernment  and  sincere 
purposes,  and  who  were  often  even  conspicuous  for 
virtue,  and  apparently  anxious  to  obtain  relief  from  a 
state  of  uncertainty,  which  they  felt  to  be  both  irksome 
and  discreditable.  These  were  not  wholly  without 
religious  impressions,  but  while  they  could  not  fail  to 
admire  the  character  of  Christ  and  the  morality  of  his 
teachings,  they  felt  themselves  unable  to  receive  the 
tenets  of  any  of  the  different  sects,  which  they  thought 
inconsistent  with  reason.  Others  again  there  were,  by 
no  means  inconsiderable  in  number,  who,  under  the 
influence  of  religious  teaching,  had  earnestly  sought 
for  those  special  experiences"  in  which  so  many 
trusted  for  their  hope  of  salvation,  and,  having  failed 
to  obtain  them,  had  come  to  doubt  the  truth  of  religion 
altogether.  All  these  different  classes  felt  quite  at- 
tracted to  Mr.  Campbell  when  they  found  that  he 
admitted  them  to  present  their  difficulties  freely  in  the 
*'  Christian  Baptist,"  and  that  they  were  not  subjected 
to  denunciation  and  abuse.  They  felt  also  particularly 
interested  by  the  fact  that  he  boldly  opposed  the  clergy 
and  their  theological  systems,  and  that  he  thus  seemed 
in  some  measure  to  occupy  their  own  ground.  Still, 
as  they  had  no  idea  of  Christianity  except  as  it  was 
presented  in  these  modern  systems,  they  \\ere  not  a 
little  surprised  that  Mr.  Campbell  could  expose  them 
as  he  did  and  yet  continue  a  believer,  and  they  wished 
to  have  an  explanation  of  the  mystery.  To  their  eyes, 
he  seemed  to  have  enveloped  the  bush  of  Christianity 
in  flames,  and  thev  desired  to  draw  near  that  they 
might  see  "this  great  sight,  why  the  bush  was  not 
burned." 

With  ?»Ir.  Campbell,  however,  Christianity  as  pre- 
sented in  dogmatic  theologv  was  something  very  dif- 


OBSTACLES  TO  BELIEF. 


329 


ferent  from  the  gospel  of  Christ.  In  his  view,  this 
consisted  in  a  few  simple  facts,  resting  upon  incontro- 
vertible evidences,  and  not  in  speculations,  theories 
and  perplexing  opinions.  Skeptical  objections,  based, 
as  they  usually  were,  upon  these,  he  could  at  once 
dispose  of  as  wholly  irrelevant,  while  his  own  im- 
pregnable fortress  of  simple  truth  presented  no  vul- 
nerable point  of  attack.  He  was  so  far,  therefore, 
from  dreading  the  results  of  controversy  with  the 
skepdcal  that  he  took  a  peculiar  pleasure  in  it,  not 
only  because  he  sympathized  with  their  difficulties,  but 
because  infidelity  was  one  of  those  subjects  which  he 
had  thoroughly  investigated.  His  complete  mastery 
of  all  the  possible  trains  of  skeptical  thought,  and  the 
comprehensiveness  and  penetrating  power  of  his  mind, 
unequaled  in  logical  acumen,  in  ability  to  detect  false 
arijuments  and  discover  true  ones,  and  which  could 
perceive  in  an  instant  the  relations  of  proposition  and 
proof,  gave  him  an  extraordinary  power  in  such  dis- 
cussions which  naturally  sought  every  suitable  oppor- 
tunity to  exert  itself.  He  was,  accordingly,  often  en- 
gaged in  them  both  publicly  and  privately,  and  was 
constantly  receiving  and  answering  the  inquiries  of 
unbelievers. 

He  had  received  in  July,  1S26,  a  letter  from  a  young 
man  who  had  been  a  Methodist,  but  failing  to  realize, 
after  a  long  travail,  the  spiritual  change  he  had  been 
taught  to  expect,  became  at  length  doubtful  as  to  the 
truth  of  revealed  religion.  This  letter  Mr.  Campbell 
published,  and  went  on  in  a  series  of  admirable  repli- 
cations, designed  for  the  benefit  of  skeptics  in  general, 
to  meet  and  remove  the  supposed  obstacles  to  belief 
suggested  by  his  correspondent. 

In  these  articles  he  began  to  apply  a  principle  which 

20 


230       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


furnished  him  with  a  most  potent  and  original  argument 
in  favor  of  divine  revelation.  This  principle  was  in 
direct  opposition  to  the  one  assumed  in  works  of  natural 
theology,  and  its  enunciation  by  Mr.  Campbell  greatly 
surprised  and  confounded  the  skeptics,  who  had  been 
accustomed  to  contend  against  tlie  opposite,  and  w^ere 
surprised  to  find  Mr.  Campbell  going  even  quite  be- 
yond them  in  his  opposition  to  the  claims  of  natural 
theology.  Assured  that  skeptics,  universally,  were  in- 
debted to  revelation  for  their  ideas  of  God,  and  per- 
ceiving that  they  then  mingled  these  with  reasonings 
and  imaginations  of  their  own,  he  boldly  took  the 
ground  that  no  one  from  nature  alone  could  ever  ac- 
quire  the  notion  of  God.  He  admitted  that  when  the 
idea  was  once  given  by  revelation,  its  truth  could  be 
shown  and  illustrated  by  the  natural  world,  but  he  de- 
nied that  the  proposition  could  have  ever  been  suggested 
by  nature,  or,  in  other  words,  that  man  left  to  the  exer- 
cise of  his  five  senses,  could  ever  have  derived  from 
any  material  source  the  idea  of  a  spiritual  Being — a 
Supreme  Creator. 

Mr.  Campbell  had  long  been  convinced  that  in 
schools  of  theology  of  every  kind  the  Bible  had  been 
systematically  deprived  of  its  true  glory  and  authority, 
and  human  reason,  under  the  guise  of  natural  the- 
ology, substituted  in  its  place.  The  popular  notion  that 
nature  revealed  the  idea  ot"  God  he  thought  originated 
in  men's  beginning  to  reason  with  the  idea  already  in 
their  minds,  and  finally  imagining  that  they  had  acquired 
it  bv  reasoning. 

mi  O 

All  that  the  Book  of  Nature  teaches,"  said  he  to  anothei 
correspondent  in  reference  to  tliis  subject,  "  is,  that  ever}? 
animal  and  vegetable  is  dependent  on  its  own  kind  for  its^ 
production.    The  whole  volume  does  not  afford  a  model  or 


A  NEW  ARGUMENT. 


archetype  for  an  idea  of  any  animal  or  plant  being  dependent 
on  any  other  of  a  ditierent  nature  and  kind  for  its  production. 
You  leap  over  the  distance  from  earth  to  heaven  in  your  rea- 
soning; or  rather  you  fledge  yourself  with  the  wings  of  faith, 
and  find  in  the  Bible  the  idea  of  all  things  being  dependent 
on  a  Being  unlike  any  other,  who  produces  no  being  like 
himself,  contrary  to  your  analogy  from  the  Book  of  Nature, 
and  who  produces  all  beings,  both  unlike  himself  and  one 
another.  You  flew  so  nimbly  and  so  easily  over  this  mighty 
gulf  that  you  were  not  conscious  that  you  had  got  out  of  the 
region  of  earth-born  ideas  altogether,  and  were  farther  than 
all  space  from  the  Volume  of  Nature  which  you  sat  down  to 
read.  .  .  . 

But  I  have  a  few  facts,  which,  on  your  principles,  are  in- 
explicable— on  mine,  they  are  easily  understood  : 

"  I.  Not  one  of  the  terms  peculiarly  expressive  of  the  idea 
of  a  God,  such  as  spirit,  eternity,  immortality,  etc.,  are  to  be 
found  amongst  any  people  antecedent  to  their  being  possessed 
of  oral  or  written  revelation. 

"  2.  No  nation  or  individual  without  written  or  oral  revela- 
tion can  be  found  with  a  single  idea  of  any  item  in  the  deist's 
creed. 

"  3.  All  the  deaf  and  dumb  who  have  been  made  to  hear 
and  speak,  or  who  have  been  taught  to  communicate  their 
ideas,  have  uniformly  and  universally  declared  that  an  idea 
of  a  God,  or  anything  under  that  name,  never  entered  their 
minds.  This  is  decisive  proof  that  the  knowledge  of  God 
enters  the  human  mind  by  the  ear^  or  by  communication, 
verbal  or  written. 

"  4.  Not  one  of  the  idolatrous  nations  pretend  to  have  de- 
rived their  religion  from  reason." 

The  views,  then,  which  he  propounded,  based  upon  a 
careful  induction  from  the  above  facts,  were,  as  stated  in  his 
own  language,  as  follows  : 

I.  I  contend  that  no  man,  by  all  the  senses  and  powers 
of  reason  which  he  possesses,  with  all  the  data  before  iiim 
which  the  material  universe  affords,  can  originate  or  beget  in 


332       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL, 


his  own  mind  the  idea  of  a  God  in  the  true  sense  of  that 
word. 

2.  But  I  contend,  so  soon  as  the  idea  of  Deity  is  sug- 
gested to  the  mind,  everything  within  us  and  without  us,  at- 
tests, bears  testimony  to  and  demonstrates  the  existence  and 
attributes  of  such  a  Being. 

If  the  first  position  can  be  established,  it  follows  that  there 
cannot  be  a  rational  deist  on  earth.  If  the  second  position  be 
established,  there  cannot  be  an  atheist  amongst  all  the 
compos  J7ie7itis  of  the  human  race." 

The  novelty  of  these  views,  the  growing  reputation 
of  Mr.  Campbell  and  the  peculiar  circumstances  of  the 
times  naturally  directed  the  attention  of  a  large  por- 
tion of  the  community  to  the  individual  who  dealt  so 
unceremoniously  with  the  dogmas  of  theology.  The 
qualities  which  gave  him  this  conspicuity,  however, 
were  but  indications  of  his  fitness  for  the  further  work 
which  Providence  had  assigned  to  him.  Heretofore, 
he  had  been  occupied  in  delivering  Christianity  from 
its  professed  friends,  but  he  was  soon  to  be  called  to 
defend  it  from  its  open  enemies.  Hence,  if,  like  Saul, 
he  stood  higher  than  any  of  the  people,  it  was  in  ordei 
that  men  might  **  see  him  whom  the  Lord  had  chosen, 
that  there  was  none  like  him  among  the  people."  The 
times,  indeed,  loudly  demanded  such  a  champion. 
Infidelity  had  of  late  been  pouring  into  the  United 
States  from  Europe  like  a  flood,  and  the  period  was  at 
hand  when  the  Lord  was  to  lift  up  a  standard"  against 
it.  The  remarkable  success  which  had  attended  the 
arrangements  of  David  Dale,  at  the  New  Lanark  Mills, 
in  Scotland,  for  the  improvement  and  happiness  of  the 
working-classes  ;  the  ingenious  and  captivating  theories 
of  communism  broached  by  Charles  Fourier,  in  France, 
and  the  plausible  philosophy  of  the  "  social  system" 


NEW  CO-OPERATIVE  Sl'STEMS. 


233. 


earnestly  advocated  by  Robert  Owen,  the  son-in-law 
of  Mr.  Dale,  had  begun  to  create  a  strong  public  feel- 
ing, in  many  places,  in  favor  of  the  formation  of  co- 
operative societies.  Enthusiastic  foreigners,  filled  with 
ardent  hopes  of  effecting  a  complete  renovation  of 
human  society,  flocked  to  the  United  States  whose 
free  institutions  and  fresh  uncultivated  plains  furnished, 
they  thought,  the  most  favorable  conditions  for  their 
experiments.  Communities  were  speedily  organized 
and  territory  secured.  At  Kendal,  in  Stark  county, 
Ohio ;  at  New  Harmony,  in  Indiana,  and  at  various 
other  points,  operations  were  actually  commenced,  and 
men  of  ability  were  zealously  and  actively  employed  in 
commending  in  lectures,  pamphlets  and  other  publica- 
tions the  plans  and  principles  of  these  new  associations. 
At  this  period  success  seemed  everywhere  to  attend 
these  movements.  The  impressible  and  enterprising 
American  mind  soon  imbibed  the  spirit  of  the  system, 
and  projects  were  everywhere  set  on  foot  for  the  for- 
mation of  "  societies"  and  "  phalanxes"  of  various  de- 
scriptions. 

To  mere  economical  and  co-operative  arrangements 
for  the  promotion  of  social  w^elfare  no  just  objection, 
indeed,  could  be  made.  Mr.  Campbell  had  himself,  at 
a  former  period,  engaged  in  a  project  of  this  kind,  and 
looked  with  approval  on  the  management  and  prosperity 
of  such  industrial  communities  as  he  had  found  at  Zoar 
in  Ohio  and  elsewhere.  These,  however,  had  either 
confined  themselves  to  the  regulation  of  mere  tem- 
poral concerns,  leaving  the  religious  sentiments  of  indi- 
viduals entirely  free,  or  else  had  embodied  religion  as 
an  essential  part  of  their  scheme.  But  the  case  was 
wholly  different  with  most  of  the  new  co-operative  sys- 
tems now  proposed.    Their  adherents  seemed  to  think. 

20  * 


234        MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


'that  religion  was  directly  in  their  way  in  their  efforts  to 
remodel  society,  and  they  therefore  strove,  by  every 
means  in  their  power,  to  destroy  its  influence.  This 
was  especially  true  of  the  movement  directed  by  Robert 
Owen,  from  which  everything  of  a  religious  character 
was  to  be  totally  excluded.  Upon  these  principles  a 
considerable  society  had  already  been  formed  at  New 
Harmony,  in  Indiana,  to  which  were  flocking  the- 
orists and  skeptics  of  every  grade,  and  where  a  periodi- 
cal was  published  advocating  with  considerable  ability 
and  still  greater  assurance  their  principles  of  infidelity 
and  of  socialism. 

Mr.  Campbell  had  for  some  time  contemplated  these 
movements  at  a  distance.  When  he  found,  however, 
on  a  nearer  view,  that  they  were  armed  against  religion, 
he  at  once  ran  up  to  his  masthead  the  banner  of  the 
cross  and  prepared  for  action.  In  order  to  develop  the 
strength  of  opponents  whom  he  felt  assured  it  was  his 
destiny  to  meet,   he    published  five    essays  headed, 

Robert  Owen  and  the  Social  System,"  and  "  Deism 
and  the  Social  System."  In  the  first  of  these  he  thus 
spoke  of  Mr.  Owen  and  his  enterprise  : 

**Mr.  Owen  h;»s  attracted  miicli  attention  in  this  country, 
as  well  as  in  Hritain,  from  the  singularity  of  his  views  and  the 
benevolent  nature  of  his  efiorts  for  the  amelioration  of  society. 
He  has  afibrcied  eviilence  of  '  mental  independence'  nevei  per- 
haps surpassed  before.  His  talents,  education,  fortune  and 
exti aorclinary  zeal  in  the  prosecution  of  his  favorite  object 
entitle  him  to  a  very  liberal  share  of  public  respect.  It  is,  I 
believe,  very. generally  ailmitled  that  lie  is  perfectly  disinter- 
ested as  far  as  respects  pecuniary  gain  in  all  that  he  has  done 
and  is  doing  for  the  establishment  and  development  of  the 
social  system.  He  has  not  l)een  treated,  however,  w  ith  over 
much  cointesv  bv  many  editors,  both  political  and  religious, 
who  have  animadverted  u[X)n  his  principles  and  his  plans. 


''NEW  HARMONY  GAZETTE." 


For  my  own  part,  I  have  felt  some  degree  of  sympathy  for 
him,  and  of  morlificalion,  too,  at  the  nibblings  of  his  op- 
ponents. .  .  . 

**Tlie  benefits  resuhinoj  from  a  co-operative  system  have 
been  apprehendeil  in  theory.  an»l  proved  by  experience  before 
we  lieard  of  Mr.  Owen  in  this  country.  A  social  system  of 
co-operation  mav  l)e  grafted  on  any  system  of  religion,  true 
or  false  ;  but  that  a  social  system  of  co-operation  can  at  all 
exist  without  religious  obligation  has  never  yet  been  proven; 
but  this  appears  to  be  the  experiment  now  on  hanci  at  New 
Harmony,  Indiana.  1ji  this  Mr.  Owen  has  atiorded  the  most 
convincing  proof  of  *  mental  independence.*  The  annals  of 
the  worlil  fail  to  present  one  single  league  or  confederation 
for  any  purpose  that  was  not  perfectly  ephemeral  without 
rehi^ion  of  some  kind  or  other.  1  have  no  notion  of  jxetting 
angry  with  Mr.  Owen,  or  of  belaboring  \\\m  with  harsh  epi- 
thets for  hazarding  an  e\j)erimenl  of  this  sort.  It  is  true,  in- 
deed, that  I  regret  that  any  jKM  son  born  iji  tlve  eighteenth  cen 
tiny.  an<l  educated  in  the  kingilom  of  Sccjtland,  shouM  have 
profited  so  little  by  the  circumstances  arouml  him,  and  siiould 
have  leartied  so  little  from  all  that  has  gone  before  him,  as  to 
suppose  that  a  being  such  as  man  is  could  be  happv  in  any 
circumstances  without  the  hope  of  immortality  beyond  the 
grave." 

Having  made  this  prediction  of  failure,  which  in  a 
very  few  years  was  completely  fultilled,  he  in  the  next 
number  thus  refers  to  the  '*New  Harrnony  Gazette,'* 
which  he  styles     the  focus  of  the  lights  of  skepticism 

"  Tiie  conductors  of  that  journal  are  amongst  the  most 
assiduous,  devoted  and  persevering  skeptics  of  the  nineteenth 
century.  The  Bil>le,  some  way  or  other,  stands  in  their  way, 
and  seems  to  be  ininncal  to  some  ftvorite  scheme  or  darling 
hypothesis  of  the  builders  of  the  city  of  Mental  Independence. 
At  all  events,  we  have  not  seen  a  lunniier  of  that  joaj-)er  in 
which  there  is  not  either  a  popgun  or  a  blunderbuss  dis- 
charged at  revelation." 


SjO       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


Amongst  other  preparations  for  the  anticipated  en- 
gagement, he  now  lays  down  certain  preliminary  state- 
ments, such  as — 

"  I.  That  he  defends  the  Bible  and  no  man's  system  of 
religion,  nor  the  arguments  of  others  in  behalf  of  the  Bible. 
2.  That  revelation,  properly  speaking,  is  an  exhibit  of  super- 
natural  things  which  could  not  be  known  by  any  other 
means,  so  that  whatever  can  be  known  by  reason  or  the  senses 
is  not  a  subject  of  revelation."  He  then  puts  to  the  skeptics 
the  following  questions,  promising  to  take  his  proper  share  of 
the  burden  of  proof :  "  Is  there  a  God  who  created  all  things? 
And  if  answered  in  the  affirmative,  upon  what  evidence  is 
this  known?  Is  there  a  spirit  in  man  which  will  survive  the 
body  or  live  after  the  animal  life  is  extinct,  and  upon  what 
evidence  is  this  known?  Is  there  a  future  state  of  felicity  or 
of  torment,  and  if  so,  upon  what  evidence  is  this  known  ?" 

To  these  inquiries  the  Gazette"  some  time  afterward  gave 
the  following  answer :  "  We  can  reply  to  these  propositions 
neither  in  the  affirmative  nor  in  the  negative,  for  we  possess 
no  positive  knowledge  on  any  of  these  subjects.  A  God,  the 
soul,  heaven  and  hell,  if  such  existences  and  places  do  really 
exist,  can  never,  from  their  nature,  become  cognizable  by  the 
senses  of  man.  I,  therefore,  cannot  conceive  how  we  shall 
ever  be  able  to  acquire  information  regarding  their  nature  or 
existence."  This  answer  Mr.  Campbell  published  with  the 
following  remarks:  ''With  all  the  improvements  in  philoso- 
phy for  eighteen  centuries  the  world  is  no  wiser  with  respect 
to  God  than  it  was  when  Paul  lived.  He  then  declared  that 
neither  Greece  nor  Rome  nor  Egypt,  by  all  their  philosophy, 
knew  God.  Even  to  this  day  the  God  that  was  unknown  in 
Athens  is  unknown  in  New  Harmony  and  to  all  who  have 
no  other  light  than  what  philosophy  affords.  And  here  is 
another  and  a  striking  proof :  the  peojjle  of  the  city  of  '  IVIental 
Independence'  are  said  to  have  the  best  library  on  this  con- 
tinent, and  with  all  the  advantages  of  social  converse  in  the 
best-improved  condition  of  human  nature,  having  voluntarily 
extinguished  the  light  of  supernatural  revelation,  have  now 


A  PROBLEM  FOR  SKEPTICS.  237 

cantlidiy  and  honestly  avowed  that  whether  there  is  a  God  at 
all,  a  spirit  in  man  that  will  survive  his  mortal  body,  a  he-aven 
or  hell,  is  to  them  unk?iow?i  and  unknowable.  This  is  the 
identical  conclusion  to  which  I  knew  most  certainly,  by  all 
the  knowledge  of  philosophy  which  I  possess,  they  would  be 
constrained  to  come.  For,  as  I  have  frequently  said,  there  is 
no  stopping-place  between  Deism  and  Atheism  ;  and  they  are 
lame  philosophers  who,  taking  philosophy  for  their  guide, 
profess  to  hold  with  Herbert,  Hume,  Gibbon  and  Paine  that 
there  is  a  God,  an  immortal  soul,  a  heaven  or  a  hell.  I  give 
great  praise  to  the  New  Harmony  philosophers  for  their  can- 
dor and  their  honesty  in  frankly  avowing  the  conclusion  which 
all  the  lights  they  have  authorize  them  to  maintain.  I  say 
they  are  good  philosophers.    They  have  reasoned  well." 

Having  thus  obtained  a  clear  statement  of  the  posi- 
tion occupied  by  the  New^  Harmony  philosophers,  he  in 
a  subsequent  number  presented  to  them  the  foUow^ing : 
*'A  Problem:  I^or  the  Editor  of  the   Harmony  Gazette* 

and  his  doubting  brethren  : 

"  You  think  that  reason  cannot  originate  the  idea  of  an 
Eternal  First  Cause,  and  that  no  man  could  acquire  such  an 
idea  by  the  employment  of  his  senses  and  reason  ;  and  you 
think  correctly.  You  think  also  that  the  Bible  is  not  a  super- 
natural revelation — not  a  revelation  from  the  Deity  in  any 
sense.  These  things  premised,  gentlemen,  I  present  my 
problem  in  the  form  of  a  query  again  : 

'•  The  Christian  idea  of  an  Eternal  First  Cause  uncaused, 
or  of  a  God,  is  now  in  the  world  and  has  been  for  ages  im- 
memorial. You  say  it  could  not  enter  into  the  world  by 
reason,  and  it  did  not  enter  by  revelation.  Now,  as  you  are 
philosophers  and  historians,  and  have  all  the  means  of  know- 
ing, how  did  it  come  into  the  world?'' 

The  surprise  of  the  skeptics  at  finding  Mr.  Campbell  »^ 
to  concur  in  the  conclusions  of  their  own  philosophy 
was  greatly  increased  when  they  found  their  argument 
thus  turned  against  themselves,  and  that  upon  their  owa 


238       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


principles  they  became  at  once  involved  in  a  palpable 
difficulty  from  which  there  was  no  escape.  They  had 
boasted  greatly  of  their  "  mental  independence,"  and 
imagined  themselves  to  occup}^  a  sphere  of  thought 
quite  above  that  of  the  religious  portion  of  the  com- 
munity, but  in  coming  into  contact  with  Mr.  Campbell, 
they  found  themselves  confronted  by  a  "  mental  inde- 
pendence" much  greater  than  that  in  which  they 
boasted,  and  they  were  quite  at  a  loss  how  to  meet  his 
unexpected  assaults.  Caring  nothing  for  arithmeti- 
cal defences  of  the  size  and  contents  of  Noah's  ark,  or 
for  geological  explanations  of  the  Mosaic  account  of 
creation,  in  order  to  refute  the  usual  puerile  cavils  of 
skepticism,  he  had  attacked  at  once  the  rationale  of 
their  system.  Overleaping  the  outworks,  he  had  ad- 
vanced at  once  upon  the  citadel,  and  the  New  Har- 
mony Gazette,"  after  this  taste  of  his  quality,  seemed, 
for  a  time,  indisposed  to  renew  the  contest. 

]Mr.  Campbell,  however,  had  no  idea  of  allowing  the 
advocates  of  the  social  system"  to  continue  the  dissemi- 
nation of  its  principles  unchallenged  or  unopposed, 
and  only  awaited  a  favorable  opportunity  to  come  to 
close  quarters  with  some  of  the  larger  vessels  of  the 
opposing  foe.  In  February,  1828,  he  received  a  letter 
from  an  individual  at  Canton,  Ohio,  bewailing  the  evil 
etVects  produced  upon  the  community  there  by  the  lec- 
tures of  a  socialist — a  Dr.  Underhill. 

For  two  months  or  more,"  said  this  correspondent,  "he 
has  been  indefatigably  engaged  in  preaching  that  sort  of 
moral  philosophy  which  the  'New  Harmony  Gazette'  con- 
tains. He  is  going  from  place  to  place,  and  great  numbers, 
I  luiderstand,  are  converted  to  his  new  doctrine.  Though 
there  is  considerable  alarm  among  tiiC  preacliers  about  here 
none  but  a  Roman  priest  undertook  to  contradict  him — with 


ROBERT  OWEN'S  CHALLENGE, 


very  little  eflect,  however.  Since  that  time  the  Deists  and 
free-thinkers  of  this  j)lace  are  "getting  quite  bold,  and  even 
the  appretitices  of  the  workshops  and  boys  in  the  sheets 
begin  to  reason  away  and  rail  at  religion.  1  am  ashaujeil  for 
my  biethren,  the  English  preachers,  who  stand  l)ack  wiien 
that  man  speaketii,  and  only  talk  when  he  is  not  wiiiiin  hear- 
ing. Does  not  this  show  as  if  Cliristianity  could  not  l>e  «le- 
fended  against  its  eneirjies.  or  that  its  priests  were  too  luke- 
warm to  undertake  its  defence?  It  grieves  me  the  more 
since  Dr.  Underbill  has  challenged,  boldly,  every  one  who 
would  be  willing  to  fjuestion  his  views,  and  has  publicly  called 
for  opponents  to  his  sentiments." 

He  then  asks  if  Mr.  Campbell  will  not  come  and 
meet  him. 

Mr.  Campbell  replied  that  it  was  not  consistent  with 
his  views  of  propriety  to  go  out  of  his  way  to  meet  so 
obscure  an  individual  as  Dr.  Underbill,  hut  that  if  his 
master,  Robert  Owen,  chose  to  enter  the  field  of  debate, 
he  would  meet  him.  lie  said  he  thought  sucli  a  dis- 
cussion was  needed,  but  that  he  would  not  di-aw  a 
bow  save  at  the  king  of  the  skeptics  of  the  city  of  men- 
tal independence."  He  well  knew  how  to  bide  his 
time,"  and  that  the  interior  position  which  he  thus  as- 
signed to  Dr.  Underbill  would  have  the  best  etVect  in 
checking  his  success,  and  inducing  the  doubting  to  await 
the  issue  of  a  discussion,  freely  proflered,  so  soon  as  a 
more  formidable  antagonist  should  appear  on  liie  side 
of  skepticism.  Nor  had  he  long  to  wait.  Twentv- 
three  days,  indeed,  before  the  dale  of  the  above  letter, 
Mr.  Owen  himself,  who  had  been  for  some  time  lectur- 
ing in  New  Orleans,  had  given  a  formal  challenge  to 
the  clergy  of  that  city  to  discuss  with  him  the  claims  of 
religion,  but  the  news  of  this  had  not  yet  reached  Heth- 
any.  No  sooner,  however,  had  Mr.  Camj-jliell  received 
the  intelligence,  and  learned  at  the  same  time  that  there 


240       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


had  been  no  response  from  any  of  those  addressed,  than 
he  at  once  published  Mr.  Owen's  challenge  and  hi& 
prompt  acceptance  of  it. 

"  I  have  long  wondered,"  said  he,  why  none  of  the  pub- 
lic teachers  of  Christianity  have  appeared  in  defence  of  the 
last  blessed  hope  of  man.  This  skeptical  age  and  country  is 
the  proper  soil,  and  the  youth  of  this  generation  the  proper 
elements  for  Mr.  Owen's  experiments.  I  have  felt  indignant 
at  the  aspect  of  things  in  reference  to  this  libertine  and  law- 
less scheme.  Mr.  Owen,  a  gentleman  of  very  respectable 
standing  as  a  scholar  and  capitalist,  of  much  apparent  be- 
nevolence, traveling  with  the  zeal  of  an  apostle  through 
Europe  and  America,  disseminating  the  most  poisonous  sen- 
timents as  Christians  conceive,  finding  myriads  in  waiting  to 
drink,  as  the  thirsty  ox  swalloweth  water,  whatever  he  has  to 
offer  against  the  Bible  and  the  hope  of  immortality,  passes 
unchecked  and  almost  unheeded  by  the  myriads  of  advocates 
and  teachers  of  the  Christian  religion.  If  none  but  Christian 
philosophers  composed  this  society,  it  might  be  well  enough 
to  let  Mr.  Owen  and  his  scheme  of  things  find  their  own 
level.  But  while  a  few  of  the  seniors  disdain  to  notice  or 
affect  to  disdain  his  scheme  of  things,  it  ought  not  to  be  for- 
gotten that  thousands  are  carried  away  as  chaff'  before  the 
wind  by  the  apparently  triumphant  manner  in  which  Mr. 
Owen  moves  along. 

"  Impelled  by  these  considerations  and  others  connected 
with  them,  we  feel  it  our  duty  to  propose  as  follows :  Mr. 
Owen  says  in  his  challenge  before  us :  '  I  propose  to  prove, 
as  I  have  already  attempted  to  do  in  my  lectures,  that  all  the 
religions  of  the  world  have  been  founded  upon  the  ignorance 
of  mankind  ;  that  they  are  directly  opposed  to  the  nevei- 
changing  laws  of  our  nature  ;  that  they  have  been  and  are 
the  real  source  of  vice,  disunion  and  misery  of  every  descrip- 
tion ;  that  they  are  now  the  only  bar  to  the  formation  of  a 
society  of  virtue,  of  intelligence,  of  charity  in  its  most  exten- 
sive sense,  and  of  sincerity  and  kindness  among  the  whole 


CHALLENGE  ACCEPTED. 


human  family,  and  that  they  can  be  no  longer  maintained 
except  through  the  ignorance  of  the  mass  of  the  people  and 
Ihe  tyranny  of  the  few  over  that  mass/ 

**  Now,  be  it  known  to  Mr.  Owen,  and  to  all  whom  it  may 
concern,  that  I,  relying  on  the  Author,  the  reasonableness  and 
the  excellency  of  the  Christian  religion,  will  engage  to  meet 
Mr.  Owen  any  time  within  one  year  from  this  date,  at  any 
place  equidistant  from  New  Harmony  and  Bethany,  such  as 
Cincinnati,  Ohio,  or  Lexington,  Kentucky,  and  will  then  and 
there  undertake  to  show  that  Mr.  Owen  is  utterly  incompe- 
tent to  prove  the  positions  he  has  assumed,  in  a  public  debate, 
before  all  who  may  choose  to  attend  ;  to  be  moderated  or 
controlled  by  a  proper  tribunal,  and  to  be  conducted  in  per- 
fect good  order  from  day  to  day,  until  the  moderators  or  the 
parties,  or  the  congregation  or  a  majority  of  them,  are  satis- 
fied, as  may  afterward  be  agreed  upon.  I  propose,  moreover, 
that  a  competent  stenographer,  perfectly  disinterested,  shall 
be  employed  to  take  down  the  speeches  on  the  occasion  ;  that 
for  his  trouble  he  shall  have  the  exclusive  right  of  printing 
and  distributing  said  debate  throughout  the  United  States, 
and  thus  give  all  a  right  to  hear  or  read  whether  Mr.  Owen 
with  all  his  arguments,  benevolence  and  sincerity,  is  able  to 
do  what  he  has  proposed.  After  stating  these  prominent 
items,  I  leave  everything  else  open  to  negotiation  or  private 
arrangement. 

"  To  quote  the  words  of  Mr.  Owen,  '  With  feelings  of  per- 
fect good-will  to  you,  which  extend  also  in  perfect  sincerity 
to  all  mankind,  I  subscribe  myself  your  friend  in  a  just 
cause,*  Alexander  Campbell. 

"Bethany,  Va.,  April  25,  1828." 

Before  learning  the  acceptance  of  his  Orleans  chal- 
lenge by  Mr.  Campbell,  Mr.  Owen  had  noticed  the 
ofTer  made  in  the  Canton  correspondence,  and  on  the 
14th  of  May  addressed  a  letter  to  Mr.  Campbell,  con- 
senting to  meet  him.  and  proposing  a  sort  of  general 
assembly  of  the  skeptics  and  the  clergy  for  the  purpose 
VOL,  11.— Q  21 


242       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL, 


of  a  full  discussion.  This  Mr.  Campbell  declined  as 
not  likely  ij  result  beneficially,  and  informing  Mr. 
Owen  that  he  had  already  accepted  his  Orleans  chal- 
lenge in  the  exact  terms  in  which  it  was  expressed, 
said  that  nothing  now  remained  but  to  adjust  the  pre- 
liminaries. I  have,"  said  he,  in  conclusion,  "from 
a  little  experience  in  public  discussions,  no  doubt  but 
that  I  shall  be  able  to  maintain  perfect  good-humor 
throughout  the  whole,  and  I  have  reason  to  believe 
that  your  philosophy  has  improved  your  good-nature 
so  far  as  to  make  you  an  acceptable  disputant."  A 
few  weeks  afterward,  accordingly,  Mr.  Owen  paid 
Mr.  Campbell  a  visit  in  order  to  make  the  necessary 
arrangements.  Mr.  Campbell  found  him  to  be  a  very 
affable  and  pleasant  gentleman,  possessed  of  much 
interesting  information.  Mr.  Owen,  on  his  part,  was 
much  pleased  w^ith  what  he  saw  of  Mr.  Campbell,  and 
appeared  greatly  delighted  with  the  beautiful  hills  and 
landscapes  to  which  Mr.  Campbell .  called  his  attention 
during  their  pleasant  walks  in  the  vicinity  of  Bethany, 
and  which,  he  assured  Mr.  Campbell,  persons  of  taste 
in  England  would  go  many  miles  to  see.  In  one  of 
their  excursions  about  the  farm,  they  came  to  Mr. 
Campbell's  family  burying-ground,  when  Mr.  Owen 
stopped  and  addressing  himself  to  Mr.  Campbell,  said  : 
There  is  one  advantage  I  have  over  the  Christian — / 
am  not  afraid  to  die.  Most  Christians  have  fear  in 
death,  but  if  some  few  items  of  my  business  were 
settled,  I  should  be  perfectly  willing  to  die  at  any 
moment."  "Well,"  answered  Mr.  Campbell,  "you 
say  you  have  no  fear  in  death  ;  have  you  any  hofe  in 
death?"  After  a  solemn  pause,  "  No,"  said  Mr.  Owen. 
"Then,"  rejoined  Mr.  Campbell  (jiointing  to  an  ox 
standing  near),  "  3'ou  are  on  a  level  with  that  brute. 


MAHONING  ASSOCIATION. 


He  has  fed  till  he  is  satisfied,  and  stands  in  the  shade 
whisking  off  .he  flies,  and  has  neither  hope  nor  fear 
in  death. At  this  Mr.  Owen  smiled  and  evinced 
some  confusion,  but  was  quite  unable  to  deny  the  just- 
ness of  Mr.  Campbell's  inference.  As  he  was  now  on 
his  way  to  Europe,  and  did  not  expect  to  return  before 
the  beginning  of  winter,  he  desired  to  have  the  time 
of  the  discussion  fixed  for  the  second  Monday  of  the 
following  April.  This  being  regarded  as  a  suitable 
season,  and  Cincinnati  being  agreed  on  as  the  place 
of  meeting,  the  amiable  philosopher,  with  the  kindest 
feelings,  bade  his  host  farewell. 

Shortly  after  his  departure,  Mr.  Campbell  was  united 
in  marriage  with  Miss  S.  H.  Bakewell,  whom  he^ 
chose  not  only  in  deference  to  his  first  wife's  earnest 
wish,  but  in  accordance  with  his  own  deliberate  judg- 
ment, the  wisdom  of  which  the  future  amply  con- 
firmed. On  the  24th  of  the  preceding  January,  his 
eldest  daughter,  Jane,  had  been  married  to  Mr.  Albert 
G.  Ewing,  a  gentleman  of  high  standing  and  intelli- 
gence, residing  at  Nashville,  Tennessee.  And  as  they 
were  at  this  time  on  a  visit  to  Bethany,  they  concluded 
to  accompany  Mr.  Campbell  and  his  bride  to  the  meet- 
ing of  the  Mahoning  Association,  at  which  Mr.  Camp- 
bell was  to  deliver  the  introductory  discourse. 

This  meeting,  which  was  held  at  Warren,  was  well 
attended  and  was  an  occasion  of  great  interest.  One 
year  before,  the  Association  had  appointed  Walter  Scott 
as  evangelist,  little  expecting  the  events  which  were  so 
soon  to  follow,  and  on  which  many  now  looked  back 
with  thankfulness  and  wonder.  The  friends  of  pro- 
gress felt  that  a  decisive  victory  had  been  gained,  and 
that  the  primitive  method  of  administering  the  gospel 
had  indeed  reappeared  in  the  Church,  restoring  to  it 


^44       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 

its  pristine  power  to  convert  the  nations.  This  power 
had  ah-eady  been  demonstrated  by  the  addition  of 
nearly  one  thousand  persons  to  the  churches  within 
quite  a  limited  area,  as  well  as  in  various  signal 
triumphs  over  sectarian  opposition  and  in  the  fraternal 
union  of  preachers  and  people  of  dissevered  parties. 
They  rejoiced  that  the  reformatory  principles  for  some 
years  discussed  among  them  had  led  to  such  grand 
results,  and,  feeling  more  and  more  assured  of  their 
importance,  were  well  disposed  to  carry  them  out  in 
every  particular. 

This  disposition  was  soon  to  be  tested  in  relation  to 
a  very  important  feature  of  the  proposed  reform — the 
scriptural  basis  of  Christian  union.  The  occasion  for 
this  was  the  case  of  Aylett  Raines,  who,  though 
publicly  identified  with  the  movement,  still  retained,  as 
was  generally  understood,  his  Restorationist  opinions. 
The  opponents  of  the  cause  had  not  failed  to  reproach 
its  adherents  with  tolerating  these  errors,  as  they  had 
not  required  a  public  renunciation  of  them,  and  there 
were  many  in  the  Association  who  were  quite  sensitive 
upon  the  subject,  and  doubted  whether  under  such 
circumstances  Mr.  Raines  could  be  received.  As  Mr. 
Campbell  was  aware  of  this  state  of  feeling,  he  took 
as  the  subject  of  his  introductory  discourse  the  four- 
teenth chapter  of  Romans,  dwelling  particularly  upon 
the  injunction  in  the  first  verse  :  '*  Him  that  is  weak  in 
the  faith  receive  ye,  but  not  to  doubtful  disputations,** 
or,  as  in  the  rendering  adopted  in  the  new  version 
from  Thompson,  **  without  regard  to  diflferences  of 
opinions." 

On  the  following  day  the  case  of  Mr.  Raines  was 
formally  brought  before  the  Association  by  Jacob  Os- 
borne, who  wished  to  have  the  matter  definitely  settled. 


BASIS  OF  UXIOX  TESTED. 


Thomas  Campbell  immediately  rose  and  remarked  that 
such  a  question  was  only  calculated  to  create  discord 
among  the  brethren.  Brother  Raines,"  said  he,  '*  has 
been  with  me  during  the  last  several  months,  and  we 
have  freely  unbosomed  ourselves  to  each  other.  He 
is  philosophically  a  Restorationist  and  I  am  a  Calvinist, 
but  notwithstanding  this  difference  of  opinion  between 
us,  I  would  put  my  right  hand  into  the  fire  and  have 
it  burnt  off  before  I  would  hold  up  my  hands  against 
him.  And  from  all  I  know  of  Brother  Raines,  if  I 
were  Paul,  I  would  have  him,  in  preference  to  any 
young  man  of  my  acquaintance,  to  be  my  Timothy.** 
To  this  warm  commendation,  Mr.  Raines  at  a  subse- 
quent opportunity  responded  that  *'  if  he  were  Timo- 
thy, Thomas  Campbell  should  be  his  Paul."  Alex- 
ander Campbell  then  made  some  remarks,  again  de- 
fining the  difference  between  faith  and  opinion,  stadng 
that  Mr.  Raines'  views  on  the  subject  of  the  restoration 
of  the  wicked  after  a  certain  amount  of  punishment 
could  be  regarded  as  nothing  but  an  opinion,  since 
there  was  not  a  passage  an3'where  in  the  writings  of 
prophets  or  apostles  affirming  it.  It  could  never  be 
considered  a  matter  of  belief,  since  there  was  no  testi- 
mony to  render  it  such.  He  therefore  proposed  that 
Mr.  Raines  should  express  his  willingness  to  preach 
the  gospel  as  the  apostles  preached  it,  and  to  retain 
his  opinions  as  private  property  in  harmony  with  the 
principles  of  the  Reformation.  If  he  would  do  this, 
he  assured  all  present  that  in  a  short  time  all  such 
opinions  would  fade  away  out  of  his  mind,  and  he 
would  see  such  a  freeness  and  fullness  in  the  gospel 
that  he  would  not  want  men  saved  if  they  would  not 
obey  it.  Walter  Scott  then  expressed  his  entire  con- 
currence in  the  views  given,  after  which  "Mr.  Raines 

21  » 


246       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


made  the  declaration  proposed  by  Mr.  Campbell,  and 
the  question  being  put  Whether  there  was  any  law  of 
Christ  by  which  a  brother  could  be  condemned  who 
deported  himself  as  Mr.  Raines  proposed  to  do?"'  the 
Association  decided  by  a  very  large  majority  that  there 
was  not.  Thus  the  case  was  settled,  though  some  of 
those  in  the  minority  felt  still  so  disturbed  at  the  recep- 
tion of  Mr.  Raines  that  nothing  but  his  prudence  and. 
careful  avoidance  of  any  effort  to  teaCh  his  speculative 
opinions  prevented  a  schism  which  at  the  time  might 
have  been  attended  with  disastrous  consequences. 

On  this  occasion  Mr.  Campbell  gave  a  very  remark- 
able proof  of  his  entire  freedom  from  the  exacting  spirit 
which  then  governed  religious  parties.  So  far,  indeed, 
was  he  in  advance  of  the  time  that  some  of  those  as.^o- 
ciated  with  him  thought  he  had  in  some  measure  com- 
promised the  principle  of  the  Reformation  itself  which 
required  assent  to  the  plain  teaching  of  Scripture,  and 
so  much  dissatisfied  were  some  who  had  come  to  the 
meeting  with  a  view  of  uniting  with  the  reformers  that 
they  declined  doing  so.  He  recognized  in  Mr.  Raines, 
however,  one  who  sincerely  believed  the  gospel,  and 
who  by  no  means  doubted  or  denied  the  reality  and 
certainty  of  the  future  punishment  of  the  wicked.  The 
only  point  of  difficulty  was  the  duration  of  that  punish- 
ment, in  regard  to  which  Mr.  Raines  had  adopted  a 
theory  to  the  effect  that  the  benevolence  of  God  would 
ultimately  eliminate  from  the  universe  all  traces  of  sin, 
its  punishment  included — a  view  similar  to  that  held  by 
the  illustrious  Origen  and  the  celebrated  John  Foster,  as 
well  as  by  other  individuals  amongst  the  ' '  orthodox."  As 
Mr.  Raines  believed  that  God  would  reward  the  right- 
eous and  punish  the  wicked  according  to  their  works, 
Mr.  Campbell  considered  this  to  be  the  substance  of 


FAITH  AND  PHILOSOPHY. 


HI 


the  divine  communications  on  the  subject,  and  that  con- 
jectures or  theories  as  to  anything  beyond  this  were 
mere  opinions  or  speculations.  As  Mr.  Raines'  agree- 
ment to  hold  these  views  in  private  as  mere  opinions 
was  an  admission  of  their  doubtfulness  and  their  want 
of  Scripture  authority,  and  his  engagement  to  teach  only 
what  the  Scripture  revealed  was  all  that  the  principles 
of  the  Reformation  demanded,  the  course  pursued  was 
obviously  correct.  It  gave  an  example,  however,  of  a 
freedom  of  thought  of  which  the  religious  community 
had  never  dreamed,  and  presented  in  a  very  striking 
light  the  liberality  of  the  basis  of  Christian  union  advo- 
cated by  Mr.  Campbell. 

The  wisdom  of  his  position  in  this  case  was  fully 
borne  out  by  the  results.  Mr.  Raines  became  not  only 
one  of  the  ablest  and  most  successful  advocates  of  the 
cause,  but  it  was  not  long  until  his  favorite  theor}^  gave 
place  to  humbler  views  of  man's  ability  to  resolve  the 
mysteries  of  the  future ;  and  in  order  to  complete  the 
history  it  may  be  here  stated  that  in  1830  he  wrote  thus 
to  Mr.  Cam.pbell :  . 

"  I  wish  to  inform  you  that  my 'restorationist' sentiments 
have  been  slowly  and  imperceptibly  erased  from  my  mind  by 
the  ministry  of  Paul  and  Peter  and  some  other  illustrious 
preachers,  with  whose  discourses  and  writings,  I  need  not  tell 
you,  you  seem  to  be  intimately  acquainted.  After  my  im- 
mersion I  brought  my  mind,  as  much  as  I  possibly  could,  like 
a  bhink  surface  to  the  ministry  of  the  new  institution,  and  by 
this  means  1  think  many  characters  of  truth  have  been  im- 
printed in  my  mind  which  did  not  formerly  exist  there.  .  .  . 
I  hope  during  the  remainder  of  my  days  to  devote  my  ener- 
gies, not  to  the  building  up  of  sectarian  systems,  but  to  the 
teaching  of  the  Word."  This  purpose  Mr.  Raines  has  fully 
accomplished  in  a  faithful  and  most  efficient  ministry  of  more 
than  forty  years,  and  recently  thus  refers  to  the  cherished  re- 


248       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


membrance  of  "  the  great  kindness  and  magnanimity  with 
which,"  says  he,  "  the  Campbells  and  Walter  Scott  treated  me 
after  my  baptism,  and  before  I  was  convinced  of  the  errone- 
ousness  of  my  restoration ist  philosophy.  They  used  to  say  to 
me:  *  It  is  a  mere  philosophy,  like  Calvinism  and  Arminian- 
ism,  and  no  part  of  the  gospel.*  They  made  these  isms  of  but 
little  value,  and  therefore  not  worth  contending  for,  and  they 
did  not  put  themselves  in  conflict  with  my  philosophy,  but 
rather  urged  me  to  preach  the  gospel  in  matter  and  form  as 
did  the  apostles.  This  all  appeared  to  me  to  be  reasonable, 
and  I  did  it ;  and  one  of  the  consequences  was,  that  the  philoso- 
phy within  me  became  extinct,  having  no  longer  the  coals  of 
contention  by  which  to  warm  or  the  crumbs  of  sectarian 
righteousness  upon  which  to  feed." 

Thus  has  it  ever  been  that  while  the  false  value 
attached  to  the  inferences  and  deductions  of  human  rea- 
son has  originated  and  perpetuated  religious  strife  and 
division,  a  sincere  submission  to  the  plain  teachings  of 
the  word  of  God  has  promoted  the  cause  of  truth,  unity 
and  peace. 

Immediately  after  Mr.  Campbell's  discourse  on  Fri- 
day, it  was  agreed  that  the  usual  tbrms  of  the  Associa- 
tion should  be  dispensed  with,  in  order  to  hear  from 
Mr.  Scott  a  report  of  his  year's  labor.  This  was  heard 
with  great  interest,  and  the  question  of  his  reappoint- 
ment coming  up  afterward,  some  discussion  arose  as  to 
restricting  his  labors  within  the  bounds  of  the  associated 
churches,  and  also  in  regard  to  his  request  that  the 
Association  would  appoint  as  his  fellow-laborer  Wil- 
liam Hayden,  for  whom  he  had  formed  a  warm  attach- 
ment, and  who  would,  he  thoufrht,  be  eminently  useful 
in  this  capacity.  Some  were  for  having  the  itineracy 
confined  within  the  limits  of  the  churches,  but  Mr. 
Scott  wished  to  be  at  liberty  to  go  to  any  point  where 
there  seemed  to  be  a  favorable  opening.    After  much 


WILLIAM  HAYDEN. 


discussion,  he  arose  finally  and  said  with  much  ear- 
nestness of  n.Lnner:  "Give  me  my  Bible,  my  head 
and  Brother  William  Hay  den,  and  we  will  go  forth  to 
convert  the  world."  Sidney  Rigdon  then  moved  that 
"  the  Association  give  to  Walter  Scott  his  Bible,  his 
head  and  Brother  William  Hayden,"  which  was  at 
once  agreed  to. 

William  Hayden  lived  at  this  time  in  Canfield.  He 
was  about  the  middle  stature,  thickset  and  athletic, 
with  a  complexion  naturally  rather  dark  and  much 
tanned  by  exposure ;  intelligent  light  gray  eyes  ;  light 
hair;  a  mouth  somewhat  large;  his  countenance  ex- 
pressive of  both  firmness  and  kindly  feeling,  and  often 
wreathed  with  a  winning  smile.  He  was  then  in  his 
thirtieth  year,  having  been  born  June  30,  1799,  in 
Rosstrevor  township,  Westmoreland  county,  Pennsyl- 
vania, from  which,  four  years  afterward,  his  father  with 
the  family  removed  to  Youngstown,  in  Ohio,  then  quite 
a  new  country. 

Religious  questions  had  engaged  his  attention  at  a 
very  early  period  of  life.  Before  he  was  twelve  he  had 
been  first  a  deist  and  then  an  atheist  in  his  sentiments, 
and  had  involved  himself  in  great  mental  perplexity. 
Possessing  good  reasoning  powers,  however,  and 
anxious  to  discover  the  truth,  he  was  at  length  re- 
lieved by  the  reflection  that  "  if  nothing  had  eternally 
or  ■primarily  existed,  nothing  could  have  been  origi- 
nated, and  that  hence  a  cause  uncatised  was  self-evi- 
dent.^^ His  belief  in  a  God  having  been  thus  restored, 
he  was  led  to  the  Scriptures  by  the  consideration  that, 
**  as  God  had  created  us,  we  were  not  too  insignificant 
for  him  to  govern  and  judge  us.''  Delighted  with  the 
character  of  Christ  as  portrayed  in  the  New  Testament, 
and  conscious  of  his  need  of  salvation,  he,  for  a  long 


250       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


time,  attended  religious  meetings,  and  sought  conver- 
sation with  religious  persons.  He  was  at  length 
thoroughly  aroused  by  Christ's  declaration,  Matt.  xii. 
36,  37  I  say  unto  you,  that  every  idle  word  that  men 
shall  speak,  they  shall  give  account  thereof  in  the  day 
of  judgment.  For  by  thy  words  thou  shalt  be  justified, 
and  by  thy  words  thou  shalt  be  condemned."  Being 
induced  to  accept  the  divine  mercy  in  Christ,  he  was 
baptized  by  Elder  Joshua  Woodworth,  May  19,  1816, 
and  united  with  the  Baptist  Church,  to  which  his  parents 
already  belonged. 

He  became  a  reader  of  the  "  Christian  Baptist"  soon 
after  its  publication,  and  rejoiced  in  that  freedom  of 
thought  and  of  investigation  which  it  inculcated,  and 
which  was  so  congenial  to  his  own  mind.  He  still, 
however,  fondly  entertained  the  popular  views  of  con- 
version and  when  he  heard  Walter  Scott  preach  in  the 
fall  of  1827,  his  direct  method  of  calling  sinners  to 
obedience  seemed  to  him  rash  and  dangerous.  Some 
time  afterward,  hearing  that  Mr.  Scott  was  to  preach  in 
a  school-house  near  Simon  Sacket's,  he  rode  eight 
miles  to  hear  him.  The  room  was  densely  crowded. 
Mr.  Scott's  first  words  were  :  "  There  is  not  a  man  in 
this  house  who  believes  that  God  means  what  he  says." 
William  Hayden  was  astounded,  and  was  on  the  point 
of  rising  to  say  that  he  w^as  at  least  one  who  believed  it, 
when  the  assured  manner  of  the  speaker  led  him  to 
pause.  Mr.  Scott  went  on  to  show  that  men  come  to 
the  Bible  with  their  heads  full  of  religious  systems  and 
theories,  and  that  in  consequence  they  were  inhibited 
from  taking  the  Scriptures  in  any  sense  inconsistent 
with  these.  They  dared  not  take  the  plain  common- 
sense  view  of  the  teaching  of  the  Bible,  or  the  true  and 
obvious  meaning  of  its  words,  lest  their  religious  system 


yOHN  HENRY. 


should  be  endangered.  That  system  gave  in  ever>' 
case  the  law  of  interpretation,  and  the  true  sense  was 
neither  understood  nor  believed.  He  vindicated  the 
authority  of  God's  words  as  against  every  system,  and 
exalted  their  sufficiency,  their  truthfulness,  their  trust- 
worthiness, showing  the  propriety  of  relying  upon  the 
divine  declarations  alone,  in  which  the  terms  of  salva- 
tion were  presented  to  us  for  our  immediate  acceptance. 
As  he  thus  discoursed  and  developed  the  sad  results  of 
the  prevailing  systems  which  had  closed  the  ears  and 
the  hearts  of  the  people  against  the  plain  words  of 
Scripture,  William  Hayden  felt  that  he  was  right,  and 
that  he  himself  heretofore  had  been  thus  blinded,  and 
had  not  really  believed  "  that  God  meant  what  he  said." 
A  complete  revolution  was  at  once  effected  in  his  mind  as 
he  meditated  upon  the  truths  he  had  heard.  The  Bible 
was  to  him  now  a  new  book.  The  gospel  was  a  simple 
development  of  God's  love,  adapted  to  every  creature^ 
and  furnishing  to  every  one  who  believed  it  a  direct 
and  practical  assurance  of  acceptance.  To  preach  was 
no  longer  a  mockery,  pretending  to  offer  salvation  to  all, 
yet  announcing  that  this  was  nevertheless  reserved  for 
a  definite  pre-ordained  number  known  to  God  alone. 
On  the  contrary,  the  gospel  was  now  seen  to  be  truly 
the  power  of  God  to  every  one  who  believed  it,  and  he 
felt  that  he  could  now  offer  it  upon  its  own  simple  terms^ 
as  such,  to  sinners. 

He  was  at  this  time  teaching  a  school  in  Austintown, 
and  in  February,  Adamson  Bentley  came  and  held  some 
meetings,  at  which  a  number  were  induced  to  submit  to 
the  gospel.  Among  these  was  his  particular  friend, 
John  Henry,  born  in  Chartiers  township,  Washington 
county,  Pennsylvania,  October  i,  1797,  and  removed  to 
Ohio  in  1803,  where  he  was  raised  a  strict  Presbyterian^ 


MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL, 


He  was  a  man  of  very  singular  powers  and  universally 
esteemed.  Like  William  Hayden,  he  possessed  fine 
musical  talents,  great  kindness  of  disposition,  an  inde- 
pendent spirit  and  the  gift  of  language.  Earnest,  truth- 
loving,  enterprising  and  fearless,  his  accession  greatly 
aided  William  Hayden  amidst  the  violent  opposition 
which  the  cause  had  then  to  encounter,  and  encouraged 
him  in  his  first  eflfbrts  at  public  speaking.  John  Henry 
himself,  some  time  afterward  at  a  baptism,  when  evil- 
disposed  persons  derided  and  created  a  disturbance,  was 
impelled  to  burst  forth  into  an  indignant  and  effective 
remonstrance,  which  revealed  to  him  his  own  latent 
power  over  an  audience  and  led  him  to  devote  himself 
to  public  speaking.  Having  a  remarkable  memory  and 
readiness  of  utterance,  though  without  discipline  of 
mind  or  the  graces  of  elocution,  he  could,  nevertheless, 
enchain  the  people  for  hours  by  his  rapid  and  thorough 
expositions  of  scriptural  themes,  quoting  and  applying 
every  passage  in  the  Bible  relating  to  the  subject,  giving 
chapter  and  verse  without  a  moment's  pause,  with 
pointed  and  keen  criticisms  upon  the  errors  of  the 
popular  teaching,  and  brief  but  pertinent  exhortations  to 
duty.  He  hence  became,  after  a  time,  one  of  the  most 
reliable  and  effective  preachers  on  the  Reserve.  The 
accession  of  John  Henry  and  his  intrepid  advocacy  of 
the  cause  soon  led  to  the  formation  of  a  church  at 
Austintown  of  one  hundred  and  ten  members,  which 
was  organized  by  Scott,  Bentley  and  Raines,  William 
Hayden  being  placed  over  it. 

The  arrangement  which  had  been  made  by  the  Asso- 
ciation in  appointing  the  latter  a  fellow-laborer  with 
Walter  Scott  proved  to  be  a  most  eff'ective  one.  The 
two  evangelists,  earnestly  co-operating  and  wholly  de- 
voted to  the  work,  seemed  to  carry  everything  before 


INFANT  BAPTISM  EXAMINED.  253 


them.  Crowded  audiences  were  everywhere  in  attend- 
ance in  meeang-houses,  private  dwellings,  barns  or 
shady  groves ;  many  came  from  a  desire  to  listen  to 
the  charming  singing  of  William  Hayden,  and  were 
brought  over  to  the  truth  preached.  Throughout  this 
whole  region  sectarian  conversions  were  soon  almost 
entirely  suspended.  Preachers  who  ventured  to  oppose 
the  ancient  gospel"  lost  their  influence  and  were  for- 
saken by  many  of  their  adherents,  who  united  with  the 
Christian  churches.  A  great  number  also,  who  had 
been  bewildered  by  the  inconsistent  doctrines  of  the  sec- 
tarian world  and  had  become  skeptical,  were  led  to  be- 
lieve and  obey  the  gospel,  while  a  number  of  gifted 
individuals  were  raised  up  even  from  the  humblest  walks 
of  life  to  become  etlicient  and  devoted  preachers,  and  to 
render  their  powerful  assistance  to  those  already  in  the 
field. 

One  of  these,  Jonas  Hartzel  (born  October  19,  1803, 
in  Northampton  county,  Pennsylvania,  from  whence  the 
family  removed  to  Deerlield,  Ohio,  in  1805),  had  been 
brought  up  a  Presbyterian.  Some  time  in  1826,  his 
wife,  who  was  a  pious  Methodist,  said  to  him,  unex- 
pectedly, ''What  Scripture  have  you  for  infant  baptism? 
If  you  have  any,  I  ask  for  it;  for  I  have  no  conHdence 
in  my  baptism."  He  replied,  "Alice,  I  can  satisfy  you 
on  that  subject ;"  and,  opening  the  Bible,  he  turned  to 
the  proof-texts  to  show  that  it  came  in  place  of  circum- 
cision ;  then  to  the  household  baptisms  and  the  saying, 
♦*  Sufler  little  children  to  come  unto  me,"  etc.  ;  but,  upon 
considering  these  passages,  his  logical  mind  could  find 
no  proof  in  them,  and,  greatly  mortified  and  disap- 
pointed, he  put  the  subject  oflJ'  for  the  time.  Too  honest 
with  himself,  however,  to  controvert  the  teachings  of  the 
Bible,  he  was,  after  some  further  inquiry,  fully  convinced 

22 


354       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL, 


that  infant  baptism  had  no  divine  authority.  He  then 
said,  "We  have  been  misled  by  our  religious  guides. 
We  have  been  deceived  in  a  plain  case,  and  if  so  in 
reference  to  baptism,  perhaps  we  have  been  led  into 
error  on  other  subjects  of  equal  or  greater  importance. 
We  have  taken  our  religion  on  trust.  We  have  read 
the  Scriptures  to  confirm  our  creeds.  We  must  now 
read  the  Bible  to  form  our  religious  sentiments  for  our- 
selves, and  go  whithersoever  it  may  lead  us." 

This  change  of  views  caused  great  grief  to  the  rela- 
tives on  both  sides,  who  expostulated  and  argued,  but 
Mr.  Hartzel  and  his  wife  read  the  Scriptures,  and  soon 
found  that  "  faith  came  by  hearing,"  and  that  salvation 
was  thus  brought  within  their  reach.  The  controversy 
grew  warmer.  Mr.  Hartzel  argued  from  Acts  ii.  38, 
*'that  as  baptism  was  for  remission  of  sins,  and  to  be 
preceded  by  faith  and  repentance,  it  could  have  no  re- 
lation to  infants."  Hearing  some  months  afterward  that 
Mr.  Campbell  taught  baptism  for  remission,  he  became 
a  subscriber  to  the  "  Christian  Baptist,"  which  he  had 
occasionally  read,  and  was  delighted  with  the  grand 
'  purpose  it  held  in  view — a  return  to  the  primitive  gospel 
— a  restoration  rather  than  a  reformation — the  preach- 
ing and  teaching  of  Christianity  as  it  was  before  there 
were  any  reformations  or  any  occasion  for  them.  Fol- 
lowing out  their  convictions,  Mr.  Hartzel  and  his  wife 
were  immersed  on  the  second  Lord's  day  in  June,  1828, 
and  in  August  of  this  same  year,  at  the  annual  meeting, 
he  saw  Mr.  Campbell  for  the  first  time,  and  at  once 
identified  him  amongst  the  crowd  of  preachers  by  his 
simple,  self-possessed  manners,  his  unclerical  appearance 
and  unassuming  deportment.  When  he  heard  him 
speak,  he  was  charmed  with  the  artlessness  of  his  de- 
livery and  with  the  singular  power  of  his  discourse,  and 


PUBLIC  LABORERS. 


was  impressed  at  once  with  the  conviction  that  he  was 
one  of  those  remarkable  men  raised  up  by  Providence 
for  the  accomplishment  of  important  ends.  As  it  was 
the  custom  of  the  churches  now  rapidly  forming  every- 
where to  adopt  at  once  the  primitive  order  and  depend 
for  mutual  edification  upon  the  gifts  of  the  members, 
those  of  Mr.  Hartzel  did  not  remain  long  concealed. 
Possessing  a  vigorous  mind,  a  remarkably  clear  per- 
ception of  logical  relations,  a  sincere  love  of  truth  and 
a  fine  command  of  language,  he  soon  became  distin- 
guished as  an  effective  and  able  preacher.  In  person 
he  is  tall  and  erect,  grave  in  manner,  in  complexion 
somewhat  swarthy,  with  regular  features,  intelligent 
dark  eyes,  full  and  handsome  lips,  and  in  speaking  has 
a  slightly  German  pronunciation  and  arrangement  of 
words. 

Many  others  there  were  who  at  this  period  were 
brought  forward  by  the  pressing  demand  of  the  times 
from  amidst  the  pursuits  of  husbandry  and  other  ordi- 
nary vocations  to  assume  the  position  of  preachers  of 
the  gospel.  However  useful  to  this  office  the  refine- 
ments of  education,  the  cause  could  not  now  wait  for 
the  slow  processes  of  scholastic  discipline  or  the  tedious 
preliminaries  of  a  college  course.  These  advantages, 
indeed,  were  far  from  being  essential,  since  the  gospel, 
now  freed  from  theological  speculations,  was  found  to 
be  adapted  to  the  humblest  capacity,  and  to  require 
nothing  but  a  simple,  earnest  and  faithful  presentation 
in  order  to  the  conversion  of  sinners.  Hence,  quite  a 
number  of  individuals  of  little  culture  but  earnest  faith, 
inspired  by  the  love  of  truth  and  of  humanity,  entered 
into  the  field  of  public  labor,  and  many  of  them,  having 
fine  natural  abilities,  greatly  promoted  the  progress  of 
the  gospel.    To  those  already  mentioned  of  this  class 


2^6        MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL, 


may  be  added  a  few  others  who  at  this  period  were 
prominent  advocates  of  the  cause.  Of  these  was  Cyrus 
Bosworth,  distinguished  less  as  a  preacher  than  as  a 
counselor,  and  as  a  man  of  resolute  and  decided  cha- 
racter, exercising  a  commanding  influence.  He  was  a 
native  of  Roxbury,  Plymouth  county,  Massachusetts, 
born  April  12,  1791.  He  came  to  Warren  in  1813  and 
engaged  in  teaching,  but  afterward  carried  the  express 
mail  along  the  forest  paths  of  this  newly-settled  region, 
and  was  the  first  messenger  to  convey  to  Pittsburg  the 
news  of  Perry's  victory  on  Lake  Erie.  He  served 
afterward  as  a  member  of  the  Ohio  Legislature  and  as 
sheriff  of  Trumbull  county.  He  embraced  the  gospel 
soon  after  it  began  to  be  preached  by  Walter  Scott,  and 
continued  until  his  death,  April  4,  1861,  to  take  an  un- 
abated interest  in  the  things  of  the  kingdom  of  God. 

His  brother  Marcus,  three  years  younger,  removed 
to  Ohio  from  Roxbury  and  settled  in  Braceville,  Trum- 
bull county,  in  1816.  Soon  after,  he  experienced  a  re- 
ligious awakening  among  the  Presbyterians,  but  having 
imbibed  Baptist  views  in  early  life,  could  not  be  per- 
suaded that  sprinkling  was  baptism,  though  he  searched 
the  Scriptures  diligently  and  listened  to  the  arguments 
of  several  preachers.  He  and  his  wife  were  finally 
immersed  by  Thomas  Miller  in  1819,  and  he  became  a 
deacon  of  the  Baptist  church  formed  during  the  follow- 
ing year  at  Braceville.  From  his  zeal,  piety  and 
speaking  abilities  he  was  soon  after  recommended  to 
engage  in  the  ministry,  and  while  attending  the  "  min- 
isters* meetings "  became  acquainted  with  Mr.  Camp- 
bell and  with  the  principles  of  the  Reformation,  which 
he  cordially  embraced.  Being  ordained  in  October, 
1827,  he  gave  himself  ardently  to  the  work,  and  when 
Walter  Scott  visited  Braceville,  preaching  baptism  for 


EARLT  ADVOCATES  OF  REFORM. 


remission  of  sins,  he,  after  careful  examination,  fully 
adopted  this  as  the  plain  doctrine  of  Scripture.  He 
was  a  man  of  average  height,  light  complexion  and 
sandy  hair,  extremely  plain  and  familiar,  but  unassum- 
ing in  his  manners.  As  a  speaker,  he  was  not  boister- 
ous or  vehement,  but  had  a  rapid  deliver}-,  and  was  so 
fuH  of  feeling  that  he  could  not  discourse  on  the  themes 
of  salvation  without  shedding  abundance  of  tears  and 
deeply  affecting  his  audience.  He  was  a  very  success- 
ful preacher,  and,  as  a  man,  universally  beloved, 
abounding  in  prayer,  in  hospitality  and  in  all  good 
works.  Appointed  by  the  Association  in  1829  to  itin- 
erate in  connection  with  W.  Scott,  A.  Bentley  and  W. 
Hayden,  he  was  the  means  of  converting  many,  and 
continued  his  labors  until  June  10,  1847,  when,  in  the 
triumphs  of  faith,  he  yielded  up  his  spirit  into  the  hands 
of  the  Lord  he  had  so  faithfully  served. 

Another  of  those  who  were  actively  engaged  at  this 
early  period  of  the  Reformation  was  Symonds  Rider,  a 
native  of  Hartford,  Connecticut,  born  November  20, 
1792,  and  settling  at  Hiram,  in  Portage  county,  Ohio, 
in  1814,  where  he  still  lives  and  has  ever  been  an  up- 
right and  prominent  citizen.  He  was  at  an  early  period 
much  devoted  to  the  Scriptures  and  particularly  solicit- 
ous in  regard  to  the  subject  of  conversion.  Having 
marked  and  carefully  considered  all  the  passages  rela- 
ting to  this  subject,  he  concluded  that  if  he  ever  met  a 
preacher  who  presented  the  gospel  just  as  he  read  it  in 
the  New  Testament,  he  would  yield  to  it.  In  June, 
1828,  he  heard  Thomas  Campbell  preach  in  Mantua, 
and  finding  what  he  heard  in  perfect  accordance  with 
what  he  read,  he  came  forward  promptly  at  the  first 
invitation  and  was  baptized  by  Reuben  Ferguson,  who 
had  recently  been  a  Methodist  preacher.    Being  a  man 


258       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


of  earnest  and  sincere  purpose  and  a  cogent  reasoner, 
Mr.  Rider  aLtained  considerable  distinction  as  a  public 
speaker,  and  still  remains  elder  of  the  flourishing 
church  at  Hiram. 

To  these  may  be  added  E.  B.  Hubbard,  also  still 
living,  who,  born  in  Duchess  county.  New  York,  Feb- 
ruary 28,  1792,  removed  to  Deerfield,  Ohio,  in  1802. 
Uniting  with  the  Methodists  there,  he  nevertheless  re- 
garded creeds  and  all  legislation  on  the  part  of  religious 
bodies  as  invasions  of  Christ's  prerogative,  and  finally, 
in  conjunction  with  S.  McGowan,  C.  P.  Finch,  a 
Methodist  preacher,  and  some  others,  learned  from  the 
Scriptures  the  true  basis  of  organization  for  the  Church, 
which  they  endeavored  to  carry  out  into  practice  amidst 
a  storm  of  opposition.  Hearing  then  of  a  similar  society 
in  Braceville,  Hubbard  and  Finch  were  deputed  to  visit 
it.  Being  much  gratified  with  what  they  saw  and 
heard,  Marcus  Bos  worth  was  invited  to  visit  Deerfield, 
which  he  did  in  June,  1828,  in  company  with  Mr. 
Bentley,  and  held  a  meeting  at  which  seven  were  im- 
mersed, and  the  church  was  fairly  established.  Mr. 
Hubbard  soon  engaged  in  preaching,  and  has  rendered 
effectual  service  to  the  cause  by  his  faithful  and  long- 
continued  labors. 

In  this  connection  the  name  of  John  Whitaker  de- 
serves mention.  Of  Quaker  lineage,  he  became  awak- 
ened under  the  preaching  of  the  Christian  Connection, 
but  soon  afterward,  hearing  Walter  Scott,  entered  fully 
into  the  clearer  light,  and  became  quite  an  able  preacher, 
powerful  both  in  argument  and  in  exhortation.  As  a 
man  he  was  eminently  social  and  hospitable,  and, 
though  grave  in  his  deportment,  possessed  a  large 
fund  of  genuine  wit. 

Of  those  from  amohg  the  Baptists  there  were  also 


JOHN  RUDOLPH 


many  besides  the  individuals  formerly  mentioned  who 
distinguislied  themselves  by  their  efforts  in  behalf  of 
the  primitive  faith  and  order.  Among  these,  William 
Collins  was  noted  for  excellent  preaching  abilities  and 
extensive  usefulness.  He  had  been  educated  at  Hamil- 
ton Seminary,  New  York,  and  afterward  settled  at 
Chardon,  Ohio,  where  he  labored  for  many  years,  and 
was  deservedly  popular,  dying  a  few  years  since,  much 
regretted.  He  was  succeeded  by  Ebenezer  Williams, 
formerly-  mentioned,  who,  after  his  conversion  from 
Restorationism,  continued  to  be  a  faithful  and  consist- 
ent advocate  of  the  truth,  dying  recently  in  the  fullness 
of  hope.  He  was  a  man  of  great  candor,  clear,  logical 
and  convincing  in  his  discourses,  and  greatly  esteemed 
by  all  who  knew  him.  Among  others  from  the  Bap- 
tists, too,  may  be  mentioned  John  Applegate,  who,  after 
•a  two  3'ears'  struggle,  became  at  length  convinced  of 
the  truths  he  had  heard  in  1828  from  W.  Scott,  at 
Austintown,  being  greatly  helped  forward  by  Jesse 
Hall,  the  worthy  deacon  of  the  church  in  Hubbard, 
where  he  lived,  and  who  had  at  an  early  period  em- 
braced the  Reformation.  Mr.  Applegate  has  labored 
much  for  the  cause  amidst  his  arduous  struggles  to  rear 
a  numerous  family  upon  a  little  farm,  and  his  humble, 
consistent,  godly  life  and  remarkably  cheerful  spirit 
have  made  him  a  great  benefaction  to  the  Church. 
Others,  also,  there  were  who,  though  less  regularly 
engaged  in  public  ministries,  or  acting  merely  as  elders 
or  deacons  of  the  congregations,  contributed  much  to  the 
furtherance  of  the  gospel.  Prominent  among  these  was 
the  venerable  John  Rudolph,  of  Garrettsville,  in  Port- 
age county,  who  was  distinguished  for  his  piety,  his 
firmness  and  many  excellences,  and  possessed  great 
personal  weight.    He  was  especially  remarkable  for 


26o       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


his  uncommon  «^ntt  in  social  prayer,  in  which  he  mani- 
fested a  humility,  suitableness  and  fervency  rarely 
equaled  and  impossible  to  describe.  He  was  a  man 
full  of  faith  and  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  hospitable,  just, 
sober,  yielding  up  after  a  hard  struggle  his  favorite 
Baptist  theories,  and  heartily  embracing  the  simpler 
views  of  the  gospel  which  were  brought  to  his  attention. 
His  two  sons,  John  and  Zebedee,  entered  also  at  an 
early  period  into  the  ranks  of  the  Reformation,  and 
have  continued  faithfully  devoted  to  the  interests  of  the 
truth — the  former  acting  as  deacon  in  the  church  at 
Garrettsville,  and  the  latter,  with  more  than  usual 
scholarly  attainments,  self-acquired,  rendering  efficient 
aid  in  the  congregation  at  Hiram. 

Nor  were  there  wanting  some  who  were  won  ov^r 
from  positive  infidelity  to  the  public  advocacy  of  the 
primitive  faith.  Among  these  Amos  Allerton,  of  Deer- 
field,  was  conspicuous.  He  was  a  man  of  great  per- 
sonal strength  and  courage,  tall,  bony,  straight  as  an 
arrow,  and  somewhat  rough  in  manners  and  appearance, 
but  a  high-minded,  honorable  man,  tender-hearted,  re- 
markably quick  in  discernment,  and  withal  conscientious 
and  contemning  everything  mean  or  selfish.  He  was, 
nevertheless,  a  bold,  fearless  infidel,  and  when  he  heard 
the  rumor,  among  many  others  equally  absurd,  that  Mr. 
Scott  was  taking  the  people  by  force  and  dipping  them, 
he  declared  that  such  things  should  not  be  done  in  Deer- 
field.  Mr.  Scott  soon  came  to  fill  an  appointment  there 
on  a  week-day,  and  Allerton  attended,  publicly  avow- 
ing his  intention  to  interfere  to  prevent  any  imposition 
upon  the  people.  At  the  sight  of  Mr.  Scott's  feeble 
frame,  his  flashing  dark  eyes,  his  intellectual  features 
and  humble,  reverential  bearing,  he  found  himself  in- 
sensibly softened,  and  soon  began  to  take  a  deep  interest 


FELL  OW-LAB  ORERS. 


2tl 


in  the  subject  presented.  On  this  occasion  Mr.  Scott 
had  an  audience  densely  crowded,  and  being  animated 
with  more  than  usual  power,  he  surpassed  himself.  For 
three  full  hours  he  held  the  people  enchained  by  his 
clear  developments  and  vivid  descriptions  of  the  patri- 
archal, Jewish  and  Christian  dispensations,  pausing  for 
a  few  moments  between  each  division  while  a  song  was 
sung  by  Sister  Davis,  a  fine  singer  from  Wales.  Having 
completed  his  magnificent  oration,  and  given  a  compre- 
hensive view  of  the  entire  subject  of  religion  in  the  light 
of  the  Bible,  he  called  upon  the  audience  for  obedience 
to  the  gospel.  The  instant  the  invitation  was  given, 
Captain  Allerton  started  from  his  seat  and  strode  toward 
the  preacher,  while  the  people  who  knew  his  views  and 
expressed  purposes  trembled  for  the  results.  But  when 
the  strong  man  was  seen  to  bow  himself  in  humble  sub- 
mission to  the  claims  of  the  gospel,  which  he  had  now 
for  the  first  time  learned  to  understand  and  appreciate, 
an  intense  emotion  pervaded  the  entire  assembly,  and 
the  eyes  of  many  were  suffused  with  tears.  Such  was 
the  effect  when  this  tall  oak  of  Bashan,"  as  Mr.  Scott 
termed  him,  was  felled,  that  eleven  others  immediately 
came  forward,  and  a  flourishing  church  was  established 
at  Deerfield,  in  which  Mr.  Allerton  soon  became  one 
of  the  most  efficient  members,  preaching  and  baptizing 
many,  noted  for  his  fluency  in  speech  and  wisdom  in 
council,  and,  though  variable  in  the  excellence  of  his 
public  efforts,  often  more  brilliant  than  others  who 
evinced  greater  uniformity  in  the  character  of  their 
public  addresses. 

All  these  were  warm  personal  friends  of  Mr.  Camp- 
bell, and  much  endeared  to  him  by  their  earnest  labors, 
their  self-sacrificing  spirit  and  their  zeal  for  the  restora- 
tion of  the  pure  and  simple  apostolic  gospel.  Under 


262        MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


the  circumstances  then  existing,  it  required  no  small 
amount  of  moral  courage  to  oppose  the  popular  religious 
systems  and  to  brave  the  public  obloquy  and  social 
estrangement  which  resulted.  To  undertake  the  public 
advocacy  of  the  cause  demanded  then  a  noble  disinter- 
estedness and  an  unselfish  devotion.  The  things  said 
and  written  against  a  salaried  clergy,  as  well  as  the 
newly-discovered  simplicity  of  the  gospel,  had  almost 
entirely  suspended  all  contributions  for  the  ministry, 
and  the  recently-formed  churches  had  as  yet  adopted  no 
co-operative  system  or  regular  plan  of  operations.  Hence 
the  individuals  who  felt  impelled  to  use  their  efforts  for 
the  spread  of  the  truth  were  obliged  to  do  this  not  only 
without  the  prospect  of  any  present  remuneration,  but 
to  the  neglect  of  their  own  affairs  and  the  expenditure 
of  their  own  limited  means.  On  one  occasion  one  of 
them,  having  a  series  of  appointments  to  meet,  and  being 
without  a  horse  to  ride,  borrowed  one  from  a  neighbor, 
for  the  shoeing  of  w^hich  he  was  to  pay  two  dollars. 
Having  filled  his  engagements  and  received  nothing 
but  compliments,  he  had,  upon  his  return,  to  work  four 
da3[S  for  the  blacksmith  in  order  to  pay  the  debt  he  had 
incurred.  These  noble  men  were,  however,  the  praise 
of  the  churches  and  the  glory  of  Christ.  The  advance- 
ment of  the  cause  seemed  to  depend  upon  their  free 
efforts  and  their  aggressive  onslaughts  upon  the  cor- 
ruptions of  sectarianism.  Denouncing  textuar}-  preach- 
ing, written  sermons  and  theological  theories,  they  em- 
ployed universally  direct  extemporaneous  methods  of 
address,  and  taught  the  people  the  Scriptures  in  their 
connection,  accomplishing  a  mighty  work  in  the  libera- 
tion of  multitudes  from  the  thraldom  of  human  systems, 
and  in  establishing  permanently  on  the  Western  Re- 
serve the  claims  of  the  primitive  gospel. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 


Debate  with  Robert  Owen— Tts  results — A  new  periodical — Effects  of  Mr, 
Canipbell's  labors — Domestic  life — Millennial  views. 

AMIDST  his  arduous  labors  during  the  winter  of 
1829,  Mr.  Campbell  had  but  little  time  to  prepare 
for  the  approaching  debate  with  Mr.  Owen.  In  addition 
to  his  editorial  duties  and  his  immense  correspondence, 
as  well  as  his  ministerial  and  other  engagements,  he 
had  on  hand  a  new  edition  of  the  Testament  in  a  more 
portable  form,  demanding  great  attention.  Thrice- 
armed,  nevertheless,  in  the  justice  of  his  cause,  con- 
scious of  his  ability  to  expose  the  false  principles  of  the 
social  system,  and  relying,"  as  he  said,  upon  the 
Author  of  the  Christian  religion  "  for  aid  and  guidance, 
he  experienced  no  fear  as  to  the  result.  It  was  not, 
however,  his  chief  or  ulterior  object  merely  to  show  the 
weakness  of  Mr.  Owen's  system.  In  view  of  the  many 
different  forms  of  skepticism  prevailing,  and  of  the  false 
views  entertained  respecting  Christianity  itself,  his  pur- 
poses took  a  much  wider  range,  and  he  resolved  to  de- 
monstrate, from  his  own  point  of  view,  the  divine  origin 
of  the  Bible  and  the  simplicity,  truthfulness  and  saving 
power  of  the  apostolic  gospel. 

It  cannot  be  denied  that  Mr.  Owen  was  in  many  re- 
spects an  extraordinary  man,  and  that  he  performed  at 
this  time  no  unimportant  part  in  the  world's  affairs. 
Born  at  Newtown,  Wales,  in  1769,  he  was  so  precocious 

263 


264       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL, 


that,  according  to  his  own  account,  he  was  a  teacher  in 
a  school  at  tne  age  of  seven  and  under-master  at  nine. 
He  maintained  himself  as  a  shopman  for  some  years, 
and  seems  to  have  had  something  so  impressive  about 
him  that  he  was  treated  with  uncommon  consideration 
and  liberality.  At  the  age  of  eighteen  he  became  a 
partner  in  a  cotton-mill  where  forty  hands  were  em- 
ployed, Arkwright's  machinery  having  been  recently 
introduced.  He  was  prosperous,  and  was  raised  from 
one  lucrative  position  to  another,  so  that,  after  David 
Dale  of  Glasgow  established  the  New  Lanark  mills, 
Mr.  Owen,  who  had  now  become  his  son-in-law,  was 
placed  finally  at  the  head  of  the  establishment,  upon 
which  some  two  thousand  persons  depended  for  support. 
Entering  fully  into  all  the  benevolent  projects  of  Mr. 
Dale  for  the  happiness  and  improvement  of  the  working 
classes,  he  displayed  an  uncommon  skill  in  the  economy 
of  association  and  in  systematizing  the  details  of  sub- 
sistence, clothing,  education,  leisure  and  amusements, 
and  in  tlie  management  of  the  mill,  the  farm,  etc.  ;  so 
that  everything  requiring  the  exercise  of  the  adminis- 
trative faculties  was  of  a  rare  quality  of  excellence. 
In  the  course  of  ten  years,  while  many  expected  his 
ruin  from  his  novel  schemes,  he  bought  out  his  partners 
at  New  Lanark  for  $420,000.  In  four  years  from  this 
time  he  and  his  new  partners  had  gained  $600,000,  and 
he  bought  them  out  for  $570.000 — facts  no  less  remark- 
able than  conclusive  as  to  his  uncommon  ability  in  the 
conduct  of  affairs. 

Such  was  the  success  of  his  industrial,  social  and 
educational  plans  that  his  fame  was  soon  widely  ex- 
tended, and  many  intelligent  theorists  in  political  econ- 
omy came  to  him  to  learn  his  method.  Inspired  with 
the  belief  that  his  plans  would  revolutionize  human 


INFANT-SCHOOL  SYSTEM, 


265 


society,  he  became  a  propagandist.  He  published 
various  tracts  and  submitted  his  schemes  to  the  govern- 
ments of  Europe  and  America.  He  visited  foreign 
countries  to  communicate  personally  with  leading  men, 
and  presented  an  explanatory  memorial  to  the  Congress 
of  sovereigns  at  Aix  la  Chapelle  in  1818.  While  in 
Austria,  Prince  Metternich  invited  him  to  a  succession 
of  interviews,  and  employed  government  clerks  for 
many  days  in  registering  conversations  and  copying 
documents  relating  to  the  "  Social  System."  The  arbi- 
trary governments  of  Europe  found  much  in  his  schemes 
of  organization  to  suit  their  purposes,  and  even  the 
Prussian  system  of  education  is  supposed  to  owe  much 
of  its  discipline,  as  well  as  its  rigid  and  sedulous  appli- 
cation in  practice,  to  the  views  of  Robert  Owen.  As 
there  could  be  no  question  in  regard  to  the  disinterested- 
ness of  his  motives  or  the  benevolence  of  his  intentions,^ 
his  zeal  and  activity  gained  many  friends  and  extended 
his  influence  abroad.  At  home  Southey  eulogized  him, 
and  in  America  the  government  of  Mexico  offered  him 
a  district  one  hundred  and  fifty  miles  broad,  including 
the  then  unknown  gold  region  of  California,  in  order 
that  his  experiments  might  be  tried  upon  a  grand  scale. 
It  w^as  to  see  about  this  grant  that  he  visited  Mexico, 
under  the  auspices  of  the  British  Cabinet,  about  two 
months  before  the  time  appointed  for  his  debate  with 
Mr.  Campbell. 

Mr.  Owen  is  entitled  to  whatever  credit  belono-s  to  the 
establishment  of  the  infant-school  system.  Many  had 
previously  conceived  the  idea,  but  he  was  the  first  to 
carry  it  into  practice  at  New  Lanark,  where  he  managed 
to  surround  the  children  with  such  "  happy  circum- 
stances "  that  everything  seemed  to  succeed  to  his 
wishes ;  and  so  great  was  the  hope  created  of  the  re- 

23 


266       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


demption  of  the  infant  population  of  the  towns  that, 
when  Brougham  reported  to  his  parliamentary  friends 
and  others  what  he  had  seen  at  New  Lanark,  thev  con- 
jointly set  up  an  infant  school  in  Westminster,  Mr. 
Owen  agreeing  to  send  James  Buchanan,  the  teacher 
of  the  school  at  New  Lanark,  to  superintend  it.  These 
experiments  showed  that  infantile  education  could  go  on 
well  under  the  mild  system  adopted  ;  but  tlie  fact  was 
also  in  due  time  developed  that  mortality  among  the 
children  was  increased  in  proportion  to  their  removal 
from  the  natural  influences  of  the  family  and  those 
healthful  impressions  produced  upon  each  otlier  by 
minds  in  different  stages  of  development,  llence  the 
fearful  mortalit}'  from  brain  disease  among  the  inmates 
of  infant  schools  led  to  their  abandonment  after  some 
years. 

As  Mr.  Owen's  plans  were  designed  exclusively  for 
the  promotion  of  man's  material  interests,  and  made  no 
provision  whatever  for  his  spiritual  wants,  religion  soon 
became  a  disturbing  element  in  the  practical  working  of 
his  plans,  and  the  diversity  of  men's  beliefs  a  barrier  in 
the  way  of  his  Social  System."  He  thought  it,  there- 
fore, necessary  to  success  to  put  religion  wholly  out. of 
the  way,  so  thai  men  might  be  free  to  devote  their  entire 
time  and  faculties  to  the  business  and  the  enjoyments  of 
the  present  life.  IBelieving  the  United  States,  where  no 
State  religion  existed,  to  be  best  suited  to  his  experi- 
ments, he  purchased,  in  1824,  the  property  belonging 
to  the  Rappites,  in  Indiana,  consisting  of  the  village  of 
New  Harmony  and  thirty  thousand  acres  of  land,  where 
he  soon  collected  a  community  of  several  thoiisand  per- 
sons, and  where,  under  the  influence  of  zeal  and  talent, 
the  co-operative  system  seemed  for  a  time  to  realize  the 
highest  hopes  of  its  advocates.    Mr.  Owen  himself, 


INTEREST  OF  THE  PUBLIC. 


267 


constitutionally  sanguine,  was  so  confident  of  the  suc- 
cess of  his  principles  as  to  assert  that,  in  the  course  of 
three  years,  the  city  of  Cincinnati  would  be  depopulated 
by  the  migration  of  its  citizens  to  New  Harmony.  A 
very  short  time,  however,  was  sufficient  to  dispel  this 
illusion,  and  before  the  period  fixed  in  his  prediction 
had  expired  this  seemed  more  likely  to  be  fulfilled  in 
regard  to  New  Harmony  itself,  through  the  discords  and 
disappointments  which  were  constantly  occurring,  and 
which  drove  off  many  to  distant  cities.  These  ominous 
occurrences  failed,  nevertheless,  to  disturb  the  equa- 
nimity or  the  confidence  of  Mr.  Owen,  and  since  the 
religions  of  the  world,  in  his  superficial  view  of  human 
society,  seemed  to  be  the  occasion  of  much  of  the  dis- 
cord and  division  that  everywhere  prevailed,  and  "  to 
contain  in  them,"  as  he  said,  "  the  seeds  and  the  germs 
of  every  evil  that  the  human  mind  can  conceive,"  he 
became  more  and  more  averse  to  them.  He  was  hence 
induced,  in  his  New  Orleans  challenge,  to  assail  them 
publicly,  having  been  specially  moved  thereto  by  cer- 
tain articles  which  appeared  in  the  newspapers  proceed- 
ing from  some  of  the  clergy,  and  giving  an  erroneous 
view  of  his  principles  and  plans.  In  consequence  of 
the  acceptance  of  his  challenge  by  Mr.  Campbell,  he 
was  now  about  to  appear  in  Cincinnati  (which,  in  utter 
disregard  of  his  prediction,  had  persisted  in  increasing 
rather  than  diminishing  its  population),  in  order  to  prove 
that  religion  was  the  greatest  bar  to  the  supreme  happi- 
ness of  the  world. 

The  importance  of  the  subject  and  the  reputation  of 
the  disputants  had  created  an  intense  and  widespread 
interest  in  the  discussion,  so  that  when  the  time  arrived 
many  persons  were  in  attendance,  some  of  whom  had 
come  even  from  New  York,  Pennsylvania,  Virginia, 


268       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


Tennessee  and  Mississippi.  Application  was  made  to- 
Dr.  Wilson  ibr  the  use  of  his  meeting-house,  which 
was  the  largest  in  the  city,  but  this  having  been  refused, 
the  Methodist  society  cheerfully  granted  their  largest 
house  for  the  purpose.  Mr.  Owen  chose  as  moderators, 
Rev.  Timothy  Flint,  Col.  Francis  Carr  and  Henry 
Starr,  Esq.  Mr.  Campbell  selected  Judge  Burnet, 
Col.  Samuel  W.  Davis  and  Major  Daniel  Gano.  These 
six  chose  Rev.  Oliver  M.  Spencer,  and  Judge  Burnet 
was  appointed  chairman.  It  was  agreed  that  each  dis- 
putant should  speak  alternately  half  an  hour  or  less, 
but  not  more  except  by  consent  of  the  moderators. 
Charles  H.  Sims,  stenographer,  was  appointed  to  take 
down  the  speeches  in  order  to  their  publication  for  the 
benefit  of  the  parties,  and  matters  being  thus  adjusted 
the  discussion  began  on  Monday,  April  13th,  and  con- 
tinued, with  the  intermission  of  one  Lord's  day,  until  the 
twenty-first. 

This  debate — if  debate  it  may  be  called  where  the 
parties  hardly  ever  came  into  logical  conflict — was  heard 
with  great  attention  by  a  large  and  highly  intelligent 
auditory.  At  the  commencement,  the  press  was  so 
great  that  many  were  unable  to  obtain  seats,  and  were 
forced  after  a  day  or  two  to  return  to  their  homes.  It 
was  computed  that  on  each  successive  day  to  the  close 
there  were  not  less  than  twelve  hundred  persons  pres- 
ent, and  the  good  order  and  decorum  which  constantly 
prevailed  in  this  large  assembly,  and  the  solicitude 
manifested  to  understand  the  subjects  presented,  were 
never,  on  any  occasion,  excelled.  Mr.  Owen  began  by 
explaining  the  cause  of  the  meeting,  and  giving  a  brief 
account  of  his  European  experiments,  in  the  course  of 
which  he  professed  to  have  discovered  certain  "  laws 
of  human  nature,"  a  knowledge  of  which  would,  he 


TRIUMPHS  OF  CHRISTIANITY. 


thought,  abolish  Religion,  marriage  and  private  pro- 
perty, the  three  formidable  prejudices  which,"  as  he 
stated,  "  ignorance  of  these  laws  had  made  almost  uni- 
versal," and  to  which  he  attributed  the  vice  and  misery 
of  mankind. 

Mr.  Campbell,  in  his  opening  speech,  the  only  one 
he  prepared  beforehand,  after  apologizing  for  bringing 
the  evidences  of  the  Christian  religion  into  debate,  as 
though  they  were  yet  matters  to  be  contested,  which  he 
could  not  admit,  referred  to  the  unkind  and  denunciatory 
style  in  which  skeptics  were  generally  treated  by  the 
advocates  of  Christianity,  and  to  the  rapid  increase  of 
infidelity  in  the  land,  owing,  as  he  thought,  to  the  lives 
of  Christian  professors,  the  sectarian  spirit  of  the  age 
and  the  absurd  tenets  and  opinions  taught  as  Chris- 
tianity. He  then  stated  that  he  had  agreed  to  the  dis- 
cussion, not  with  the  hope  of  convincing  Mr.  Owen, 
but  for  the  sake  of  the  doubting,  wavering  and  unset- 
tled public  who  were  in  danger  of  being  carried  off  as 
with  a  flood  by  the  infidel  theories  so  diligently  incul- 
cated, and  that  he  was  prepared  to  show  that  there  was 
all  the  reason  which  rational  beings  could  demand  for 
the  sincere  belief  and  cordial  reception  of  the  Christian 
religion.  Passing  thence  to  the  early  struggles  of 
Christianity,  he  dwelt  eloquently  on  its  glorious  tri- 
umphs over  the  nations  by  means  of  its  evidences  and 
its  divine  principles  of  self-denial,  humility,  patience 
and  courage,  and  upon  the  love,  purity  and  peace,  the 
joys  and  hopes,  which  it  imparted,  and  contrasted  these 
with  the  rewards  of  disbelief,  sensual  indulgence  and 
everlasting  death.  Glancing  at  some  of  the  material- 
istic schemes  and  their  degrading  principles,  he  pre- 
sented some  general  ideas  of  the  plan  he  would  pursue 
if  he  were  at  liberty  to  choose  a  method  co-extensive 

23  » 


270       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


with  the  whole  rani^e  of  skepticism,  and  closed  with  an 
impressive  admonition  to  the  audience  in  regard  to 
the  ineffable  importance  of  the  great  questions  now 
pending  : 

"•It  is  not,"  said  lie,  "the  ordinary  affairs  of  this  life,  the 
fleeting  and  transitory  concerns  of  to-day  or  to-morrow  ;  it 
is  not  whether  we  sliall  live  all  freemen  or  die  all  slaves;  it 
is  not  the  momentary  atl'airs  of  empire  or  the  evatiescent 
charms  of  dominion — nav,  indeed,  all  these  are  but  the  toys 
of  childiiood,  the  sportive  excursions  of  youthful  fancy,  con- 
trasted with  tiie  questions.  Wliat  is  man?  Whence  cafne 
he?  \V Jiithcr  does  he  go?  Is  he  a  mortal  or  an  immortal 
being?  Is  he  iloomed  to  spring  up  like  grass,  bloom  like  a 
flouer,  tirop  his  seed  into  the  earth  and  die  forever?  Is  tliere 
no  ohjcct  of  future  hope?  No  God — no  heaven — no  exalted 
society  to  he  known  or  enjoyed?  Are  all  the  great  and  illus- 
trious men  and  women  who  have  lived  before  we  were  born 
wasted  atul  gone  for  ever?  After  a  few  short  days  are  fled, 
when  the  enjoyments  and  toils  of  life  are  over,  when  our 
relish  for  social  enjoyment  and  our  desires  for  returning  to 
the  fountain  of  life  are  most  acute,  must  we  hang  our  heads 
and  close  our  e\es  in  the  desolating  and  appalling  prospect 
of  never  o})ening  them  again — of  never  tasting  the  sweets  for 
which  a  state  of  discipline  and  trial  has  so  well  fitted  us? 
These  are  the  awful  and  subliiue  merits  of  the  question  at 
issue  !  It  is  not  what  we  shall  eat,  nor  what  we  shall  drink, 
unless  we  shall  be  proved  to  be  mere  animals  ;  but  it  is.  Shall 
we  live  or  die  for  ever?  It  is,  as  beautifully  expressed  by  a 
Christian  poet : 

'  Shall  spring  ever  visit  the  mouldering  urn  ? 
Shall  clay  ever  dawn  011  the  night  of  the  grave?'" 

This  address  made  a  very  marked  impression  upon 
the  audience,  manv  of  whom,  from  their  exaggerated 
notion  of  Mr.  Owen's  abilities,  bad  greatly  feared  for 
the  fortunes  of  Christianitv.  The  powerful  grasp  of 
the  subject  already  indicated  in  Mr.  Campbell's  remarks. 


A  DEFECTIVE  CODE. 


his  manifest  consciousness  of  power,  and  iii^  eloquent 
and  truthful  words,  thrilled  every  Christian  heart;  all 
fears  were  banished,  and  the  unbidden  tear  was  seen  to 
trickle  from  many  eyes. 

Mr.  Owen  in  his  next  address  commenced  the  read- 
ing of  a  manuscript  of  nearly  two  hundred  pages 
foolscap  folio,  which  he  had  prepared,  and  to  which 
he  continued  to  adhere  throughout  the  discussion.  In 
this  he  had  laid  down  twelve  positions,  which  he  termed 

facts,"  upon  which  he  relied  as  the  entire  ground- 
work of  that  Social  System"  by  which  he  expected 
to  renovate  the  world.  Upon  these  '*  facts,"  chiefly 
mere  commonplace  truisms,  affirming  the  power  of 
''organization"  and  "circumstances"  to  mould  and 
modify  human  character,  and  which  left  entirely  out 
of  view  man's  spiritual  nature,  and  contemplated  him 
as  a  mere  *'  efiect  of  causes  irresistible  in  their  influ- 
ence," and  as  consequently  undeserving  of  praise  or 
censure,  he  descanted  during  the  entire  time  of  the 
discussion.  In  vain  did  Mr.  Campbell  complain  that 
his  twelve  facts"  had  no  logical  application  to  the 
propositions  which  Mr.  Owen  was  pledged  to  sustain. 
In  vain  did  the  moderators  suggest  and  insist  that  he 
should  confine  himself  to  one  of  the  five  propositions 
contained  in  his  challenge  until  that  particular  subject 
was  exhausted.  Nothing  could  divert  him  from  his 
"twelve  laws  of  human  nature,"  and  the  exposition 
of  the  happy  results  which  would  necessarily  follow 
their  universal  adoption.  The^e  "  laws"  he  evidently 
conceived  to  be  a  complete  demonstration  of  all  the 
propositions  in  his  challenge.  He  endeavored  to  show 
that  man  according  to  these  "laws"  is  "a  being  en- 
tirely different  from  what  he  has  been  supposed  to  be 
by  any  religion  ever  invented,  and  that  none  of  these 


272       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 

religions  apply  in  any  degree  to  a  being  formed  as 
man  is."  Taking  it  for  granted  that  these  "laws** 
were  an  exact  summary  of  everything  existing  in 
human  nature,  a  complete  and  exhaustive  compend  of 
all  the  principles  of  human  action,  he  concluded  that 
all  religions  were  "  founded  in  error,  because  their 
dogmas  were  in  direct  opposition  to  these  self-evident 
truths  and  the  deductions  made  from  them." 

Mr.  Campbell,  in  his  endeavor  to  bring  Mr.  Owen 
to  close  quarters,  expressed  his  willingness  to  admit 
the  alleged  facts,"  with  the  exception  of  the  assertion 
that  "  the  will  has  no  power  over  belief,"  and  then  went 
on  to  show  that  these  "  facts"  had  reference  to  the  mere 
animal  man,  that  his  intellectual  and  moral  endowments 
were  not  considered  in  them  at  all,  and  that,  as  ihey 
presented  no  proper  analysis  of  the  powers  or  capa- 
bilities of  the  human  mind,  they  were  incomplete,  and 
formed  a  very  false  and  unsafe  basis  for  any  system. 
He  showed 'that  the  twelve  facts"  were  just  as  ap- 
plicable to  a  goat  as  to  a  man,  and  that  a  theory  based 
on  only  a  part  of  man  was  defective  and  at  variance 
with  reason  and  human  experience.  Taking  the  posi- 
tion of  Locke,  Hume  and  Mirabeau,  that  all  our  origi- 
nal ideas  are  the  results  of  sensation  and  reflection,  he 
inquired  how  man  could  have  any  idea  the  arc]iet3'pe 
of  which  did  not  exist  in  nature?  Yet  man  possessed 
the  idea  of  a  God  producing  something  out  of  nothing, 
he  had  the  conception  of  an  immaterial  spirit,  a  Great 
First  Cause  and  many  other  supernatural  ideas,  such  as 
that  of  a  future  state,  and  those  connected  with  the 
words  -priest^  altar ^  sacrifice^  etc.  He  therefore  called 
upon  Mr.  Owen  to  show  how  upon  his  principles  man 
could  have  obtained  these  ideas,  and  presented  to  him 
the  problem  formerly  addressed  to  the  editors  of  the 


LAWS  OF  HUMAN  NATURE. 


**Ne\v  Harmony  Gazette,"  requesting  to  know  "how 
the  idea  of  eternal  First  Cause,  uncaused,  came 
into  the  world."  Mr.  Owen  replied,  "  By  imagination." 
Mr.  Campbell  then  affirmed  that,  upon  all  established 
principles  of  mental  philosophy,  imagination  could 
originate  nothing,  but  could  merely  combine  or  ar- 
range in  new  forms  the  images  already  derived  from 
the  various  sources  of  human  knowledge,  and  called 
upon  Mr.  Ow^en  to  furnish  a  proof  of  the  incorrectness 
of  this  position  by  imagining  a  sixth  sense.  "That 
all  religions  were  founded  in  ignorance,"  as  Mr.  Owen 
asserted,  was  not,  he  urged,  if  admitted  as  true  and 
regarded  in  a  proper  light,  a  disparagement  of  religion, 
since  schools  and  colleges  were  based  on  the  ignorance 
of  society,  as  was  also  human  testimony  to  unknown 
facts  or  books  to  instruct  the  uninformed.  As  to  the 
power  of  the  will  over  belief,  he  showed  the  fallacy  of 
Mr.  Owen's  assertion  that  it  had  none,  for,  admitting 
that  belief  was  often  unavoidable  from  the  nature  of 
the  testimony  presented,  yet  the  will  had  much,  and 
often  everything,  to  do  with  the  obtaining  and  proper 
consideration  of  the  evidence  necessary  to  conviction. 

To  Mr.  Campbell's  refutations,  Mr.  Owen,  however, 
had  nothing  to  oppose  but  his  '*  twelve  laws  of  human 
nature,"  the  *'gems,"  as  he  termed  them,  of  his  "  casket,'* 
whose  brilliancy  he  thought  would  easily  excel  and  out- 
shine that  of  all  the  lights  of  reason,  logic  and  revela- 
tion. The  parties  seemed  thus  to  be  proceeding  in  two 
parallel  lines  which  could  never  meet ;  and  though  Mr. 
Campbell  took  occasion  to  present  views  of  human 
nature  subversive  of  his  opponent's  system,  and  to  point 
out  the  many  inconsistencies  in  which  it  involved  its 
author — as,  for  instance,  in  regard  to  his  own  attempt  to 
control  those  "  circumstances"  which  he  alleged  were 

VOL.  II. — S 


174       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


supreme  in  human  affairs — the  imperturbable  philoso- 
pher continued  to  read  and  to  expound  his  ''divine 
laws,"  and  to  detail  the  admirable  commercial,  educa- 
tional, governmental  and  economical  arrangements 
which  he  had  projected  for  his  ideal  communities.  It 
soon  became  evident,  indeed,  that  Mr.  Owen  could  not 
reason,  that  he  had  no  just  perception  of  the  relations 
between  proposition  and  proof,  and  that  it  was  vain  to 
expect  from  him  any  logical  discussion  of  the  points  at 
issue.  As  soon,  therefore,  as  he  had  on  Friday,  17th, 
completed  the  reading  of  his  manuscript,  and  conceded 
to  Mr.  Campbell  the  privilege  of  speaking  uninter- 
ruptedly, the  latter  went  on  to  complete  the  course  of 
argument  he  had  already  begun  in  defence  of  Chris- 
tianity ;  and  in  a  speech  which,  in  all,  occupied  twelve 
hours,  gave  a  view  of  its  nature  and  evidences,  which, 
for  cogency  of  argument,  comprehensive  reach  of 
thought  and  eloquence,  has  never  been  surpassed,  if 
ever  equaled.  In  this  masterly  effort  he  surprised  Mr. 
Owen  and  the  skeptics  present  by  disengaging  Chris- 
tianity from  the  sectarian  dogmas  and  doctrinal  contro- 
versies and  absurdities  which  had  created  so  much 
infidelity,  and  to  which  Mr.  Owen  himself  had  attrib- 
uted the  origin  of  his  own  disbelief.  Having  already 
explored  and  exposed  the  false  principles  on  which  the 
various  systems  of  infidelit}'  were  founded,  and  sliown 
the  impossibility  of  maintaining  upon  them  any  form  of 
civilized  society,  he  exhibited,  in  contrast,  the  grandeur, 
the  power  and  the  adaptability  of  the  gospel  to  man  as 
he  is  in  all  the  relations  of  life  and  conditions  of  human 
society.  He  showed  that  Christianity  was  based  upon 
the  noblest  and  most  philosophic  views  of  human  nature 
— not  seeking  to  make  men  happy  or  reformed  by  legal 
enactments  or  vain  theories,  but  by  implanting  in  the 


HOPE  NECESSARY  TO  HAPPINESS.  275 


human  heart,  through  the  discovery  of  the  divine  phil- 
anthropy, that  principle  of  love  which  fulfills  every 
moral  precept.  Presenting  the  gospel  as  a  series  of 
connected  facts,  resting  upon  indubitable  testimony  of 
witnesses  and  of  prophecy,  he  dwelt  upon  its  simplicity, 
and  took  occasion  to  expose  the  folly  of  human  authori- 
tative creeds  and  the  evils  which  had  attended  them, 
and  to  exhibit  the  disUnctive  views  of  the  gospel  which 
he  taught,  and  its  simple  and  expressive  institutions, 
which  gave  to  the  penitent  believer  the  assurance  of 
pardon  and  admitted  him  to  a  holy  and  divine  fellow- 
ship. He  avowed  his  belief  in  the  approach  of  a  happy 
era  for  humanity,  when  more  than  all  the  peace,  fra- 
ternity and  prosperity  anticipated  in  Mr.  Owen's  vision 
would  be  realized — not,  however,  by  means  of  idle 
human  schemes,  but  by  the  divine  pliilosophy  of 
making  the  tree  good  that  its  fruit  might  be  good,  and  by 
the  healing  of  all  divisions  through  the  universal  spread 
of  the  primitive  Christian  faith.  He  exposed  the  incon- 
sequence of  Mr.  Owen,  who  imagined  that  by  asserting 
man's  subjection  to  circumstances  he  had  proved  relig- 
ion false,  and  reminded  him  that  Calvinists  supposed 
all  things  unchangeably  decreed  and  fixed,  yet  found 
this  no  barrier  to  the  belief  of  the  Christian  reli^iion. 
Making  his  appeal  to  consciousness,  however,  he 
showed  that  man  had  the  power  to  will,  to  examine 
into  the  matters  that  interested  him,  to  decide  in  refer- 
ence to  them  and  to  act  upon  his  decisions  ;  and  illus- 
trated this  by  Mr.  Owen's  proceedings  in  regard  to  the 
Mexican  territory  and  other  cases.  Recurring  to  the 
partial  view  of  human  nature  presented  in  his  "  twelve 
laws,"  he  proved  from  the  experience  of  mankind  that 
the  complete  gratification  of  temporal  wants  fails  to 
confer  happiness ;  that  man  has  higher  aspirations. 


376       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL, 

\\  hich  must  be  met,  and  which  cannot  be  satisfied  with 
sublunary  pleasures.  He  dwelt  upon  the  hope  of  im- 
mortality as  that  alone  which  could  sustain  man  amidst 
the  cares  and  disappointments  of  life,  where  pleasure 
was  found  to  consist  in  the  pursuit  rather  than  in  the 
attainment  of  the  objects  of  desire,  and  justly  urged  that 
to  place  man  in  the  position  imagined  by  Mr.  Owen, 
where  he  would  have  nothing  to  wish  for  or  pursue, 
would  be  to  cut  him  off  from  the  most  fruitful  sources 
of  happiness.  He  exposed  also  the  futility  of  the  idea 
that  a  society  could  permanently  exist  without  the  sense 
of  obligation  or  responsibilit3s  which  on  Mr.  Owen's 
scheme  must  be  totally  banished,  as  the  doctrine  of 
*'  no  praise,  no  blame,"  was  to  be  taught  in  it  from  the 
cradle  to  the  grave,  and  everything  was  made  to  rest 
upon  the  mere  charm  of  social  feeling.  Such  a  society 
was  perfectly  Utopian  and  unintelligible,  since  to  form 
any  community  there  must  be  stipulations,  account- 
ability, allegiance,  protection  ;  and  hence  an  education 
which  taught  all  from  infancy  that  actions  were  equally 
right  because  equally  the  result  of  circumstances,  and 
that  men  had  no  obligations  to  each  other,  was  directly 
calculated  to  make  men  not  only  unfit  for  society,  but 
dangerous  to  its  peace  and  welfare. 

He  finally  went  on  to  show  that  in  all  its  benevolent 
features  Mr.  Owen's  plan  was  a  mere  plagiarism  from 
Christian  enterprise.  Mr.  Dale  had  given  him  his  first 
ideas  of  the  co-operative  system,  with  its  various  arrange- 
ments for  the  improvement  of  the  working  classes,  and 
Moses  and  Solomon  had  dwelt  upon  the  advantages 
of  bringing  up  children  "  in  the  way  they  should  go." 
It  was,  however,  to  the  French  Revolution  he  was  in- 
debted for  his  infidelity,  and  to  the  theories  of  Dr. 
Graham  and  others  for  his  system  of  free  love.    In  the 


TRIBUTE  TO  RELIGION. 


277 


.whole  matter  there  was  really  nothing  new.  It  was  but 
a  reproduction,  with  a  change  of  form,  of  the  views  of 
others,  and  he  denied  that  the  scheme  had  ever  been 
in  operation  at  New  Lanark,  where  the  people  in  the 
aggregate  were  religious,  and  w^here  there  were  Pres- 
byterian and  Independent  churches  well  attended,  Mr. 
Owen  himself  having  contributed  to  build  the  latter. 
As  to  New  Harmony,  Mr.  Owen,  he  thought,  would 
hardly  derive  from  the  issue  of  his  experiment  there 
any  argument  for  his  scheme.  After  all  his  reading, 
studying,  traveling  and  vast  expenditures,  nothing  as 
yet  had  been  produced  but  the  "  twelve  fundamental 
laws  of  human  nature."  New  Harmony,  the  land  of 
promise  to  which  multitudes  flocked  with  eagerness, 
had  witnessed  the  dissolving  of  the  charm,  and  the  social 
builders  were  disbanding  under  the  influence  of  the 
awful  realities  of  nature,  reason  and  religion.  This 
result  he  thought  chiefly  due  to  the  abolition  of  the 
marriage  contract  and  the  appointment  of  nurses  to  take 
charge  of  the  infants  of  the  community.  In  this  con- 
nection he  referred  touchingly  to  the  joys  of  the  mother 
in  having  the  care  of  her  own  offspring.  The  smiles 
of  her  infant,"  said  he,  "  the  opening  dawn  of  reason, 
the  indications  of  future  greatness  or  goodness,  as  they 
exhibit  themselves  to  her  sanguine  expectations,  open 
to  her  sources  of  enjoyment  incomparably  overpaying 
the  solicitudes  and  gentle  toils  of  nursing."  He  showed 
that  the  system,  instead  of  being  accordant  with  human 
nature,  was  at  war  with  it,  and  aimed  a  mortal  blow  at 
all  our  ideas  of  social  order  and  social  happiness."* 

Having  thus  dissected  Mr.  Owen's  philosophy  and 
exhibited  the  truth  and  excellence  of  Christianity,  he 
concluded  his  long  address  with  the  following  tribute  ta 
religion  : 

24 


27S        MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


Religion — the  Bible  !  '  What  treasures  untold  reside  in  • 
that  heavenly  word  !'  Religion  has  given  meaning,  design 
to  all  that  is  past,  and  is  as  the  moral  to  the  fable,  the  good, 
the  only  good  of  the  whole — the  earnest  now  of  an  abundant 
harvest  of  future  and  eternal  good.  Now  let  me  ask  the  living 
before  me — for  we  cannot  yet  appeal  to  the  dead — whence  has 
been  derived  your  most  rapturous  delights  on  earth  ?  Have 
not  the  tears,  the  dew  of  religion  in  the  soul,  atlbrded  you  in- 
comparably more  joy  than  all  the  fleshly  gayeties,  than  all  the 
splendid  vanities,  than  the  loud  laugh,  the  festive  song  of 
the  sons  and  daughters  of  the  flesh  }  Even  the  alternations 
of  hope  and  fear,  of  joy  and  sorrow,  of  which  the  Christian 
may  be  conscious  in  his  ardent  race  after  a  glorious  immor- 
tality, afford  more  true  bliss  than  ever  did  the  sparkling  gems, 
the  radiant  crown  or  the  triumphal  arch  bestowed  by  the 
gratitude  or  admiration  of  a  nation  on  some  favorite  child  of 
fortune  and  of  fame. 

Whatever  comes  from  religion  comes  from  God.  The 
greatest  jo\s  derivable  to  mortal  man  come  from  this  source. 
I  cannot  speak  of  all  who  wear  the  Christian  name,  but  for 
myself,  I  must  say  that  worlds  piled  on  worlds,  to  fill  the 
universal  scope  of  my  imagination,  would  be  a  miserable  per 
contra  against  the  annihilation  of  the  idea  of  God  the  Su- 
preme. And  the  paradox  of  paradoxes,  the  miracle  of  mira- 
cles and  the  mystery  of  mysteries  with  me,  was,  is  now,  and 
evermore  shall  be,  how  any  good  man  could  -wish  there  was 
no  God!  With  the  idea  of  God  the  Almighty  departs  from 
this  earth  not  only  the  idea  of  virtue,  of  moral  excellence,  but 
of  all  rational  enjoyment.  What  is  height  without  top,  depth 
without  bottom,  length  and  breadth  without  limitation — 
what  is  the  sublimity  of  the  universe  without  the  idea  of  Him 
who  created,  balances,  sustains  and  fills  the  world  with  good- 
ness.'* The  hope  of  one  day  seeing  this  Wonderful  One,  of 
beholding  Him  who  made  my  body  and  is  the  Father  of  my 
spirit,  the  anticipation  of  being  introduced  into  the  palace  of 
the  universe,  the  sanctuary  of  the  heavens,  transcends  all  com- 
parison with  all  sublunary  things.     Our  powers  of  concep- 


EVIDENCE  OF  A  CREATOR, 


279 


tion,  of  imagination,  and  our  powers  of  computation  and  ex- 
pression, are  alike  baffled  and  prostrated  in  such  an  attempt. 

*'  Take  away  this  hope  from  me,  and  teach  me  to  think 
that  I  am  the  creature  of  mere  chance,  and  to  it  alone  in- 
debted for  all  that  I  am,  was,  and  ever  shall  be,  and  I  see 
nothing  in  the  universe  but  mortification  and  disappointment. 
Death  is  as  desirable  as  life  ;  and  no  one  creature  or  thing  is 
more  deserving  of  my  attention  and  consideration  than  an- 
other. But  if  so  much  pleasure  is  derived  from  surveying 
the  face  of  nature,  from  contemplating  the  heavens  and  the 
systems  of  astronomy,  if  there  be  so  much  exquisite  enjoy- 
ment from  passing  into  the  great  laboratory  of  nature  and  in 
looking  into  the  delicate  touches,  the  great  art,  the  wonderful 
design  even  in  the  smaller  works  in  the  kingdom  which  the 
microscope  opens  to  our  view,  what  will  be  the  pleasure,  the 
exquisite  joy,  in  seeing  and  beholding  Him  who  is  the  Poun- 
tain  of  Li/e^  the  Author  and  Artificer  of  the  whole  uni- 
verse !  But  the  natural  and  physical  excellences  and  material 
glories  of  this  great  fabric  are  but,  as  .it  were,  the  substratum 
from'  which  shine  all  the  moral  glories  of  the  Author  of 
eternal  life  and  of  the  august  scheme  which  gives  immor- 
tality to  man  !  No  unrestrained  freedom  to  explore  the  pene- 
tralia of  voluptuousness,  to  revel  in  all  the  luxury  of  worms, 
to  bask  in  the  ephemeral  glories  of  a  sunbeam,  can  compen- 
sate for  tlie  immense  robbery  of  the  idea  of  God  and  the 
hope  of  eternal  bliss.  Dreadful  adventure!  hazardous  ex- 
periment! most  ruinous  project — to  blast  the  idea  of  God! 
The  worst  thing  in  such  a  scheme  which  could  happen,  or 
even  appear  to  happen,  would  be  success.  But  as  well 
might  Mr.  Owen  attempt  to  fetter  the  sea,  to  lock  up  the 
winds,  to  prevent  the  rising  of  the  sun,  as  to  exile  this  idea 
from  the  human  race.  For  although  man  has  not,  circum 
stanced  as  he  now  is,  unaided  by  revelation,  the  power  to 
originate  such  an  idea,  yet  when  it  is  once  suggested  to  a 
child  it  can  never  be  forgotten.  As  soon  could  a  child  anni- 
hilate the  earth  as  to  annihilate  the  idea  of  God  once  sug- 
gested.   The  proofs  of  his  existence  become  as  numerous  as 


28c       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


the  drops  of  dew  from  the  womb  of  the  morning — as  innu- 
merable as  the  blades  of  grass  produced  by  the  renovating 
influences  of  spring.  Everything  within  us  and  everything 
without,  from  the  nails  upon  the  ends  of  our  fingers  to  the 
sun,  moon  and  stars,  confirm  the  idea  of  his  existence  and 
adorable  excellences.  To  call  upon  a  rational  being  to 
prove  the  being  and  perfections  of  God  is  like  asking  a  man 
to  prove  that  he  exists  himself.  What !  shall  a  man  be  called 
upon  to  prove  a  priori  or  a  posteriori  that  there  is  one  great 
Fountain  of  Life  !  a  universal  Creator  !  If  the  millions  of  mil- 
lions of  witnesses  which  speak  for  him  in  heaven,  earth  and 
sea  will  not  be  heard,  the  feeble  voice  of  man  will  be  heard 
in  vain." 

Upon  the  Lord's  day  which  intervened  during  the 
delivery  of  this  address  he  preached  by  request  to  a 
very  crowded  audience  in  the  house  in  which  the  debate 
was  held,  and  on  Monday  evening,  when  he  concluded 
his  long  speech,  Mr.  Owen  rejoined,  and  while  com- 
plimenting Mr.  Campbell  very  highly  for  learning, 
industry  and  extraordinary  talents,  as  well  as  for  a  man- 
liness, honesty  and  fairness  which  he  said  he  had  here- 
tofore sought  in  vain,  he  made  no  attempt  to  invalidate 
his  arguments,  but  occupied  himself  in  vague  declama- 
tion against  religion,  renewed  laudations  of  the  twelve 
*' jewels"  of  his  "  casket,"  and  glowing  pictures  of  the 
happy  "  circumstances  "  to  be  produced  by  their  means. 
This  speech  he  concluded  on  Tuesday  in  the  forenoon. 
In  the  afternoon  Mr.  Campbell  replied  in  a  severe  ex- 
posure of  the  inanity  of  Mr.  Owen's  effort  to  overthrow 
religion  and  establish  his  *'  Social  System,"  by  mere 
assertion  without  proof  and  by  ridicule  instead  of  argu- 
ment. He  admitted  that  sectarian  divisions  and  dis- 
cords furnished  weapons  to  skepticism,  but  denied  that 
Christianity,  even  in  its  most  corrupt  form,  justly  merited 
the  imputations  of  Mr.  Owen. 


UNEXPECTED  APPEAL. 


281 


To  this  speech  Mr.  Owen  responded  by  bringing  up 
again  his  -'twelve  laws"  to  the  consideration  ot*  I'.e 
audience  and  descanting  upon  them  for  an  hour,  after 
which  Mr.  Campbell  in  a  very  happy  manner  exposed 
"the  twelve  laws"  to  contempt,  and  showed  their  utter 
inadequacy  as  laws  of  human  nature.  Mr.  Owen  then 
continued  in  a  final  speech  his  disquisitions  upon  his 
favorite  *'gems,"  and  after  courteously  thanking  and 
complimenting  the  audience  and  moderators  for  their 
patience  and  attention,  closed  by  taking  his  leave  with 
the  best  feelings  toward  all."  Mr.  Campbell,  having 
now  to  terminate  the  discussion,  gave  a  recapitulation 
of  what  had  been  accomplished,  and  after  comparing 
the  triumphs  of  skepticism  with  those  of  Christianity, 
before  dismissing  adopted  an  unexpected  and  ingenious 
method  of  eliciting  the  sentiments  of  the  assembly. 

"I  should  be  wanting  to  you,  my  friends."  said  he,  "and 
to  the  cause  which  I  plead,  if  I  sliould  dismiss  vou  without 
making  to  you  a  very  important  proposition.  You  know 
that  this  discussion  is  matter  for  the  press.  You  kttow  that 
everv  encomium  wliich  has  been  pronounced  upon  vour  ex- 
emplary behavior  will  go  with  the  report  of  this  discussion. 
You  will  remember,  too,  that  many  indignities  have  been 
oftered  to  your  faith,  to  your  relii^ion.  and  that  these  re- 
proaches and  indij^nities  have  been  only  heard  with  pity, 
and  not  marked  with  the  least  resentment  on  your  part. 
Now  I  must  tell  you  that  a  problem  will  arise  in  the  minds 
of  those  living  five  hundred  or  a  thousand  miles  distant  who 
may  read  this  discussion,  whether  it  was  owing  to  a  perfect 
apathy  or  indifference  on  your  part  as  to  any  interest  you 
felt  in  the  Christian  religion^  that  yon  bore  all  these  in" 
suits  -without  seeming  to  hear  them.  In  fine,  the  question 
will  be,  whether  it  was  owing  to  the  stoical  indifference  of 
fatalism^  to  the  prevalence  of  infdclity^  or  to  the  meek- 
ness and  forbearance  which  Christianity  teaches.,  that  you 

24  » 


282       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


bore  all  these  indignities  %vitJiozit  a  single  expression  of 
disgust.  Now,  I  desire  no  more  than  that  this  good  and 
Christian-h'ke  deportment  may  be  credited  to  the  proper  ac- 
count. If  it  be  owing  to  your  concurrence  in  sentiment  with 
Mr.  Owen,  let  skepticism  have  the  honor  of  it.  But  if 
owing  to  your  belief  in  or  regard  for  the  Christian  religion, 
let  the  Christian  religion  have  the  honor  of  it.  These  things 
premised,  my  proposition  is,  that  all  the  persons  in  this  as- 
sembly uuho  believe  in  the  Christian  religion.,  or  who  feel 
so  much  interest  in  it  as  to  wish  to  see  it  pervade  the  world, 
will  please  to  signify  it  by  rising  up."  [Here  there  was  an 
almost  universal  rising  up  on  the  part  of  the  audience.} 
"Now,"  continued  Mr.  Campbell,  when  all  were  again 
seated.  "  I  would  further  propose  that  all  perso7is  doubtful 
of  the  truth  of  the  Christian  religion  or  who  do  not  be- 
lieve it,  and  who  are  not  friendly  to  its  spread  and  prevalence 
over  the  world,  will  please  signify  it  by  rising  up."  [Upon 
this,  three  persons  only  rose  amidst  the  large  assembly.] 

This  appeal  to  the  audience  was,  under  the  circum- 
stances, one  of  those  master-strokes  which  serve  to 
reveal  the  penetration  and  sagacity  of  Mr.  Campbell. 
He  had  perceived  that  Mr.  Owen  was  of  a  tempera- 
ment so  sanguine  as  to  regard  ever}-  one  who  treated 
him  with  respect  and  interest  as  his  disciple,  and  to  be 
constantly  under  the  wildest  illusions  of  hope  as  to  the 
prevalence  of  his  views.  He  determined,  therefore, 
for  Mr.  Owen's  sake  as  well  as  that  of  the  cause  he 
pleaded,  that  he  would  deprive  him  of  any  false  esti- 
mate he  might  have  formed  of  the  impression  made 
upon  the  intelligent  audience  by  his  labored  exposition 
of  the  "  Social  System"  during  the  eight  days'  debate, 
and  prevent  him  or  his  friends  from  building  false  judg- 
ments and  false  hopes  upon  ignorance  of  results.  The 
prompt  and  public  expression  of  sentiment  given  by 
the  audience  was  a  mortifying  disappointment  to  Mr. 


EFFECTS  OF  THE  DEBATE. 


2S3 


Owen,  in  spite  of  all  his  efforts  to  conceal  it,  while  to 
the  friends  of  religion  it  was  a  most  acceptable  testi- 
mony to  the  power  of  truth  as  well  as  to  the  ability  of 
its  defender. 

It  need  scarcely  be  said  that  this  debate  elevated  Mr. 
Campbell  to  a  very  high  position  in  the  estimation  of  ^ 
the  entire  religious  community.  "For  a  time,  party 
feeling  seemed  to  be  held  in  abeyance,  and  all  were 
disposed  to  acknowledge  their  obligations  to  the  de- 
fender of  the  common  faith.  The  immediate  effect  of 
the  discussion,  too,  was  quite  marked.  Tliomas  Camp- 
bell, who  had  accompanied  his  son  from  Bethany  and 
remained  in  the  city  for  some  time,  and  with  whose 
urbanity,  kindness  and  many  excellences  Mr.  Owen 
was  greatly  impressed,  baptized  quite  a  number  of  con- 
verts, and  subsequently  many  persons  of  intelligence, 
who  had  been  skeptical  in  their  views,  acknowledged 
that  all  their  doubts  were  removed  by  Mr.  Campbell's 
arguments  during  the  debate.  Among  these  may  be 
mentioned  Dr.  M.  Winans  of  Jamestown,  Ohio,  a  man 
of  great  acuteness  of  intellect  and  power  of  concentra- 
tion, who  became  afterward  one  of  the  most  able  sup- 
porters of  the  Reformation,  and  whose  short  but  pithy 
articles  in  Mr.  Campbell's  periodical  gave  great  pleas- 
ure to  its  readers.  The  beneficial  effects  of  the  dis- 
cussion were,  however,  incomparably  extended  by  its 
publication,  with  interesting  appendices  and  addenda. 
Mr.  Owen,  being  about  to  return  to  Europe,  sold  his 
interest  in  the  work  to  Mr.  Campbell,  who  published  a 
large  edition  of  it,  which  was  rapidly  disposed  of.  An 
edition  was  some  years  afterward  printed  in  London 
by  Groombridge,  in  one  octavo  volume  of  five  hundred 
and  forty -five  pages,  which  obtained  an  extensive  cir- 
culation ;  so  that  wherever  the  English  language  was 


284       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


spoken,  Mr.  Campbell's  a'ble  defence  of  Christianity 
became  known,  and  exercised  its  power  of  confuting 
and  exposing  the  fallacies  of  the  prevailing  skeptical 
philosophies.  Innumerable  were  the  letters  of  grati- 
tude and  congratulation  which  he  received  from  those 
who  read  the  discussion  and  who  were  recovered  from 
infidelity  or  confirmed  in  faith.  The  courtesy  v^ith 
which  he  had  always  treated  the  skeptical,  and  the 
manliness  of  his  course  in  relation  to  Mr.  Owen,  gained 
for  him  the  respect  and  confidence  of  all  who  labored 
under  doubts  and  difliculties  in  regard  to  the  truth  of 
religion.  They  flocked  everywhere  to  hear  him  ;  they 
often  invited  him  to  address  them  where  they  existed 
in  organized  societies ;  they  heard  his  facts  and  reason- 
ings with  interest  and  attention  ;  and  it  may  be  safely 
afiirmed,  that  no  individual  was  ever  known  to  have 
been  the  instrument  of  converting  so  many  skeptics  to 
the  truth  of  Christianity  as  Alexander  Campbell. 

As  to  Mr.  Owen  himself,  it  cannot  be  said  that  any 
change  was  effected.  He  was  observed,  indeed,  to- 
ward the  close  of  the  debate,  to  qualify  his  previous  de- 
nunciations of  Christianity  by  the  phrase,  "as  at  present 
taught ;"  for  Mr.  Campbell  had  presented  such  a  view 
of  it  that  he  could  not  offer  a  single  objection  ;  and  it  was 
remarked  also  that  after  the  debate  he  was  willing  to 
admit  there  were  "  difliculties  on  both  sides."  But  he 
seems  to  have  returned  to  England  under  the  same  hal- 
lucinations which  had  heretofore  governed  his  life.  He 
still  hoped  to  banish  evil  from  the  world  and  to  renovate 
society,  imagining  at  every  moment  that  his  plans  were 
going  to  be  tried  in  some  particular  country,  and  that 
all  other  countries  would  immediately  be  brought  over 
to  his  views. 

Shortly  before  the  debate,  Mr.  Campbell  had  con- 


EDITORIAL  LABORS. 


285 


eluded  to  discontinue  the  Christian  Baptist."  He 
feared  that  the  name  Christian  Baptists  would  be  given 
to  the  advocates  of  the  Reformation,  and  he  wished  to 
commence  a  new  periodical  of  larger  size  and  of  some- 
what different  character.  Desiring  to  begin  this  with 
January,  1830,  and  not  having  yet  completed  the  out- 
lines of  his  plan  of  the  Christian  Baptist,"  he  pro- 
posed to  issue  the  seventh  volume  of  the  latter  work 
concurrently  with  the  sixth,  so  as  to  furnish  both  within 
the  year.  He  was  still  engaged  with  his  "  Essays  on 
the  Ancient  Gospel  and  Ancient  Order  of  Things,"  and 
had  in  course  of  publication  a  very  interesting  series  of 
articles  on  the  primitive,  the  patriarchal,  the  Jewish  and 
the  Christian  dispensations,  which  had  a  powerful  effect 
in  dissipating  the  confusion  of  thought  which  prevailed 
in  reference  to  religion,  and  leading  to  clear  and  con- 
sistent views  of  the  Bible.  All  these  he  desired  to 
finish,  so  that  a  complete  and  connected  view  of  the 
different  subjects  might  be  embraced  in  the  Christian 
Baptist"  before  its  close.  He  felt  at  this  time  greatly 
encouraged  by  the  success  which  had  attended  his 
editorial  labors.  For  every  day  of  the  past  six  years 
he  had  received  a  new  subscriber,  and  the  principles 
he  advocated  were  extending  their  influence  in  all 
directions. 

"I  have  devoted  myself  to  this  cause,"  said  he  on  the  fourth 
of  July,  1S29,  "and  will,  God  willing,  prosecute  it  with  per- 
severance. The  prospect  of  emancipating  myriads  from  the 
dominion  of  prejudice  and  tradition,  of  restoring  a  pure 
speech  to  the  people  of  God,  of  expediting  their  progress 
from  Babylon  to  [erusalem,  of  contributing  efficiently  to  the 
arrival  of  the  millennium,  have  brightened  with  every  volume 
of  this  work.  To  the  King,  eternal,  immortal  and  invisible, 
the  only  wise  God,  our  Saviour,  we  live  and  die.    To  him 


286       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


we  consecrate  the  talents,  information,  means  and  every  influ- 
ence he  has  given  us,  and  we  trust  the  day  will  come  when 
all  shall  see,  acknowledge  and  confess  that  our  labors  in  the 
Lord  are  not  in  vain." 

This  expectation  he  had  abundant  reason  to  cherish. 
In  Kentucky  his  views  had  now  been  received  by  many 
of  the  Baptists,  and  had  already  awakened  a  bitter  op- 
position on  the  part  of  those  who  were  determined  to 
maintain  the  usages  of  the  party.  This  opposition,  led 
by  Dr.  Noel,  S.  H.  Clack,  Edmund  Waller  and  others, 
had  already  introduced  proscription  and  division  into 
some  *of  the  churches.  Thus,  when  G.  W.  Elley,  in 
1828,  convinced  of  existing  errors,  ventured,  in  Eighteen- 
Mile  Church,  near  Westport,  to  depart  from  the  conse- 
crated method  of  textuary  preaching,  and  to  urge  a  re- 
turn to  the  primitive  practice  of  weekly  communion,  the 
usual  devices  were  at  once  employed  to  excite  prejudice 
against  him  and  deprive  him  of  influence  as  a  public 
teacher.  Finding  the  majority  of  the  church  averse  to 
any  reformation,  and  that  they  unjustly  denied  to  him 
the  rights  accorded  even  by  Baptist  rules,  he  was  in- 
duced, with  others,  to  free  himself  from  a  thraldom  to 
which  he  could  not  conscientiously  submit,  and  con- 
tinued from  this  time  to  advocate  publicly,  with  zeal 
and  efficiency,  the  restoration  of  the  primitive  faith  and 
manners.  In  other  parts  of  the  State  the  reformatory 
principles  seemed  to  be  adopted  with  great  readiness. 
Thus,  in  1828,  the  Boon  Creek  Association  went  so  far 
as  to  decide  that  the  word  of  God  did  not  authorize  any 
form  of  constitution  for  an  association,  and  that  their 
constitution  should  be  abolished.  They  then  resolved 
the  Association  into  a  mere  annual  meeting  for  worship 
and  hearing  voluntary  reports  from  the  churches.  In 
Christian  county  also  several  churches  openly  rejected 


REMISSION  OF  SINS.  2S7 

Baptist  theories  and  usages.  One  of  these,  at  Noah 
Spring,  of  thirty-three  members,  resolved  to  meet  for 
weekly  communion,  appointing  a  worthy  member,  A. 
Linsey,  as  elder,  and  baptizing  converts  for  the  re- 
mission of  sins.  Throughout  the  State,  indeed,  the 
Baptist  churches  were  gaining  numerous  accessions. 
Mr.  Campbell's  debates  had  brought  the  subject  of  be- 
lievers' baptism  prominently  before  the  minds  of  the 
people,  and  the  new  interest  lately  thrown  around  the 
institution  by  the  discovery  of  its  immediate  relation  to 
Ine  formal  remission  of  sins  had  added  immensely  to 
(ne  influence  of  immersionists,  even  where  they  did  not 
fully  embrace  Mr.  Campbell's  teaching,  but  especially 
where  they  favored  it.  Thus,  between  November,  1827, 
and  May,  1828,  Jeremiah  Vardeman  immersed  about 
five  hundred  and  fifty  persons  in  Kentucky,  and  during 
June  and  July,  in  Cincinnati,  one  hundred  and  eighteen 
more.  John  Smith,  between  February  and  the  third 
Lord's  day  in  July,  1828,  immersed  six  hundred  and 
three.  Under  the  labors  of  Walter  Warder  about  three 
hundred  were  added  in  the  course  of  a  few  months  to 
the  church  at  Mayslick,  and  a  very  large  number  else- 
where under  the  preaching  of  William  Morton,  Jacob 
Creath  and  others.  Jeremiah  Vardeman,  indeed,  ev^en 
from  the  time  of  the  McCalla  debate,  had  preached 
baptism  for  remission  of  sins  with  great  zeal  and  effect. 
In  November,  1826,  he  told  Mr.  Campbell  that  he  had 
much  more  pleasure  in  immersing  persons  then  than 
formerly,  before  he  was  aware  of  the  meaning  of  the 
ordinance.  He  then  went  on  to  relate  a  rencontre  he 
had  had  with  the  Catholics  shortly  before,  on  the  ques- 
tion of  remittincr  sins. 

The  Right  Rev.  Mr.  ,  from  Bardstown,"  said  he, 

**  had  the  audacity  to  come  over  into  my  bounds,  and  right  in 


288       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


the  field  of  my  labors  began  to  hold  forth  the  rank  doctrine 
of  Catholic  absolution.  He  contended  that  he  and  his 
brethren  had  the  power  of  forgiving  sins,  and  attempted  to 
prove  it  all  by  Scripture.  Well,  thought  I,  my  good  sir,  I 
will  return  the  compliment.  A  few  weeks  after,  I  sent  an 
appointment  to  Bardstown,  and  had  it  publicly  announced 
that  I  was  going  to  prove  that  the.  Baptist  ministry  had  as 
much  power  of  remitting  sins  as  the  Catholic  ministry." 
This  he  endeavored  to  do  from  the  language  ackhessed  to 
Peter:  "  Whosoever  sins  you  remit,  they  are  remitted."  and 
by  showing  that  Peter  fulfilled  this  in  announcing  to  believers 
baptism  for  remission. 

Mr.  Campbell  greatly  disapproved  the  practice  of 
makintj  such  issues,  and  of  usin^j  such  stroncj  and  un- 
guarded  expressions  as  the  power  of  remitting  sins" 
and  "  washing  away  sins  in  baptism."  These,"  said 
he,  "  have  been  most  prejudicial  to  the  cause  of  truth, 
and  have  given  a  pretext  to  the  opposition  for  their  liard 
speeches  against  the  pleadings  of  Reformers.''  The 
habitual  use  of  such  expressions  he  thought  also  cal- 
culated to  lead  men  to  overlook  or  disparage  that  faith 
in  the  sacrifice  of  Christ  from  which  alone  baptism  de- 
rived its  efficacy\  On  this  account,  in  baptizing  per- 
sons, he  used  only  the  simple  formula,  "  Into  the  name 
of  the  Father  and  of  the  Son  and  of  the  Holy  Spirit,'* 
and  forebore  adding  to  it,  like  Mr.  Scott  and  others, 
the  expression  "for  the  remission  of  sins."  "When 
any  doctrine,"  said  he  (Mill.  Harb.  for  1832,  p.  299), 
"  is  professed  and  taught  by  many,  when  any  matter 
gets  into  many  hands,  some  will  misuse,  abuse  and 
pervert  it.  This  is  unavoidable.  We  have  always 
feared  abuses  and  extremes." 

In  Nashville,  Tennessee,  the  ancient  order  of  things 
had  been  introduced  without  much  difficulty,  and  tlie 
church  was  peacefully  progressing.    In  the  eastern  part 


S/LAS  SHELBURNB. 


289 


jl*  Virginia  great  interest  had  been  excited  by  Mr. 
Campbell's  discussions  with  Bishop  Sempk  and  An- 
drew Broaddus,  and  a  number  of  intelligent  Baptists 
had  become  fully  convinced  of  the  need  of  reform. 
Prominent  among  these  was  Thomas  M.  Henley,  of 
Essex,  one  of  the  most  earnest,  candid  and  pious 
preachers  of  that  portion  of  the  State,  and  a  warm 
personal  friend  of  Mr.  Campbell,  on  whose  account  and 
for  his  own  fearless  advocacy  of  the  cause  of  Reforma- 
tion he  had  had  already  much  to  endure  from  his  former 
friends  and  associates.  With  him  were  associated  also 
other  preachers  of  considerable  ability,  as  Dr.  John 
Duval,  of  King-and-Qiieen,  Peter  Ainslie,  M.  W.  Web- 
ber, John  Richards  and  Dudley  Atkinson,  together  with 
many  private  members  of  intelligence  and  influence. 
In  the  southern  part  of  the  State,  also,  a  considerable 
impression  had  been  made.  Abner  W.  Clopton,  who 
was  one  of  the  most  popular  Baptist  preachers  in  that 
part  of  the  country,  had  been  at  first  pleased  with  Mr. 
Campbell's  writings,  but  taking  umbrage  at  his  views 
of  "  experimental  religion"  and  some  other  matters,  be- 
came bitterly  opposed,  and  endeavored  by  every  means 
in  his  power  to  arrest  the  progress  of  the  reformatory 
principles  and  to  maintain  the  Baptist  customs.  Many, 
nevertheless,  of  his  associates  in  the  Meherrin  Associa- 
tion took  part  with  Mr.  Campbell.  Chief  among  these 
was  Silas  Shelburne,  a  preacher  of  very  great  influence 
and  piety,  born  June  4,  1790,  and  son  of  James  Shel- 
burne, a  Baptist  minister  of  note,  of  whom  a  very  inter- 
esting account  is  given  in  the  life  of  Dr.  Archibald 
Alexander  of  Princeton. 

After  deep  religious  convictions,  Silas  Shelburne  had 
been  baptized  in  June,  1816,  and  immediately  began  to 
exhort  in  the  Church.    Soon  after  he  was  ordained  by 

VOL.  II. — T  26 


290       ME  MO  11^  S  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


Elders  James  Shelbume,  William  Richards  and  James 
Robertson,  and  continued  to  travel  and  preach  with  his 
fatlier  until  the  death  of  the  latter,  when  he  was  called 
to  the  care  of  the  churches  to  which  his  father  had 
ministered.  The  membership  of  these  churches  greatlj' 
increased  under  his  labors,  but  he  felt  their  need  of  some 
better  plan  of  religious  edification,  as  he  could  visit  them 
but  once  a  month.  Having  read  the  *' Christian  Bap- 
tist" from  its  commencement,  he  was  impressed  with  the 
importance  of  the  ancient  order  of  things  there  described, 
and  began  by  urging  the  churches  to  meet  to  attend  to 
the  Lord's  Supper  at  least  once  a  month.  This  being 
agreed  to,  he  after  a  time  proposed  that  elders  should 
be  appointed  in  each  of  the  churches,  and  that  they 
should  assemble  every  Lord's  day  tor  reading,  exhorta- 
tion, prayer  and  attendance  on  the  table  of  the  Lord. 
This  was  opposed,  but  he  succeeded  in  getting  six  con- 
gregations organized  with  elders,  and  in  gaining  over 
to  his  assistance  some  other  preachers,  as  P.  Barnes,  D. 
Pettey,  James  M.  Jeter  and  Paschal  Townes.  These 
endeavored  to  introduce  better  views  into  the  churches, 
continuing  to  preach,  as  usual,  faith,  repentance  and 
baptism  in  order  to  the  knowledge  of  salvation,  but 
maintainincT  that  the  heart  was  chancred  bv  the  Holv 
Spirit  through  the  belief  of  the  truth.  A  violent  oppo- 
sition soon  arose  against  these  efforts  to  change  Baptist 
usages  and  theories,  but  tiie  thirteen  churches  compos- 
ing the  Meherrin  Association  failed  to  press  matters  to 
any  final  decision,  so  that  Silas  Shelburne  and  his  asso- 
ciates continued  for  some  time  to  labor  as  usual. 

In  the  summer  of  1S26,  a  Baptist  preacher,  traveling 
as  a  missionarv  under  the  auspices  of  a  female  mis- 
sionary society  in  Richmond.  V^irginia.  when  near  the 
Natural  Bridge  happened  to  meet  with  a  few  numbers 


SPREAD  OF  TRUTH. 


291 


of  the  **  Christian  Baptist"  and  the  McCalla  Debate, 
which  he  read  with  some  surprise  at  the  views  presented. 
At  first  such  was  his  dissatisfaction  that  he  resolved  to 
attempt  their  confutation,  but  upon  more  careful  exam- 
ination found  himself  unable  to  deny  their  scriptural 
correctness.  This  was  Francis  Whitefield  Emmons, 
who  was  born  at  Clarendon,  Vermont,  February  24, 
1802,  and  united  with  the  Baptist  church  at  S wanton, 
Vermont,  April,  1816.  After  a  good  preparatory  edu- 
cation, he  was  licensed  to  preach  by  the  Second  Bap- 
tist Church  at  Hamilton  in  1821,  and  after  completing 
the  three  years'  course  of  study  in  the  literary  and 
theological  seminar}'  there  in  1824,  entered  Columbian 
College,  D.  C.  during  the  same  year,  and  while  there 
edited  for  a  short  period  the  "  Columbian  Star.*'  After 
his  missionary  tour  in  Virginia  he  became,  in  1827,  a 
student  of  Brown  University,  where  he  graduated. 
After  editing  the  "American  Baptist  Magazine"  for  a 
short  time,  at  Salem,  Massachusetts,  he  preached  for 
the  church  at  Eastport,  Maine,  over  which  he  was  or- 
dained as  pastor  in  1829,  at  Providence,  Rhode  Island. 
While  at  Brown  University  he  had  become  more  and 
more  impressed  with  the  need  of  the  reformation  urged 
by  Mr.  Campbell,  and  hence  ordered  three  complete  sets 
of  the  "  Christian  Baptist"  with  the  debates.  New  Tes- 
tament, etc.,  which  were  received  at  Eastport  in  1829. 
One  set  of  each  of  these  works  was  taken  by  Elder 
W.  W.  Ashley,  of  Eastport,  who  after  reading  them 
preached  and  taught  as  never  before.  Passing  after  a 
time  into  Nova  Scotia  and  New  Brunswick,  Mr.  Ash- 
ley disseminated  there  the  principles  of  the  Reforma- 
tion and  baptized  for  the  remission  of  sins.  Several 
preachers  were  convinced  through  his  instrumentality, 
and  churches  established  according  to  the  primitive 


292       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


order.  One  of  the  remaining  sets  of  the  same  publi- 
cations  was  sent  by  Mr.  Emmons  to  Jonathan  Wade^ 
missionary  in  Burmah,  and  was  received  and  read  by 
him  and  other  missionaries  there  with  profit,  E.  Kin- 
caid,  upon  his  return  to  the  United  States  some  years 
after,  assuring  Mr.  Emmons  "  that  he  had  been  much 
interested  in  the  reading,  that  the  work  had  helped  him 
much  and  by  directing  him  to  the  living  Word,  had 
enabled  him  to  preach  to  the  Karens  the  ancient  gospel 
better  than  he  otherwise  would  have  done." 

The  influence  of  Mr.  Campbell  had  been  felt  also 
among  the  independent  churches  in  Europe.  Of  these 
there  were  a  number  in  Ireland.  One  of  them,  as 
formerly  stated,  existed  in  Rich-Hill.  Another,  of  con- 
siderable size,  called  the  Tabernacle  Church,  had  been 
formed  in  the  city  of  Armagh.  One  of  the  members 
of  this  church,  Robert  Tener,  becoming  much  inter- 
ested in  reading  the  accounts  of  the  labors  of  foreign 
missionaries,  was  particularly  struck  with  the  fact  that 
all  the  converts  who  professed  faith  were  baptized. 
The  idea  at  once  occurred  to  him  that  he,  as  a  believer, 
ought  to  be  baptized.  Knowing  nothing  whatever  of 
the  Baptists,  he  at  once  went  to  the  minister  of  the 
Tabernacle,  Mr.  Hamilton,  and  told  him  he  wished  to 
be  baptized.  Mr.  Hamilton  asked  why  he  desired  this, 
as  he  had  been  already  baptized  in  infancy.  Mr.  Tener 
replied  that  he  had  no  knowledge  of  the  fact,  and  that 
as  he  had  only  recently  come  to  understand  and  believe 
the  gospel,  he  could  discern  no  difference  between  him- 
self and  the  heathen  in  Otaheite,  who  were  baptized 
after  they  believed.  Mr.  Hamilton  then  told  him  there 
was  a  sect  called  Baptists  who  thought  so,  and  gave 
him  some  of  their  writings,  together  with  some  Paedo- 
baptist  works,  to  read.    The  reasonings  of  the  Paedo« 


* 

CHURCHES  IN  IRELAND. 


baptist  writers,  and  particularly  the  plausible  argumen- 
tation of  William  Ballantine,  who  had  published  a 
treatise  defending  infant  baptism,  had  the  effect  of 
settling  Mr.  Tener  down  for  a  time  in  the  conviction 
that  they  were  right.  Removing,  however,  soon  after 
to  Dungannon,  ten  miles  distant,  he  resumed  his  investi- 
gations, and  after  a  careful  examination  of  the  Scrip- 
tures, became  fully  satisfied  that  he  ought  to  be  im- 
mersed. About  this  time  (1810)  a  Robert  Smyth,  who 
had  just  returned  from  one  of  Robert  Haldane's  semi- 
naries, engaged  in  the  inquiry  with  him  and  with  one 
or  two  others,  was  likewise  convinced.  Smyth  said  he 
knew  of  no  Baptist  in  the  entire  North  of  Ireland  ex- 
cept one  old  Englishman  near  Keady.  "Then,"  said 
Mr.  Tener,  "  go  to  him  and  be  baptized,  and  then  bap- 
tize me,  my  wife  and  William  Smyth."  This  having 
been  done,  the  four  at  once  began  to  meet  regularly  to 
keep  the  ordinances  in  a  large  room  .used  by  Mr.  Tener 
as  a  storehouse  for  linens.  Here,  in  spite  of  petty 
persecutions  and  the  indignation  of  the  clergy,  they 
continued  to  meet  and  to  receive  additions,  but  their 
number,  being  constantly  reduced  by  emigration,  seldom 
exceeded  forty.  This  was  the  first  church  formed  in 
Ireland  on  the  plan  of  requiring  a  simple  faith  in  Jesus 
as  the  wSon  of  God  and  immersion  into  his  name. 

It  happened  that  in  1825,  Richard,  a  son  of  Robert 
Tener,  was  a  clerk  in  the  Bank  of  Ireland,  at  Newry, 
and  Mr.  Campbell  having  sent  over  during  that  year 
some  copies  of  his  debates  and  some  numbers  of  the 
"Christian  Baptist"  to  his  relatives  there,  the  latter, 
who  were  still  Seceders,  after  reading  some  of  them, 
told  Richard  Tener  that  these  books  would  just  suit  his 
father,  and  that  he  had  better  send  him  some  of  them. 
Upon  receiving  them,  Robert  Tener  and  those  with 

25  » 


2y4       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


him,  though  surprised  and  delighted  to  find  that  many 
of  the  views  to  which  they  themselves  had  been  led  by 
the  Scripture  had  been  advocated  by  Mr.  Campbell  in 
America,  were  yet  at  first  quite  dissatisfied  with  some 
of  the  things  he  taught.  The  clearer  conceptions  of 
the  latter  in  regard  to  the  different  divine  dispensations, 
the  distinction  between  faith  and  opinion  and  the  design 
of  baptism,  were,  however,  after  some  time  perceived 
to  be  entirely  just  and  scriptural,  and  the  church  at 
Dungannon  came  to  be  in  general  accord  with  Mr. 
Campbell. 

About  the  year  1827,  a  commercial  traveler,  Peter 
Woodnorth,  of  Liverpool,  a  zealous  Christian,  called  on 
the  brethren  at  Dungannon,  who  talked  with  him  freely 
upon  these  religious  matters,  in  which  they  took  great 
interest,  and  gave  him  some  of  Mr.  Campbell's  works. 
On  his  return  to  England  he  delivered  to  the  Independ- 
ent churches  in  Liverpool,  Nottingham  and  Manchester 
the  things  he  had  learned,  which  were  thus  for  the  first 
time  introduced  into  England.  In'the  year  1829,  under 
date  of  November  5,  William  Tener,  a  son  of  Robert 
Tener,  an  intelligent  and  estimable  youth,  opened  a 
correspondence  with  Mr.  Campbell,  and  spoke  in  the 
beginning  of  his  letter  as  follows  as  to  the  efi!ect  pro- 
duced by  his  writings  : 

"Very  DEAR  Brother:  Although  personally  a  stranger 
to  you,  I  have  enjoyed  an  acquaintance  with  your  writings  for  a 
length  of  time.  From  them  I  have  received  great  advantages. 
Many  opinions  which  I  formerly  held  very  strenuously  I  found 
upon  examination  were  unfounded  ;  and  many  truths  of  which  I 
was  ignorant  have  been  brought  before  my  mind  through  the 
instrumentality  of  that  ably-edited  periodical,  the  '  Christian 
Baptist.'  Many  of  my  friends  in  this  your  native  land  have 
reason  to  bless  God  that  ever  they  saw  it ;  and  though  their 
prejudices  were  great  against  you  at  first,  they  yielded  to  the 


A  FAITHFUL  HELPMATE. 


influence  of  all  powerful  truth.  Man}-  of  us  (for  I  class  my- 
self among  them)  were  so  prejudiced  that  when  we  read  a 
few  pages  of  the  *  Christian  Baptist,'  we  resolved  on  reading 
no  more,  conceiving  your  opinions  to  be  heterodox,  thus  con- 
demning you  unheard.  When  we  gave  you  a  hearing,  how- 
ever, we  found  that  your  sentiments  were  in  general  accord- 
ance with  the  revelations  of  the  King  of  kings  and  Lord  of 
lords." 

Thus  it  was  that  through  various  instrumentalities  the 
principles  advocated  were  widely  diffused  abroad,  every- 
where more  or  less  opposed,  but  everywhere  developing 
the  power  of  truth  and  modifying  the  state  of  religious 
society  ;  and  Mr.  Campbell  found  himself  to  be  the  cen- 
tre of  a  constantly  widening  circle  of  influence,  and, 
under  Divine  Providence,  an  acknowledged  guide  to  a 
large  and  intelligent  community  zealously  engaged  in 
the  work  of  reformation. 

Before  his  return  home  from  the  Owen  debate  his 
family  had  been  increased  by  the  birth  of  a  daughter, 
who  was  named  Margaret  Brown,  after  his  first  wife. 
He  had  had  for  some  time,  and  continued  to  have,  quite 
an  extensive  household,  to  take  charge  of  which  required 
no  small  degree  of  courage  on  the  part  of  his  second  wife, 
who  had  not,  like  the  first  one,>been  brought  up  in  the 
countr\^  and  familiarized  with  the  details  of  farm-life. 
All  these  she  had  to  learn,  and  during  Mr.  Campbell's 
long  absences  to  observe  his  directions  for  the  cultiva- 
tion of  the  fields  and  to  engage  laborers,  which  she  did 
with  so  much  judgment  that  Mr.  Campbell  always  re- 
turned to  find  things  in  order,  and  never  was  known  to 
utter  a  word  of  complaint  or  find  the  least  fault  with  the 
arrangements  made.  In  addition,  she  had  to  discharge 
the  duties  of  a  mother  to  her  predecessor's  little  daugh- 
ters, and  to  manage  the  aflfiiirs  of  the  family,  complicated 


296       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


by  the  almost  incessant  visits  of  strangers,  some  of 
whom  often  remained  for  long  periods.  The  presence 
of  sickness,  too,  dm-ing  the  winter  succeeding  her  mar- 
riage, when  there  were  no  less  than  thirteen  cases  of 
measles  in  the  family,  had  greatly  added  to  Mrs.  Camp- 
bell's cares ;  but  being  an  excellent  nurse,  and  devoting 
herself  assiduously  to  the  duties  she  had  undertaken, 
she  succeeded  in  managing  and  arranging  everything 
so  happily  as  greatly  to  relieve  Mr.  Campbell  and  leave 
him  free  to  pursue  his  accustomed  labors. 

About  this  time  Walter  Scott,  being  on  a  short  visit  to 
Pittsburg,  rode  out  to  see  his  former  pupil,  young  Mr. 
Richardson,  who  was  now  engaged  in  the  practice 
of  medicine,  some  thirteen  miles  from  the  city.  During 
the  interview  he  related  many  interesting  incidents  con- 
nected with  his  labors  on  the  Reserve,  which  excited 
much  surprise  on  the  part  of  the  doctor,  w^ho  had  as  yet 
remained  quite  uninformed  in  respect  to  the  character  of 
the  religious  movement  in  which  Mr.  Scott  was  now 
engaged,  and  was  still  a  member  of  the  Episcopal 
Church,  though  at  the  time  in  communion  with  the 
Presbyterian  Church  in  his  immediate  neighborhood. 

The  statement  that  the  Christian  institution  was  quite 
distinct  from  the  Jewish,  and  had  a  definite  origin  on 
the  day  of  Pentecost  (Acts  ii.),  and  that  penitent  be- 
lievers were  then  commanded  to  be  baptized  for  the 
remission  of  sins,  seemed  to  him  as  a  new  revelation, 
accustomed  as  he  had  been  to  the  confused  ideas  of  the 
different  parties  on  these  subjects.  Upon  searching  out 
the  import  of  the  word  baptism  after  Mr.  Scott's  de- 
parture, he  soon  found  it  to  be  immersion,  and  perceived 
that  from  trusting  to  human  teachers  he  had  been  pre- 
viously deceived  in  regard  to  it.  Resolving,  therefore, 
from  thenceforth  to  be  directed  by  the  Bible  alone,  he 


FRUITS  OF  OBEDIENCE. 


297 


began  a  careful  re-examination  of  it.  Reflecting  that 
whatever  might  be  urged  about  "  apostolic  succession," 
there  could  be  no  flaw  in  the  credentials  of  the  apostles 
thefuselves^  and  that  they  at  least  knew  how  to  preach 
the  gospel,  he  was  convinced  that  had  he  and  the  whole 
world  been  present  when  Peter  said,  Repent  and  be 
baptized,  every  one  of  you,  for  the  remission  of  sins,"  all 
would  have  been  equally  bound  to  oh^y,  and  that  the 
case  was  in  nowise  different  now  with  those  to  whom 
this  word  of  salvation  came.  There  could  be  no  danger 
of  deception  or  mistake  in  trusting  to  the  words  of  one 
who  spake  as  the  Holy  Spirit  gave  him  utterance,"  and 
he  therefore  felt  it  to  be  his  duty  to  submit  to  the  divine 
requirements.  Setting  out  accordingly,  he,  after  a  three 
days*  journey,  found  Mr.  Scott  holding  a  meeting  at  a 
barn  in  Shalersville,  on  the  Reserve,  which  he  reached 
about  two  o'clock  on  the  Lord's  day,  just  after  the  audi- 
ence had  been  dismissed.  Six  persons  had  come  for- 
ward and  were  preparing  for  baptism  at  the  farm-house,, 
and  the  doctor,  pressing  through  the  crowd,  greatly  sur- 
prised and  delighted  Mr.  Scott  by  informing  him  that 
he  had  -come  to  be  baptized.  After  the  immersion  the 
meeting  was  resumed,  and  William  Hayden  addressed 
the  people,  his  discourse  being  the  first  the  doctor  heard 
from  any  preacher  in  the  Reformation  ;  nor  had  he^ 
before  going  down  that  day  to  the  banks  of  the  softly- 
flowing  Cuyahoga,  ever  witnessed  an  immersion,  hav- 
ing been  led  by  the  word  of  God  alone  to  take  a  solitary 
journey  of  one  hundred  and  twenty  miles  in  order  to 
render  the  obedience  which  it  demanded,  and  to  find 
in  that  obedience  the  fulfillment  of  the  Divine  promises, 
and  a  happy  relief  from  the  illusive  hopes  and  fears, 
based  on  frames  and  feelings,  which  for  several  years 
had  constituted  his  religious  experience. 


298        MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


Soon  after  his  return  he  became  instrumental  in  form- 
ing a  church,  which  led  to  the  organization  of  a  second 
one  in  a  short  time  in  Washington  county,  where  several 
of  the  old  Brush  Run  members  still  resided,  and  where 
the  children  of  Thomas  Campbell's  ancifent  friend,  John 
McElroy,  now  used  their  influence  to  promote  the  cause. 
Prominent  among  these  was  James  McElroy,  vvho  not 
only  defended  the  cause  with  intelligence  and  zeal,  but 
contributed  liberally  of  his  means  to  sustain  Walter 
Scott  in  the  evangelical  field.  In  his  efforts  he  was 
earnestly  seconded  by  his  devoted  brother  John,  as  well 
as  by  his  intelligent  sister  Susan,  who  as  early  as  1817 
had,  amidst  the  peculiar  trials  of  that  period,  led  the 
way  in  obedience  to  the  primitive  gospel.  Subsequently 
she  had  been  for  a  considerable  time  an  inmate  of  Mr. 
Campbell's  family,  and  then  the  wife  of  Jacob  Osborne, 
whose  sudden  and  untimely  death  by  haemoptysis  in  the 
spring  of  this  year  (1829),  in  the  midst  of  eminent  use- 
fulness on  the  Western  Reserve,  was  much  regretted. 
The  advocacy  of  the  reformatory  principles  by  these 
intelligent  disciples,  charactervzed  by  an  unyielding  ad- 
herence to  the  simple  teachings  of  the  word  of  God, 
contributed  much  to  promote  the  cause — James  McElroy 
rendering  efllcient  aid  to  Walter  Scott  in  forming  a 
church  at  Dutch  Fork,  and  also  to  William  Hay  den  in 
constituting  another  at  Hraddock's  Field,  where,  at  the 
meeting  held,  four  entire  households  were  baptized, 
without  an  infant  in  one  of  them.  After  a  time,  the 
churcli  with  which  the  McElroys  were  connected,  near 
Hickory,  was  dispersed,  many  of  the  members  removing 
to  Knox  coimty,  Ohio,  wliere  they  soon  established  two 
flourishing  churches  at  Jelloway  and  Millwood. 

A  few  montlis  after  liis  union  with  the  church.  Dr. 
Richardson  removed  to  Wellsburg,  from  which  point  he 


DOMESTIC  LIFE. 


299 


had  the  opportunity  of  often  visiting  Bethany  and  en- 
joying the  society  of  those  who  assemhled  around  Mr. 
Campbell's  hospitable  board.  Here  he  frequently  met 
the  revered  Thomas  Campbell  and  the  beloved  Walter 
Scott,  with  other  pious  laborers.  Here  the  sincere 
Joseph  Bryant,  who  lived  on  an  adjacent  farm  which 
Alexander  Campbell  had  lately  purchased,  together 
with  other  members  of  the  old  Brush  Run  Church,  was 
often  found.  Here,  too,  Mrs.  Bryant,  with  her  fund 
of  Scripture  inquiry  and  original  thought,  as  well  as 
other  pious  females,  added  charms  to  the  social  circle 
and  a  lively  interest  to  those  religious  conversations  and 
biblical  researches  which  formed  the  chief  enjoyment 
of  all. 

However  eminent  and  admired  in  all  his  relations  to 
the  public,  it  was  at  home,  amidst  his  family  and  friends, 
that  Mr.  Campbell  always  appeared  in  the  most  amiable 
and  pleasing  light.  It  was  delightful  to  witness  with 
what  unstudied  courtesy  he  welcomed  his  visitors,  and 
with  what  genial  pleasantry  he  placed  every  one  at  his 
ease,  so  that  no  one  could  long  feel  like  a  stranger. 
Without  apparent  effort  he  constantly  kept  up  the  charm 
of  social  converse,  adapting  the  theme  to  the  feelings 
and  circumstances  of  the  company,  and  always  seeking, 
if  possible,  to  impress  some  scriptural  lesson  by  an  apt 
and  often  witty  application  of  a  text,  or  to  commu- 
nicate some  truth  or  information  both  interesting  and 
useful. 

He  seemed  to  be  always  at  leisure  to  entertain  his 
guests,  and  that,  too,  with  a  mind  so  full  of  gayety  and 
free  from  preoccupation  that  no  one  could  have  sus- 
pected for  a  moment  the  immense  business  constantly 
resting  upon  him,  and  which  he  was  regularly  and  daily 
despatching  with  an  energy  and  a  facility  peculiar  to 


300       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


himself.  His  habit  of  rising  very  early — usually  at 
three  o'clock — gave  him  much  valuable  time  well  suited 
for  composition,  and  at  the  hour  when  the  house-bell 
rung  for  morning  worship  he  would  come  over  from 
his  study,  having  prepared,  often,  enough  of  manuscript 
to  keep  his  printers  busy  during  the  day.  When  break- 
fast was  over,  after  arranging  the  affairs  of  the  morning 
and  kindly  seeing  off  any  parting  visitors,  he  would  call 
for  his  horse  or  set  off  on  foot,  perhaps,  accompanied 
by  some  of  his  friends,  to  view  the  progress  of  the 
printing  or  the  farming  operations,  and  give  instructions 
to  his  workmen.  Delighting  greatly  in  agriculture  and 
its  collateral  pursuits,  he  was  familiar  with  all  their  de- 
tails, and,  while  ever  eager  to  gain  new  thoughts  from 
others,  the  most  skillful  farmers  and  breeders  of  stock 
often  found  in  his  company  that  they  had  themselves 
something  yet  to  learn.  After  dinner  he  usually  spent 
a  little  time  in  correcting  proof-sheets,  which  he  often 
read  aloud  if  persons  were  present,  and  then  he  would 
perhaps  have  a  promised  visit  to  pay  to  one  of  the 
neighboring  families  in  company  with  his  wife  or  some 
of  the  guests.  Otherwise  he  would  often  spend  some 
hours  in  his  study  if  engaged  upon  any  very  important 
theme,  or  occupy  himself  in  his  portico  or  parlor  in 
reading  or  conversation. 

It  was  the  evening  that  was  always  specially  devoted 
to  social  and  religious  improvement.  At  an  early  hour 
the  entire  household,  domestics  included,  assembled  in 
the  spacious  parlor,  each  one  having  hymns  or  some 
Scripture  lessons  to  recite.  After  these  were  heard, 
often  with  pertinent  and  encouraging  remarks  from 
Mr.  Campbell,  the  Scriptures  were  read  in  regular 
sequence,  with  questions  to  those  present  as  to  the  pre- 
vious connection  or  the  scope  of  the  chapter.  These 


DOMESTIC  LIFE.  '  30 1 

being  briefly  considered,  he  would  call  upon  Mrs. 
Campbell,  who  had  a  good  voice,  to  lead  in  singing  a 
psalm  or  spiritual  song,  in  which  he  himself  would 
heartily  join,  and  then  kneeling  down  would  most 
reverently  and  earnestly  present  before  the  throne  of 
grace  their  united  thanksgivings  and  petitions  for  divine 
guardianship  and  guidance.  Such  was  the  customary 
order,  but  the  details  were  often  varied  to  suit  the 
occasion.  Family  worship  was  not  allowed  to  become 
a  mere  routine.  He  knew  well  how  to  maintain  its 
interest,  by  making  it  a  means  of  real  instruction  and 
enjoyment ;  and,  by  encouraging  familiar  inquiry  on  the 
part  of  the  young,  he  managed  to  bring  forward  and  to 
impress  indelibly  the  most  charming  practical  lessons 
from  the  sacred  writings,  having  always  something 
novel  and  agreeable  to  impart  zest  and  interest  to 
exercises  which  in  many  cases  are  apt  to  become 
monotonous  by  frequent  repetition.  In  these  praise- 
worthy endeavors  to  bring  up  children  in  the  nurture 
of  the  Lord,  much  was  due  also  to  the  judicious  ar- 
rangements and  hearty  co-operation  of  Mrs.  Campbell, 
who,  like  her  predecessor,  made  all  things  subservient 
to  the  desired  end,  and  in  her  husband's  absence  her- 
self officiated  at  the  family  altar  when  there  happened 
to  be  no  brother  present  accustomed  to  the  duty.  To 
her,  also,  Mr.  Campbell,  as  had  been  his  custom  with 
his  former  wife,  was  in  the  habit  of  reading  his  essays 
and  other  articles  for  publication,  playfully  reminding 
her  of  the  preacher  who  w^as  wont  to  read  his  sermons 
to  his  housekeeper  before  delivering  them,  in  order  to 
judge  by  their  effect  upon  her  what  would  likely  be 
their  reception  by  his  congregation.  Mrs.  Campbell 
always  took  this  smilingly,  as  a  standing  bit  of  pleas- 
antry, well  knowing  the  high  respect  her  husband  had 

26 


302       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


for  her  judgment.  He  was  well  aware  of  his  own 
satirical  vein,  and  wished  to  have  pointed  out  anything 
which  might  possibly  give  unnecessary  offence,  listen- 
ing attentively  to  any  criticisms  Mrs.  Campbell  was 
encouraged  to  make,  and  not  unfrequently  adopting 
her  suggestions  and  softening  what  appeared  to  be  too 
tart.  He  greatly  respected  those  delicate  sympathies 
which  women  possess,  and  Mrs.  Campbell  had  an 
excellent  taste,  being  a  lady  of  considerable  reading 
and  culture,  of  a  very  serious  and  religious  turn,  fond 
of  Young's  Night  Thoughts,"  and  the  grave  poetical 
and  prose  English  authors  ;  not  at  all  addicted  to  gayety, 
but  on  the  contrary,  though  cheerful  under  the  sur- 
rounding happy  circumstances,  possessing  a  constitu- 
tional tendency  to  melancholy,  which  needed  onh'^  the 
presence  of  calamity  for  its  development. 

Mr.  Campbell  greatly  desired  that  the  work  he  was 
about  to  issue  should  exhibit  a  milder  tone  than  the 

Christian  Baptist."  He  thought  the  .religious  world 
was  now  sufliciently  aroused  from  its  apathv,  and  that 
the  spirit  of  inquiry  already  set  on  foot  would  ulti- 
mately etTect  the  deliverance  of  the  people  from  clerical 
domination.  From  the  rapid  spread  of  the  reformatory 
principles,  the  union  of  so  many  of  different  parties  in 
the  primitive  faith,  and  the  evident  check  given  to  the 
progress  of  the  infidel  schemes  of  Mr.  Owen  and 
otliers.  he  was  also  much  impressed  by  the  conviction 
that  the  millennial  period  anticipated  by  the  Church 
was  nigh  at  hand.  He  felt  assured  that  a  reformation 
such  as  lie  advocated,  which  proposed  to  go  back  to  the 
very  beginning  and  restore  tlie  gospel  in  its  original 
purity  and  fullness,  could  leave  no  room  for  any  other 
religious  reformation,  and  must  of  necessity  be  the 
very  last  effort  possible  to  prepare  the  world  for  the 


MILLENNIAL  HARBINGER, 


393 


coming  of  Christ.  He  did  not  presume  to  fix  upon 
any  very  definite  period  for  this  event,  Scripture  analo- 
gies inclining  him  to  the  opinion  that  it  would  occur  at 
the  commencement  of  the  seventh  Chiliad,  answering 
to  the  seventh  day  or  Sabbath  when  God  rested  from 
the  work  of  creation.  He  did  not  deem  it  accordant 
with  the  principles  of  the  Reformation  to  assume  dog- 
matically any  position  in  reference  to  this  point  or  any 
other  of  the  vexed  questions  of  eschatology,  dimly  seen 
through  the  veil  of  prophetic  imagery,  but  as  this 
particular  subject  was  then  one  of  great  interest  with 
many,  especially  with  Walter  Scott  and  the  other 
preachers  on  the  Western  Reserve,  and  he  intended 
to  discuss  to  some  extent  the  Scriptures  relating  to  it, 
he  concluded  to  call  his  new  periodical  "The  Mil- 
lennial Harbinger."  He  intended  to  embrace  in 
this  work  a  wider  range  of  subjects,  and  to  show  the  V 
inadequacy  of  modern  systems  of  education,"  and  the 
injustice  yet  remaining,  under  even  the  best  political 
governments,"  in  regard  to  various  matters  connected 
with,  the  public  welfare. 


CHAPTER  IX. 


Political  experience — Beaver  anathema — Extra  on  remission  of  sins — Annual 
meetings — Journey  to  Nashville — Discussion  with  Mr.  Jennings. 


OON  after  the  debate  with  Robert  Owen,  Mr.  Camp- 


*^  bell  became  unexpectedly  involved  in  a  political  can- 
vass for  the  office  of  delegate  to  a  convention  called  to 
amend  the  constitution  of  the  State  of  Virginia.  Dis- 
content had  long  existed,  especially  in  that  portion  of 
the  State  west  of  the  Blue^Ridge,  in  relation  to  the 
ha^s  of  rogresentation,  the  right  of  suffrage  and  some 
other  matters.  As  representatTon  was  based  in  part 
upon  slaves,  and  these  were  held  chiefly  in  the  eastern 
section  of  the  State,  the  white  population  of  the  western 
portion,  though  nearly  equal  in  number  to  that  of  the 
east,  found  themselves  under  the  control  of  a  majority 
disposed,  they  thought,  to  legislate  too  exclusively  for 
the  interests  of  their  own  section.  Moved  at  length  by 
the  remonstrances  of  the  western  members,  or  fearful 
that  the  rapidly-increasing  white  population  of  the  west 
v^'ould  soon  outstrip  that  of  the  east  and  secure  political 
power,  the  Legislature,  during  the  session  of  1827-28, 
passed  an  act  to  take  the  sense  of  the  voters  on  calling 
a  convention.  A  large  majorit}^  being  found  in  favor 
of  it,  a  deep  interest  immediately  spread  through  the 
commonwealth ;  and  the  most  eminent  men  in  the 
country  were  sought  out  as  delegates,  the  east  expect- 
ing to  secure  such  arrangements  as  would  enable  it  to 


304 


STATE  CONVENTION. 


retain  its  supremac}'  ;  and  the  west  hoping  to  gain  over 
a  sufficient  number  of  votes  to  remodel  the  constitution 
upon  different  principles. 

Four  delegates  were  to  be  selected  from  the  district 
in  which  Mr.  Campbell  resided.  Among  the  distin- 
guished politicians  of  the  western  section,  Philip  Dod- 
dridge, of  Wellsburg,  stood  pre-eminent.  He  was  a 
man  of  remarkable  abilities,  and  had  been  repeatedly 
a  representative  in  the  public  councils.  All  eyes  rested 
upon  him  as  the  political  champion  of  the  west,  and  he 
was  at  once  nominated.  Up  to  this  time,  Mr.  Campbell 
had  been  before  the  public  only  as  an  educator  and  a 
religious  teacher.  He  had  never  sought  nor  held  any 
civil  office,  and  had  no  desire  whatever  to  engage  in 
political  affairs.  So  strongly,  however,  were  the  public 
impressed  by  his  commanding  talents  and  his  success 
in  contending  against  clerical  power  that  a  very  general 
desire  was  expressed  to  take  him  up  also  as  a  candidate 
for  the  convention.  Many  of  those  most  forward  in 
this  were  among  those  opposed  to  Mr.  Campbell  in  re- 
ligious sentiments,  but  from  their  confidence  in  his  abili- 
ties they  were  the  first  to  propose  him  and  the  most 
eager  to  induce  him  to  accept  the  position.  So  entirely, 
however,  was  he  devoted  to  religious  reformation,  and 
so  averse  to  everything  connected  with  political  strife, 
that  it  was  not  without  some  reluctance  and  misgiving 
he  finally  consented  to  become  a  candidate.  It  was 
urged  upon  him  that  it  was  not  a  canvass  for  an  office 
of  emolument,  but  an  occasion  of  the  utmost  import- 
ance to  the  State  of  which  he  was  a  citizen,  as  the 
organic  law  was  to  be  amended  and  the  control  of  the 
eastern  and  great  slave-holding  portion  of  the  State  to 
be  resisted.  His  religious  friends  urged,  on  their  part, 
that  as  the  position  was  one  of  great  dignity  and  quite 

VOL.  II.— u  26  * 


3o6       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


above  the  ordinary  sphere  of  politics,  it  would  not  com- 
promise him  in  any  respect  as  a  religious  teacher,  but 
would  probably  give  him  greater  influence  in  this  re- 
spect, and  afford  him  an  opportunity  of  extending  the 
principles  of  the  Reformation  by  personal  intercourse 
with  the  eminent  and  influential  persons  in  the  State 
with  whom  he  would  be  placed  in  communication. 
Influenced  by  these  considerations,  he  finalh'  consented, 
with  the  express  stipulation  on  his  part  that  he  would 
not  be  required  or  expected  to  engage  personally  in 
the  canvass.  It  was  also  expressly  understood  that  Mr. 
Doddridge,  whose  influence  was  almost  unbounded, 
fully  approved  of  ]Mr.  Campbell's  nomination,  and 
would  gladly  accept  him  as  his  colleague.  No  sooner, 
how'ever,  had  the  canvass  commenced,  than  Samuel 
Sprigg,  a  distinguished  lawyer  of  Wheeling,  in  the 
adjoining  county,  and  a  warm  personal  friend  of  Mr. 
Doddridge,  offered  himself  as  a  candidate  in  opposi- 
tion to  Mr.  Campbell,  and  it  was  soon  discovered  that 
Mr.  Doddridge  was  lending  his  powerful  influence  to 
promote  Mr.  Sprigg's  election.  Upon  this.  Mr.  Camp- 
bell addressed  some  letters  to  Mr.  Doddridge,  exposing 
and  severely  censuring  the  course  he  had  thought 
proper  to  pursue,  and  announcing  his  determination, 
under  the  circumstances,  not  to  retire  from  the  field,  as 
Mr.  Sprigg's  friends  probably  hoped  he  would  do,  but 
to  leave  the  issue  entirely  with  the  people. 

On  account  of  this  unexpected  opposition,  and  as  Mr. 
Sprigg  was  engaged  in  addressing  the  public  at  various 
points,  Mr.  Campbell's  friends  urged  him  to  forego  his 
purpose  of  remaining  silent  during  the  canvass,  and 
insisted  that  it  would  be  necessary  for  him  also  to  make 
some  speeches,  especially  in  the  more  distant  parts  of 
the  district,  where  he  was  less  known.    Yielding  to 


SPEECH  IN  MONONGALIA. 


these  representations,  he  filled  several  appointments 
during  the  few  weeks  previous  to  the  day  of  election, 
at  which  time  he  made  it  a  point  to  be  present  at  one  of 
the  most  doubtful  and  important  precincts  in  Monongalia 
county,  where  Mr.  Sprigg  was  also  to  address  the  voters 
at  the  polls.  On  this  occasion  Mr.  Sprigg  spoke  first, 
and  took  occasion  to  descant  upon  the  unfitness  of  per- 
sons of  the  ministerial  profession  for  such  duties  as  were 
to  devolve  upon  the  members  of  the  convention,  and 
upon  the  importance  of  sending  delegates  whose  lives 
had  been  spent  in  the  investigation  and  practical  appli- 
cation of  the  principles  of  civil  government  and  consti- 
tutional law.  He  expounded  also  the  engrossing  sub- 
ject of  representation,  as  founded  upon  the  basis  of  the 
white  population  exclusively,  or  upon  the  compound 
ratio  of  white  population  and  slaves,  announcing  him- 
self in  favor  of  the  former  as  essential  to  the  political 
equality  of  the  western  portion  of  the  State.  Upon  these 
subjects  he  continued  to  speak  so  long  that  but  little  time 
was  left  for  Mr.  Campbell  before  the  opening  of  the 
polls. 

Under  the  circumstances,  Mr.  Campbell  manifested 
that  superior  knowledge  of  human  nature,  and  that  fine 
appreciation  of  existing  conditions,  which,  had  he 
chosen  to  devote  himself  to  political  matters,  would 
have  enabled  him  to  obtain  almost  any  office  within  the 
gift  of  the  people.  Knowing  that  the  audience  were 
somewhat  wearied  with  the  political  disquisitions  to 
which  they  had  been  listening,  he,  upon  rising,  re- 
marked that  he  could  not  think  of  detaining  the  people 
much  longer  from  the  polls,  and  then  proceeded  to  re- 
but, in  a  few  pointed  remarks,  the  arguments  which 
had  been  used  by  his  opponent  against  the  political 
competency  of  ministers  of  religion,  and  in  favor  of 


3o8       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


the  supposed  claims  of  lawyers  upon  the  confidence  of 
the  community.  He  then  briefly  expressed  himself  as 
in  favor  of  having  representation  based  entirely  upon 
the  white  population,  and  depicted  the  evils  growing 
out  of  the  existing  system,  where  men  enjoyed  political 
power  in  proportion  to  the  number  of  persons  they  held 
in  bondage.  Admitting  the  propriety  of  requiring  from 
candidates  an  expression  of  their  principles,  and  per- 
ceiving that  the  audience  consisted  almost  entirely  of 
farmers,  he  went  on  to  say  that  the  principle  which 
would  guide  him  was  one  of  a  very  plain  and  simple 
nature. 

'•As  you  well  know,  my  friends,"  said  he,  "each  portion 
of  our  widespread  country  has  its  own  peculiar  interests, 
and  in  my  judgment  this  simple  fact  should  govern  the  entire 
course  of  its  legislation.  If  the  people  of  Virginia  were  a 
manufacturing  community,  then  its  legislation  should  be 
directed  to  the  fostering  and  protecting  of  manufactures.  If 
we  were  a  commercial  people,  then  the  interests  of  commerce 
should  demand  our  special  attention.  But,  gendemen,  our 
State,  having  no  large  cities,  contains  almost  exclusively  an 
agricultural  population,  and  I  hence  argue  that  the  interests 
of  the  farmer  should  be  chiefly  considered  in  whatever 
changes  may  be  proposed  in  the  organic  law.  Agriculture 
is,  with  us,  the  commanding  interest  of  the  State;  and  while 
my  opponent  has  been  descanting  upon  the  white  basis  and 
the  black  basis,  you  will  permit  me  to  obsen-e  that  agriculture 
is  with  us  the  true  basis  of  prosperity'  and  of  power,  and  that 
the  honest  farmer,  who  by  his  daily  toil  increases  the  wealth 
and  well-being  of  the  commonwealth,  becomes  its  truest 
benefactor."  Extolling  this  virtuous  and  most  important  call- 
ing, showing  in  eloquent  terms  the  dignity  of  labor,  and  an- 
nouncing himself  as  having  been  for  years  a  practical  farmer, 
holding  with  his  own  hands  the  plough,  he  gradually  enlisted 
the  warmest  sympathies  of  his  audience,  declaring  that  should 
they  think  proper  to  send  him  to  the  convention,  while  he 


RESULT  OF  THE  CANVASS. 


would  by  no  means  neglect  the  special  interest  which  the 
west  had  in  a  just  and  equal  representation,  his  aim  would 
be  to  secure  such  arrangements  as  would  best  subserve  the 
great  cause  of  agriculture.  "  'Tis  the  interest  of  the  farmer," 
said  he,  *•  that  should  be  consulted.  It  is  his  welfare  es- 
pecially that  should  be  promoted,  since  it  is  the  farmer  who 
has  to  bear  at  last  the  burdens  of  the  government.  Allow 
me,"  said  he,  in  concluding,  to  illustrate  this  by  what  I  no- 
ticed when  a  lad  on  a  visit  to  the  city  of  Belfast.  In  viewing 
the  city,  I  recollect  that  my  attention  was  particularly  engaged 
by  a  large  sign  over  one  of  its  extensive  stores.  This  sign 
contained  four  large  painted  figures.  The  first  was  a  picture 
of  the  king  in  his  royal  robes,  with  the  crown  upon  his  head,, 
and  the  legend  issuing  from  his  mouth,  '  I  reign  for  all.* 
Next  to  him  was  the  figure  of  a  bishop,  in  gown  and  sur- 
plice, with  the  inscription,  '  I  pray  for  all.*  The  third  was  a 
soldier  in  his  regimentals  standing  by  a  cannon  and  uttering 
the  words,  '  I  fight  for  all.'  But  the  fourth  figure,  gentlemen, 
was  the  most  noteworthy  and  important  of  all  in  this  pictorial 
representation  of  the  relations  of  the  different  parts  of  human 
society.  It  represented  a  farmer,  amidst  the  utensils  of  his 
calling,  standing  by  his  plough  and  exclaiming,  '  I  pay  for 
all " 

When  the  shouts  and  cheers  which  greeted  this  con- 
clusion had  subsided,  the  polls  were  opened.  As  the 
law  then  required  each  one  to  announce  publicly  the 
name  of  his  candidate,  in  order  to  have  his  vote  re- 
corded, nothing  for  a  long  time  was  heard  but  "  Camp- 
bell," "  Campbell,"  and  it  really  seemed  as  if  the  choice 
was  about  to  be  unanimous.  At  last  one  individual 
came  forward  and  gave  the  name  of  "  Sprigg  ;"  upon 
which  Mr.  Sprigg  arose  and  pleasantly  remarked,  with 
a  bow,  *'  I  thank  the  gentleman  for  his  vote,  for  I  was 
really  beginning  to  think  you  had  all  forgotten  that  I 
am  a  candidate." 

When  the  votes  of  the  diflferent  counties  were  re- 


3IO       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


turned,  it  was  found  that  Mr.  Campbell  and  Philip 
Doddridge  were  elected,  along  with  Charles  D.  Morgan 
and  Eugenius  M.  Wilson,  both  of  Monongalia,  to 
represent  the  district  consisting  of  Ohio,  Tyler,  Brooke, 
Monongalia  and  Preston  counties.  The  convention, 
composed  in  all  of  ninety-six  delegates,  met  at  Rich- 
mond on  the  5th  of  October,  1829,  and  was  the  most 
august  assembly  ever  convened  in  the  State,  numbering 
among  its  members,  James  Madison  and  James  Monroe, 
former  Presidents  of  the  United  States,  together  with 
Chief-Justice  Marshall  and  such  eminent  personages  as 
John  Randolph  of  Roanoke,  Judge  Upshur,  Benjamin 
W.  Leigh  and  Philip  S.  Barbour.  Many  persons  from 
a  distance  attended  to  listen  to  the  debates,  and  among 
them  the  talented  T.  F.  Marshall,  of  Kentucky.  The 
preliminary  arrangements  having  been  completed,  com- 
mittees appointed,  etc. — Mr.  Campbell  being  on  that  of 
the  judiciary — it  was  not  long  until  the  existing  issues 
between  the  east  and  the  west  were  brought  forward. 
After  the  discussion  had  proceeded  for  some  time,  and 
Mr.  Doddridge  and  others  had  spoken,  Mr.  Campbell 
delivered  an  able  speech  against  the  proposition  to  ap- 
portion representation  in  the  House  of  Delegates  accord- 
ing to  the  white  population  and  taxation  combined,  for 
which  the  east  strenuously  contended,  and  which  on 
account  of  the  tax  on  slaves  would  have  had  the  effect 
of  perpetuating  the  political  power  of  the  slaveholders. 

It  would  be  out  of  place  here  to  enter  into  the  merits 
of  these  discussions,  or  to  institute  a  comparison  between 
the  arguments  of  Mr.  Campbell  and  those  of  others. 
Suffice  it  to  say  that  he  endeavored  to  estabHsh  four 
points  :  I.  That  the  principles  upon  which  such  a  propo- 
sition was  founded  rested  upon  views  of  society  unphi- 
losophic  and  anti-republican.    2.  That  such  a  basis  of 


DEBATES  IN  CONVENTION. 


3" 


representation  was  the  common  basis  of  aristocratical 
and  monarchical  governments.  3.  That  it  could  not  be  ^ 
made  palatable  to  a  majority  of  the  freeholders  of  Vir- 
ginia ;  and  4.  That  the  white  population  basis  would 
operate  to  the  advantage  of  the  whole  State.  In  discuss- 
ing these  points  he  entered  upon  the  subject  of  human 
rights,  and  exposed  briefly  but  pointedly  the  fallacies 
of  those  who  wished  to  establish  such  an  inequality  in 
the  right  of  suffrage.  He  here  incidentally  manifested 
the  natural  tendency  of  his  mind  to  reach  beyond 
merely  arbitrary  and  conventional  arrangements  and  to 
contemplate  things  in  relation  to  some  grand  general 
principle. 

"  While,  sir,"  said  he,  I  am  on  the  subject  of  such  a  state 
of  nature,  or  viewing  man  as  coming  into  society,  may  I  not 
take  occasion  to  observe  that  man  exhibits  himself  as  possess- 
ing the  right  of  suffrage  anterior  to  his  coming  into  the  social 
compact.  It  is  not  a  right  derived  from  or  conferred  by 
society,  for  it  is  a  right  which  belongs  to  him  as  a  man. 
Society  may  divest  him  of  it,  but  it  cannot  confer  it.  But 
what  is  the  right.?  It  is  that  of  thinking,  willing  and  express- 
ing his  will.  A  vote  is  nothing  more  nor  less  than  the  ex- 
pression of  a  man's  will.  God  has  given  to  man  the  power 
of  thinking,  willing  and  expressing  his  will,  and  no  man  ever 
did,  as  a  free  agent,  enter  into  any  society  without  willing  it. 
And,  we  may  add,  no  man  could  enter  into  a  social  compact 
without  first  exercising  what  we  must  call  the  right  of  suf- 
frage. It  is  a  right  natural  and  underived^  to  the  exercise 
of  which  every  man  has  by  nature  as  good  a  reason  as 
another." 

Again,  in  referring  to  an  argument  of  Judge  Upshur,  he  re- 
marked :  "  This  gentleman  starts  with  the  postulate  that  there 
are  two  sorts  of  majorities — numbers  and  interests ;  in  plain 
English,  men  and  money.  I  do  not  understand  why  he 
should  not  have  added  also  majorities  of  talent,  physical 
strength,  scientific  skill  and  general  literature.     These  are 


312       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


all  more  valuable  than  money,  and  as  useful  to  the  State.  A 
Robert  Fulton,  a  General  Jackson,  a  Joseph  Lancaster,  a  Ben- 
jamin Franklin  is  as  useful  to  the  State  as  a  whole  district  of 
mere  slaveholders.  Now  all  the  logic,  metaphysics  and 
rhetoric  of  this  assembly  must  be-  put  in  requisition  to  show 
why  a  citizen  having  a  hundred  negroes  should  have  ten 
times  more  political  power  than  a  Joseph  Lancaster  or  a 
Robert  Fulton  with  only  a  house  and  garden.  And  if  scien- 
tific skill,  physical  strength,  military  prowess  or  general  litera- 
ture in  some  individuals  is  entitled  to  so  much  respect,  why 
ought  not  these  majorities  in  a  community  to  have  as  much 
weight  as  mere  wealth?  We  admit  that  fifty  men  in  one  dis- 
trict may  have  as  much  money  as  five  hundred  in  another, 
but  we  can  see  no  good  reason  why  the  superabundant 
wealth  of  those  fifty  should  be  an  equivalent,  or  rather  a  coun- 
terpoise, against  four  hundred  and  fifty  citizens  in  another." 

During  the  sittings  of  the  convention,  Mr.  Campbell 
delivered  several  speeches,  and  sought  earnestly  to 
secure  for  the  west  the  changes  which  were  demanded. 
After  many  days'  debating,  however,  it  appeared  evi- 
dent that  the  eastern  majority  was  determined  to  per- 
petuate its  rule,  and  that  no  satisfactory  adjustment  or 
compromise  could  be  effected.  The  constitution,  accord- 
ingly, which  was  at  length  drawn  up  and  submitted  to 
the  convention  January  14,  1830,  and  which  retained 
those  provisions  to  which  the  west  was  opposed,  was 
finally  adopted  by  a  majority  of  tburteen  votes. 

While  in  attendance  as  a  delegate,  Mr.  Campbell  never 
suffered  his  religious  position  to  be  obscured  or  compro- 
mised for  a  moment.  The  great  matters  concerning  the 
kingdom  of  Christ  w^ere  far  dearer  to  him  than  any 
earthly  interests,  and  he  accordingly,  during  his  stay  at 
Richmond,  was  careful  to  make  his  position  as  member 
of  the  convention  contribute  as  much  as  possible  to  his 
influence  as  a  religious  teacher.    In  his  private  inter- 


INFLUENCE  AT  RICHMOND. 


course  with  distinguished  persons  and  in  the  social 
circle,  he  neglected  no  proper  opportunity  to  press  the 
claims  of  religion,  and  on  every  Lord's  day  addressed 
large  audiences  upon  the  great  themes  of  the  primitive 
gospel.  Many  of  the  members  of  the  convention  at- 
tended his  meetings,  and  were  greatly  impressed  with 
his  remarkable  powers,  the  novel  simplicity  of  his  re- 
ligious views,  and  the  vast  range  of  thought  and  scrip- 
tural knowledge  which  he  displayed.  As  illustrating 
the  impression  which  he  made,  it  may  be  stated,  that  as 
ex-President  Madison  was  returning  home  from  the 
convention,  he  stopped  during  the  first  night  with  a  rela- 
tive, Mr.  Edmund  Pendleton,  of  Louisa,  and  early  next 
morning,  as  he  and  Mr.  Pendleton  were  walking  on  the 
portico,  the  latter,  who  was  somewhat  favorable  to  the 
principles  of  the  Reformation,  asked  Mr.  Madison  what 
he  thought  of  Alexander  Campbell.  Mr.  Madison  in 
reply  spoke  in  very  high  terms  of  the  ability  shown  by 
him  in  the  convention.  But,"  continued  he,  **  it  is  as 
a  theologian  that  Mr.  Campbell  must  be  known.  It 
was  my  pleasure  to  hear  him  very  often  as  a  preacher 
of  the  gospel,  and  I  regard  him  as  the  ablest  and  most 
original  expounder  of  the  Scriptures  1  have  ever  heard." 

Mr.  Campbell's  political  position  tended  greatly  to  in- 
fluence and  to  secure,  even  from  those  who  were  prej- 
udiced against  him,  that  consideration  which  his  abili- 
ties and  his  native  dignity  of  character  merited.  His 
sojourn  and  preaching  in  Richmond  also  contributed  in 
no  small  degree  to  promote  the  spread  of  his  views  of 
^religious  reformation  amongst  the  community  there,  and 
led  to  the  formation  of  some  warm  friendships.  Many 
came  from  a  distance  to  see  and  hear  him,  and  to  con- 
fer with  him  on  religious  subjects.  One,  a  young  phy- 
sician, who  had  been  the  subject  of  deep  convictions, 

27 


SH       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


and  had  become  enlightened  by  reading  the  Christian 
Baptist,"  traveled  more  than  a  hundred  miles  for  these 
purposes  and  to-be  baptized  b}'  Mr.  Campbell  at  Rich- 
mond. Many  interviews  were  sought  also  by  the  citi- 
zens, and  profitable  conversations  held,  among  which 
was  one  of  unusual  interest  with  the  ruler  of  the  Jewish 
synagogue,  the  venerable  Mr.  Judah,  published  in  the 
*'Mill.  Harb.,"  vol.  i.,  p.  561. 

Among  the  persons  there  introduced  to  him  was 
L.  Coleman,  a  young  Baptist  preacher  from  Albemarle 
county,  for  whom  Mr.  Campbell  conceived  a  special  re- 
gard, and  who  became  afterward  one  of  the  chief  sup- 
porters of  the  cause  in  Eastern  Virginia.  Mr.  Coleman 
was  born  three  miles  from  Scottsville,  May  13,  1807,^ 
and  was  the  son  of  Joseph  Coleman,  a  Calvinistic  Bap- 
tist. The  death  of  his  mother  when  he  was  nine  years 
of  age  made  a  very  deep  and  permanent  impression 
upon  him,  and  led  him  to  religious  reflection  and  much 
prayerfulness.  He  was  thus  preserved  from  many 
youthful  snares,  and,  though  naturally  of  a  fearless, 
sensitive  and  ardent  temperament,  was  enabled  to  resist 
the  influence  and  example  of  those  who  were  wild  and 
dissipated.  When  he  had  reached  the  age  of  sixteen, 
the  death  of  his  eldest  brother  greatly  deepened  his  re- 
ligious impressions,  and  he  resolved  that  he  would  en- 
deavor to  become  a  Christian,  devoting  himself  to  read- 
ing religious  works  and  attending  religious  meetings. 
Being  under  the  impression  that  the  Methodists  were 
the  most  zealous  and  successful  preacher^,  he  first  visited 
their  meetings,  and  da}"  after  da\',  at  the  mourners' 
bench,  sought  the  benefit  of  their  prayers,  in  hopes  of 
receiving  that  assurance  of  salvation  he  had  been  taught 
to  expect.  Failing  in  this,  however,  while  many  of  his 
acquaintances,  who  had  been  careless  and  unconcerned, 


THEORY  AND  PRACTICE. 


professed  to  be  converted,  he,  after  a  year  or  two,  ceased 
to  attend  these  meetings,  which  left  him  still  uncomforted 
and  unhappy,  and  remained  at  home  to  read  the  Bible 
and  pray.  Such,  at  this  time,  were  his  mental  anxieties 
and  constant  watchfulness  that  his  health  failed  and  his 
spirits  were  greatly  depressed.  Finally,  however,  he 
became  satisfied,  from  reading  the  Bible,  that  Jesus  was 
the  Christ,  the  Son  of  God,  that  he  had  come  into  the 
world  and  died  for  sinners,  and  that  he  was  both  willing 
and  able  to  save  them.  He  felt,  also,  that  he  was  a 
sinner,  and  that  he  was  not  onl}'  willing  to  be  saved, 
but  that  he  would  give  the  world,  if  it  were  in  his  pos- 
session, to  become  a  Christian.  While  sitting  under  a 
tree  and  reflecting  upon  this  subject,  the  question  pre- 
sented itself  to  him — Why  am  I  not  saved?  He  saw 
that  Christ  needed  not  to  be  made  willing  to  save  him 
by  the  intercession  of  preachers,  for  he  said,  "  He  that 
is  willing  to  come  unto  me,  I  will  in  no  wise  cast  out 
but,  though  he  fully  believed  this,  and  also  knew  that 
he  was  willing  to  be  saved,  he  had  no  assurance  that  he 
was  saved,  and  remained  unable  to  give  any  reason  why 
he  did  not  enjoy  this  assurance.  He  was  satisfied  that 
his  heart  was  changed,  that  he  loved  God  and  the  people 
of  God  ;  and  that  he  took  pleasure  in  praying  to  God 
and  desired  to  serve  him,  but  still  had  no  assurance  that 
his  sins  had  been  forgiven.  As  he  had  now  been  for 
about  three  years  diligently  engaged  in  seeking  for  this, 
as  the  usual  preliminary  to  a  public  profession,  he  felt 
that  he  could  do  no  more,  and  determined  to  ofier  him- 
self before  the  Baptist  church  as  a  candidate  for  bapn 
tism.  He  was  unable  to  say  that  he  had  received  any 
assurance  of  forgiveness,  but  when  he  had  related  to 
the  church  the  exercises  of  mind  which  he  had  ex- 
perienced, he  was  adjudged  to  be  a  fit  subject  for  bap- 


3l6       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL, 


tism.  Next  morning,  when  he  went  down  to  be  bap- 
tized, his  mind  remained  still  dark  and  gloomy  in 
relation  to  the  assurance  of  pardon  which  had  so  long 
engrossed  it ;  but  he  was  no  sooner  buried  in  baptism 
than  he  arose  from  the  water  with  entirely  new  views 
and  feelings.  Perfected  by  obedience,  his  faith  had 
become  eflective ;  the  darkness  of  his  mind  was  at  once 
illuminated  ;  he  realized  that  his  sins  had  been  washed 
away  in  the  blood  of  Christ,  and  that  of  this  he  had  re- 
ceived, in  baptism,  the  assurance  he  had  so  long  sought 
in  vain.  From  that  moment  his  former  anxieties  and 
fears  for  ever  disappeared. 

Mr.  Coleman  was  not  at  this  time  at  all  acquainted 
with  Mr.  Campbell's  views.  From  rumor  he  had  been 
led  to  regard  him  as  a  sort  of  semi-intidel,  and  little 
thought  that  in  his  own  experience  he  had  been  just 
illustrating  some  of  the  very  things  which  Mr.  Camp- 
bell was  laboring  to  impress  upon  the  religious  com- 
munity— viz.  :  the  error  of  waiting  for  special  spiritual 
operations,  and  of  depending  on  variable  frames  and 
feelings  for  the  hope  of  acceptance,  rather  than  upon 
the  word  of  God  and  the  obedience  of  faith.  Shortly 
after  this,  a  young  Baptist  preacher,  Gilbert  Mason, 
visiting  that  part  of  Virginia,  insisted  on  Mr.  Coleman 
accompanying  him  on  some  of  his  preaching  excursions, 
and  by  degrees  induced  him  to  ofler  public  prayer,  and, 
after  some  time,  to  give  an  exhortation.  Final)}',  he 
prevailed  upon  him  to  take  a  text  and  deliver  a  sermon. 
Much  pleased  with  his  eflbrt,  Mr.  Mason  persuaded 
him  to  renew  it,  until  at  length  he  so  far  overcame 
his  diffidence  that  he  consented  to  assist  other  preachers 
at  their  meetincrs.  After  travelincj  about  for  some  time 
in  this  way,  he  was  urged  by  two  Baptist  preachers, 
Elders  John  Goss  and  Porter  Cleaveland,  to  unite  with 


SUCCESSFUL  LABORS. 


them  in  keeping  up  alternately  a  monthly  Baptist  meet- 
ing in  Charlottesville,  where  no  church  had  as  yet  been 
formed.  Having  acquiesced  through  their  persuasion 
and  his  desire  to  do  good,  an  appointment  was  made 
for  him,  which  afterward  upon  reflection  he  greatly 
regretted,  being  distressed  at  the  idea  of  having  to 
appear  before  the  superior  community  of  Charlottesville 
and  the  literary  and  distinguished  persons  belonging  to 
the  University  of  Virginia.  Compelled,  however,  by 
his  promise,  he  set  out  for  his  appointment  oppressed 
with  many  anxieties  and  fears,  and  seeking  for  help 
in  earnest  prayer.  At  length,  as  he  rode  along,  the 
thought  occurred  to  him,  **  I  am  willingr  to  be  a  fool 
for  Christ's  sake,"  when  in  an  instant  his  anxiety  dis- 
appeared and  he  became  perfectly  tranquil  in  resigna- 
tion to  the  will  of  God.  Entering  the  house,  he  found 
the  congregation  large,  and  feeUng  relieved  from  all 
considerations  of  self,  he  stood  up  in  the  pulpit  without 
perturbation,  and  in  the  enjoyment  of  unusual  freedom 
began  to  address  the  congregation  from  the  text,  "  How 
shall  we  escape  if  we  neglect  so  great  salvation?"  In 
appearance  he  was  tall  and  prepossessing,  graceful  in 
his  manner,  copious  in  diction,  abundant  and  apposite 
in  his  quotations  of  Scripture ;  and  the  people  soon  be- 
came deeply  interested  as  the  young  preacher  dwelt 
with  feeling  and  earnestness  upon  the  important  query 
to  which  he  had  directed  their  attention.  So  highly 
pleased  were  all  with  the  discourse  that  he  was  invited 
to  speak  again  in  the  evening,  but  declined  doing  so. 
The  other  preachers  failing  to  carry  out  their  arrange- 
ment for  monthly  preaching,  this  now  devolved  upon 
Mr.  Coleman,  who  subsequently,  with  the  aid  of  Mr. 
Mason,  held  a  meeting  of  some  days,  baptizing  a 
number  and  constituting  a   Baptist  church  of  some 

27  * 


3lS       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


sixty  members.  Under  his  labors  the  church  there 
continued  to  prosper,  so  that  in  two  or  three  years 
its  membership  had  increased  to  two  hundred,  and 
he  was  duly  ordained  its  pastor  in  May,  183 1,  by 
Elders  John  Goss  and  Porter  Cleaveland.  As  he  had 
now  become  one  of  the  most  popular  preachers  in  the 
Baptist  ranks,  he  was  kept  constantly  in  the  field, 
happy  in  being  able  to  speak  to  his  fellow-creatures  on 
the  great  subject  of  salvation  and  to  enjoy  the  society 
and  fellowship  of  those  who  professed  to  love  the  Lord. 
Such  was  his  zeal  and  ardor  that,  though  delicate  in 
health,  he  labored  more  abundantly  than  many  who 
were  vigorous,  preaching  not  only  at  Charlottesville, 
but  in  Scottsville,  Lynchburg,  through  the  valley  from 
Staunton  to  the  Warm  Springs,  and  over  the  Alleghany 
to  Pocohontas.  Previous  to  the  meeting  of  the  con- 
vention, he  had  been  reading  Mr.  Campbell's  writings, 
and  it  was  with  great  pleasure  that,  upon  visiting  Rich- 
mond, he  for  the  first  time  saw  and  heard  him  deliver- 
ing in  the  First  Baptist  Church  a  discourse  of  three 
hours'  duration  upon  the  covenants,  based  upon  Ex. 
xix.  and  xx.,  and  Heb.  viii.  Greatly  impressed  with 
his  masterly  development  of  the  subject  and  his  accurate 
and  profound  knowledge  of  the  Scriptures,  he  became 
more  and  more  convinced  of  the  need  of  the  reforma- 
tion in  religious  society  for  which  the  speaker  so  elo- 
quently pleaded,  and,  with  his  usual  candor,  expressed 
his  approval  of  it  and  endeavored  to  maintain  its  prin- 
ciples among  his  Baptist  friends. 

Mr.  Campbell,  on  his  way  home  from  the  convention, 
filled  an  appointment  for  preaching  in  Upper  Essex 
meeting-house,  where  he  had  a  very  agreeable  meeting 
with  many  of  his  acquaintances  in  this  portion  of  the 
State.    He  enjoyed  particularly  the  pleasure  of  an  inter- 


STATEMENT  OF  MOTIVES. 


view  with  the  venerable  Bishop  Semple,  who  came  to 
hear  him,  and  with  whom  he  spent  the  evening  in  re- 
ligious and  social  converse  at  the  hospitable  abode  of 
Thomas  M.  Henley.  After  prayer  and  praise  they  re- 
posed upon  the  same  couch,  and  in  the  morning,  after 
Mr.  Campbell  had  baptized  a  young  disciple  from  King 
William,  they  parted  with  the  kindest  wishes. 

"  What  I  admired  most  of  all,"  said  Mr.  Camphell,  in 
speaking  of  the  incident,  "was  the  good  temper  and  Christian 
courtesy  of  this  venerable  disciple,  who,  though  unable  to 
rise  above  all  his  early  associations  and  the  long-received 
opinions  which  a  long  course  of  reading  and  teaching  had 
riveted  upon  his  mind,  yet  did  not  lose  sight  of  the  meek- 
ness and  mildness,  the  candor  and  complaisance  which  the 
religion  of  Jesus  teaches,  and  without  which,  though  a  man's 
head  were  as  clear  as  an  angel's  intellect,  his  religion  is  vain." 
This  interview  was  succeeded  by  a  somewhat  extended  cor- 
respondence in  the  "  Harbinger"  with  Bishop  Semple,  which, 
though  kindly  in  spirit,  did  not  produce  agreement  in  opinion. 

Reaching  home  on  the  first  of  February,  having  been 
absent  since  the  twenty-second  of  September,  Mr. 
Campbell  found  many  letters  awaiting  reply.  Among 
them  was  one  from  William  Tener  of  Londonderry,  in 
his  answer  to  which,  after  referring  to  his  attendance  at 
the  convention,  he  says,  in  relation  to  the  motives  which 
had  influenced  him  in  becoming  a  candidate  for  the 
convention  : 

"But  you  may  ask,  What  business  had  I  in  such  matters? 
I  will  tell  you.  I  have  no  taste  or  longings  for  political  mat- 
ters or  honors,  but  as  this  was  one  of  the  most  grave  and 
solemn  of  all  political  matters,  and  not  like  the  ordinary 
affairs  of  legislation,  and  therefore  not  incompatible  with  the 
most  perfect  gravity  and  self-respect,  I  consented  to  be  elected, 
and  especially  because  I  was  desirous  of  laying  a  foundation 
for  the  abolition  of  slavery  (in  which,  however,  I  was  not 


320       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


successful),  and  of  gaining  an  influence  in  public  estimation 
to  give  currency  to  my  writings,  and  to  put  down  some  cal- 
umnies afar  off  that  I  was  not  in  good  standing  in  my  own 
State* 

The  constitution  adopted  by  the  convention  proved, 
as  Mr.  Campbell  expected,  quite  unpalatable  to  the 
people  of  the  west.  When  the  vote  was  to  be  taken  on 
its  ratification  in  Brooke  county  he  was  present,  and, 
by  request  of  the  citizens,  gave  a  brief  exposition  of  its 
main  features,  expressing  the  hope  that  the  people  would 
reject  it  on  account  of  the  anti-republican  principles 
upon  which  it  was  based,  and  quoting  the  case  of  one 
of  the  counties,  largely  slaveholding,  which  would  have 
gained  representation  by  its  adoption,  but  which  had, 
nevertheless,  by  its  delegates,  *' voted  iox  frinciple  and 
against  This  brief  address  produced  a  marked 

effect,  and  was  much  admired  for  its  sententious  brevity 
and  point ;  and  when  the  voting  was  over  it  was  found 
that  in  Brooke  alone,  of  all  the  counties  in  the  State, 
the  rejection  was  zinam'inous,  three  hundred  and  seventy 
votes  being  polled  against,  and  not  one  in  favor  of  it. 
In  several  other  counties,  however,  there  was  a  near 
approach  to  unanimity,  as  in  Logan,  where,  out  of  two 
hundred  and  fifty-seven  votes,  there  were  but  two  for 
ratification,  and  in  Ohio  county,  where,  out  of  six  hun- 
dred and  forty-six,  only  three  were  found  in  its  favor. 
It  contained,  indeed,  in  its  unequal  provisions,  the  seeds 
of  its  own  destruction,  and  it  was  not  many  years  until 
the  eastern  portion  of  the  State  found  it  expedient  to 
agree  to  a  new  convention  and  to  concede  many  of  the 
reforms  which  had  been  urged  by  Mr.  Campbell  and 
the  other  western  delegates. 

During  Mr.  Campbell's  temporary  connection  w^ith 
these  political  affairs  important  religious  movements 


FAULTS  IN  REFORMERS. 


321 


were  in  progress,  seriously  affecting  the  relations  of  the 
reforming  churches  to  the  Baptist  community.  His 
kind  personal  feelings  for  many  of  the  Baptist  preachers, 
and  his  strong  desire  to  continue  in  religious  connection 
with  a  people  whom  he  greatly  esteemed,  had  induced 
him  to  bear  with  many  deficiencies  in  their  system,  in 
hopes  of  leading  them  forward  to  better  views.  It  was 
now  becoming  evident,  however,,  that  the  increasing 
bitterness  of  those  who  were  opposed  to  the  Reformation 
and  the  high-handed  measures  they  were  disposed  to 
adopt,  would  soon  result  in  division.  Mr.  Branth', 
Abner  W.  Clopton,  Spencer  H.  Clack  and  others  were 
writing  with  great  acrimony  in  the  Baptist  periodicals, 
and  giving  such  misrepresentations  of  Mr.  Campbell's 
views  as  were  well  fitted  to  awaken  and  intensify  pre- 
judice and  opposition.  In  Kentucky,  John  Taylor,  an 
aged  Baptist  preacher,  was  preparing  to  circulate  what 
he  called  a  "  History  of  Campbellism,"  giving  the  most 
distorted  views  of  the  teaching  and  purposes  of  the  pro- 
posed Reformation,  well  calculated  to  create  the  most 
bitter  hostility  in  the  minds  of  the  uninformed.  In 
various  places,  indeed,  exclusions  and  divisions  had 
already  occurred  with  individual  churches,  and  a  grow- 
ing spirit  of  alienation  was  making  itself  evident.  In 
the  spring  of  this  year  (1830)  the  Third  Baptist  Church 
at  Philadelphia  excluded  a  number,  who  immediately 
formed  an  independent  church,  adopting  the  ancient 
order  of  things.  But  it  was  in  Kentucky,  and  in  cer- 
tain portions  of  Virginia,  where  the  principles  of  the 
Reformation  had  been  most  widely  diffused,  that  the 
greatest  difficulties  occurred.  It  is  not  to  be  supposed 
that  in  these  the  Reformers  were  always  faultless.  As 
Mr.  Campbell  had  formerly  said,  "  When  any  doctrine 
is  professed  and  taught  by  many,  when  any  matter  gets 

TOL.  II — V 


322        MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBLLL. 


into  many  hands,  some  will  misuse,  abuse  and  pervert 
it."  Thus  some  excited  prejudice  unnecessarily  by  de- 
claiming against  church  covenants,  creeds,  etc,  to  the 
legitimate  use  of  which  Mr.  Campbell  never  had  ob- 
jected. Uninformed  persons,  here  and  there,  gave 
just  olTence  by  dogmatical  and  crude  assertions,  nor 
did  a  conceit  of  superior  knowledge  and  an  overbearing 
disposition  fail  to  quench  in  some  that  spirit  of  Christian 
love  and  moderation  so  necessar}*  to  success  in  any  at- 
tempt to  correct  the  religious  errors  of  mankind.  It 
cannot  be  truthfully  denied,  however,  that  the  Reformers 
in  general  were  conspicuous  for  the  forbearance  and 
patience  with  which  they  endured  the  misrepresentations 
and  injuries  of  their  opponents,  who,  in  their  hastj-  zeal 
to  save  from  the  flames  of  progress  whatever  they  sup- 
posed to  belong  to  the  Baptist  cause,  destroyed  by  their 
rashness,  in  various  instances,  those  precious  things 
which  had  been  so  long  and  so  nobly  cherished  by  the 
Baptists  as  a  people — the  rights  of  conscience,  church 
independency  and  Christian  liberality. 

In  the  existing  state  of  feeling  a  slight  impulse  only 
was  needed  in  order  to  precipitate  results.  This  came 
from  an  insignificant  and  unexpected  quarter.  It  had 
happened  that  two  or  three  fragments  of  churches  on 
the  Western  Reserve,  as  at  Youngstown  and  Palmyra 
and  the  church  at  Salem,  which  refused  to  go  into  the 
Reformation,  had  united  themselves  with  a  small  Asso- 
ciation on  Beaver  Creek.  Here,  by  the  aid  of  a  Mr. 
Winter,  and  one  or  two  other  preachers  who  were  vio- 
lently opposed  to  Mr.  Campbell,  the}^  induced  the 
Association  to  publish  a  circular  anathematizing  the 
Mahoning  Association  and  Mr.  Campbell  as  *' disbe- 
lieving and  denying  many  of  the  doctrines  of  the  Holy 
Scripture."  of  which  alleged  heresies  they  went  on  to 


AUTHORS  OF  DIVISION. 


present  a  portentous  list.  This  document  was  circu- 
lated with  great  diligence,  republished  in  the  Baptist 
papers  with  commendation,  introduced  by  Dr.  Noel 
into  the  minutes  of  the  Franklin  Association  in  Ken- 
tucky, and  its  preamble  quoted  as  an  introduction  to 
decrees  by  the  Appomattox  Association  in  Virginia, 
denouncing  Mr.  Campbell's  writings  and  all  persons 
holding  the  views  expressed  in  the  Beaver  publication. 
These  proceedings  at  once  brought  matters  to  a  crisis, 
and  induced  the  Baptists  almost  everywhere  to  separate 
the  Reformers  from  their  communion.  A  spirit  of  dis- 
cord and  intolerance  seemed  to  sweep  over  the  land, 
creating  everywhere  embittered  feelings  and  high- 
handed and  arbitrary  decisions  on  the  part  of  churches 
and  associations.  Unable  to  allay  the  fury  of  the 
storm,  Mr.  Campbell  contemplated  its  movements  with 
composure,  and  however  much  he  regretted  the  ex- 
tremes into  which  the  Baptists  were  hurried  through 
the  misrepresentations  and  exaggerations  of  a  few 
bigoted  partisans,  he  entertained  no  fears  for  the  re- 
sults, which  he  plainly  foretold  and  calmly  awaited. 
After  characterizing  the  Beaver  anathema  as  "  a  tissue 
of  falsehoods,"  and  exposing,  by  irrefragable  docu- 
ments, the  immoral  character  of  Mr.  Winter,  one  of  its 
chief  prompters,  he  asks : 

"Who  is  making  divisions  and  schisms?  Who  is  rending 
the  peace  of  the  churches.''  Who  are  creating  factions,  swell- 
ings and  tumults.?  We  who  are  willing  to  bear  and  forbear, 
or  they  who  are  anathematizing  and  attempting  to  excommu- 
nicate.'* Let  the  umpires  decide  the  question.  For  my  own 
part,  I  am  morally  certain  they  who  oppose  us  are  unable  to 
meet  us  on  the  Bible  ;  they  are  unable  to  meet  us  before  the 
public  ;  and  this  I  say,  not  as  respects  their  talents,  acquire- 
ments or  general  abilities,  but  as  respects  their  systems. 


324       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


Thnusands  are  convinced  of  this,  and  they  might  as  well 
bark  at  the  moon  as  to  oppose  us  by  bulls  and  anathemas. 
If  there  be  a  division,  gentlemen,  you  vv-ill  make  it,  not  I; 
and  the  more  you  oppose  us  with  the  weight  of  your  cen- 
sure, like  the  palm  tree  we  will  grow  the  faster.  I  am  for 
peace,  for  union,  for  harmony,  for  co-operation  with  all  good 
men.  But  I  fear  you  not ;  if  you  will  fling  firebrands,  arrows 
and  discords  into  the  army  of  the  faith,  you  will  repent  it, 
not  we.  You  will  lose  influence,  not  we.  We  covet  not 
persecution,  but  we  disregard  it.  We  fear  nothing  but  error, 
and  should  you  proceed  to  make  divisions,  you  will  find  that 
they  will  reach  much  farther  than  you  are  aware,  and  that 
the  time  is  past  when  an  anathema  from  an  association  will 
produce  any  other  efiect  than  contempt  from  some  and  a 
smile  from  others." 

These  anticipations  were  fully  realized.  The  rent 
extended  much  farther  than  its  originators  expected  or 
desired.  Many  who  had  been  apparently  undecided 
declared  for  the  Reformers,  who  were  found  to  consti- 
tute the  larger  and  the  more  intelligent  portion  of  many- 
churches,  and  who,  having  the  sympathy  and  confi- 
dence of  the  people  in  general,  and  the  aid  of  many 
eminent  and  influential  preachers,  were  able,  after  their 
separation,  to  sustain  and  carry  on  to  still  greater  ad 
vantage  the  reformation  in  which  they  were  engaged. 

Among  the  distinguished  preachers  who  about  this 
time  came  publicly  forward  in  support  of  the  Reforma- 
tion was  Jacob  Creath,  Sr.,  who  had  heretofore  been 
somewhat  cautious  and  tardy  in  defining  his  position. 
To  his  surprise,  as  he  advanced,  he  met  Jeremiah  Var- 
deman  coming  back.  "  Hey,"  said  he,  "Jerry,  what's 
the  matter?"  "  Oh,"  replied  Vardeman,  "  if  this  thing 
takes,  we  shall  all  starve.  The  Baptists  are  not  too 
liberal  as  it  is."  The  diminished  contributions  from  the 
churches,  growing  chiefly  out  of  their  unsettled  and  dis- 


JEREMIAH  VARDEMAN. 


cordant  condition,  and  falsely  attributed  to  the  teachings 
of  the  Reformers,  had  been  employed  as  a  successful 
argument  to  retain  in  the  Baptist  ranks  one  who  was  a 
retbrmer  in  sentiment,  and  who  had  done  much  to  pro- 
mote the  cause  of  the  Reformation  in  Kentucky.  And 
as  is  usual  in  such  cases,  he  thought  it  necessary  to 
signalize  his  renewed  zeal  for  the  Baptist  cause  by 
urging  the  most  extreme  measures,  as  at  the  meeting 
of  the  Elkhorn  Association  in  August,  where  through 
his  influence  the  churches  at  Versailles,  Providence  and 
South  Elkhorn  were  excluded  without  examination  or 
committees  of  inquiry,  apparently  with  a  view  of  cut- 
ting off  a  few  obnoxious  individuals,  as  the  Creaths  and 
Josephus  Hewit,  who  publicly  advocated  the  primitive 
faith  and  order.  It  was  on  this  occasion  that  Jacob 
Creath,  Sr.,  delivered  a  speech  to  the  Association  in 
defence  of  the  rights  of  the  churches,  which  by  Thomas 
Campbell  and  other  competent  judges  present  was  re- 
garded as  almost  unequaled  for  eloquence  and  power. 
No  arguments,  however,  were  of  any  avail.  The 
majority  in  the  Association,  forty-two  out  of  seventy- 
one,  had  resolved  upon  its  course,  and,  much  to  its  dis- 
credit with  the  public,  proceeded  to  cut  off  the  above- 
named  churches,  without  employing  any  of  the  usual 
restorative  measures  indicated  in  the  Scriptures  or  sanc- 
tioned by  Baptist  usage.  As  to  Jeremiah  Vardeman, 
his  public  life  in  Kentucky  closed  wnth  these  unfortunate 
proceedings,  which  at  once  spread  division  throughout 
the  churches  of  the  State.  Removing  immediately  to 
Missouri,  where  he  died  in  the  course  of  a  few  years, 
he  seems  not  to  have  retained  much  of  his  former  influ- 
ence. His  name  was  always  mentioned,  however,  by 
Mr.  Campbell  with  affectionate  regard,  and  often  with 
the  remark,  "  I  knew  him  well,  and  if  I  had  been  in 

28 


326       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


Kentucky  at  the  time,  Jeremiah  Vardeman  would  never 
have  been  persuaded  to  abandon  the  cause  of  the  Re- 
formation." As  to  Jacob  Creath,  Sr.,  from  this  meet- 
ing of  the  Elkhorn  Association  in  1830  he  devoted 
himself  wholly  to  the  establishment  of  the  retbrmed 
views  in  Kentucky,  in  which  he  was  eminently  success- 
ful, converting  many  sinners  and  in  some  cases  bring- 
ing over  nearly  whole  Baptist  churches,  and  by  his 
prudence  and  mildness  doing  much  to  allay  the  asperity 
and  embittered  controversies  which  existed  at  this  period. 
Released  from  the  continued  opposition  and  jealousy  of 
prejudiced  brethren,  and  the  trammels  of  Baptist  cus- 
toms and  Calvinistic  theories,  this  taithful  laborer  re- 
joiced in  the  freedom  and  fullness  of  the  simple  gospel, 
and  along  with  many  other  able  preachers,  as  William 
Morton,  John  Smith,  Jacob  Creath,  Jr.,  etc.,  soon  or- 
ganized a  large  number  of  reforming  churches,  many 
of  which,  especially  in  towns,  adopted  weekly  com- 
munion, while  in  the  country  others  still  continued  the 
Baptist  custom  of  meeting  monthh',  when  only  they 
could  have  the  services  of  a  preacher. 

It  was  during  this  year,  and  about  a  month  before 
the  meeting  of  the  Elkhorn  Association  just  referred  to, 
that  Mr.  Campbell  issued  his  famous  "Extra  on  the 
Remission  of  Sins,"  in  which  he  presented  also  the 
scriptural  meaning  of  regeneration,  shortly  before  dis- 
covered by  Dr.  Richardson,  and  presented  by  him  to 
the  readers  of  the  ••  Harbin<Ter"  in  some  essavs  sifjned 
"  Discipulus."  Entering  largely  into  the  whole  subject 
of  conversion.  Mr.  Campbell  showed  that  baptism  did 
not,  any  more  than  natural  birth,  change  the  nature  of 
the  thing  born,  but  its  relations,  and  was  simply  the 
means  of  introducing  the  new  being  into  a  vczv  state. 
Making  some  clear  distinctions  between  state  and  cha- 


ASSOCIATIONS. 


racter,  and  between  the  principle  of  faith  and  the  ac- 
tions which  it  produces,  he  gave,  in  this  remarkable 
production  of  sixty  pages,  written  within  two  weeks,  such 
a  presentation  of  the  nature  of  primitive  Christianity, 
and  of  the  simplicity,  completeness,  efficiency  and  ex- 
cellency of  the  gospel,  as  had  never  been  exhibited  since 
apostolic  times.  A  very  large  edition  of  it  was  printed, 
and  being  extensively  distributed,  its  effect  upon  the 
community  was  very  observable.  The  simplicity  of 
the  gospel  and  the  design  of  baptism  had  been  already 
variously  presented  and  illustrated,  both  in  Mr.  Camp- 
bell's previous  publications  and  in  the  discourses  of  the 
numerous  able  preachers  who  were  now  advocating 
primitive  Christianity  ;  but  an  exposition  of  the  gospel 
plan  of  salvation,  so  connected,  so  clear  and  compre- 
hensive, had  never  before  been  presented  to  the  public. 

About  this  time  the  lawfulness  of  associations  became 
a  question  of  interest  with  the  Reformers.  The  conduct 
of  the  one  at  Redstone,  and  the  recent  anathema  issued 
by  that  at  Beaver,  with  similar  proceedings  attempted 
in  Kentucky  and  Virginia,  had  exhibited  in  a  prominent 
light  the  tendency  of  such  bodies  to  the  exercise  of  arbi- 
trary power.  Many  began  to  fear  that  such  abuses 
were  inherent  in  the  very  nature  of  such  organizations, 
and  that  they  might,  however  prudently  managed  for  a 
time,  become  unexpectedly  engines  of  mischief.  As 
there  was  no  positive  command  for  them,  others  among 
the  disciples  regarded  their  existence  as  incompatible 
with  the  principle  they  professed  of  adhering  closely 
U)  Scripture  precept  and  precedent.  Hence,  when  the 
Mahoning  Association  met  this  year  (1830)  at  Austin- 
town,  there  was  found  to  exist  an  almost  universal  con- 
viction that  some  public  expression  on  the  subject  was 
demanded  by  the  interests  of  the  cause.    Mr.  C;imj>- 


328       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


bell,  who  was  present,  entertained  no  doubt  that  churches 
had  a  right  to  appoint  messengers  to  a  general  meeting, 
to  bear  intelligence  to  it  and  bring  home  intelligence 
from  it,  or  transact  any  special  business  committed  to 
them.  He  thought  such  meetings  might  be  made  very 
useful  to  promote  the  general  advancement  of  the  cause 
and  the  unity  and  love  of  the  brotherhood,  and  was  in 
favor  of  continuing  the  Association,  or  something  like  it, 
which  would,  he  thought,  be  needed.  He  censured, 
indeed,  the  inconsistent  conduct  of  which  associations 
had  been  guilty  in  attempting  to  impose  their  decisions 
upon  churches,  but  felt  no  apprehensions  on  this  score 
in  regard  to  the  Mahoning  Association,  where  the 
churches  were  so  fully  enlightened  and  so  completely 
on  their  guard  against  encroachments  on  their  rights. 
A  large  majority  was,  however,  found  to  be  opposed  to 
everything  under  the  name  or  character  of  an  associa- 
tion, and  it  was  finally  resolved,  unanimously,  that  the 
Mahoning  Association,  as  "  an  advisory  council"  or  "  an 
ecclesiastical  tribunal"  exercising  any  supervision  or 
jurisdiction  over  particular  congregations,  should  never 
meet  again.  It  was  then  resolved  into  a  simple  annual 
meeting  for  worship,  and  to  hear  reports  of  the  progress 
of  the  gospel,  and  such  a  meeting  was  accordingly  ap- 
pointed for  August  of  the  next  3'ear,  at  New  Lisbon. 
This  closing  session  of  the  Association  at  Austintown 
was  a  season  of  great  enjoyment.  During  its  continu- 
ance more  than  thirty  persons  were  baptized.  The 
news  from  the  churches  was  of  the  most  cheering  cha- 
racter, upward  of  one  thousand  converts  being  reported 
during  the  year,  although  out  of  the  ten  preachers  in  the 
field,  not  one  had  been  constantly  engaged,  nearly  all 
being  farmers  and  compelled  to  labor  for  their  families 
The  entire  contributions  for  itinerant  services  during  the 


THE  ANNUAL  MEETINGS. 


year  had  scarcely  exceeded  five  hundred  dollars,  evin- 
cing the  spirit  of  self-sacrifice  which  prevailed  among 
the  preachers  and  the  efficiency  of  the  simple  gospel  as 
the  power  of  God  for  salvation,  even  when  prt^sented  by 
men  of  the  most  ordinary  literary  attainments. 

In  the  same  month  in  which  the  Mahoning  Associa-  'N, 
tion  resolved  itself  into  a  simple  annual  meeting,  the 
same  course  was  adopted  by  the  Stillwater  Association, 
assembled  at  Cadiz.  Two  years  before,  at  its  meedng 
three  miles  from  Morristown,  charges  had  been  brought 
by  some  of  the  preachers  opposed  to  the  reformatory 
movement,  against  Cyrus  McNeely,  because  he  had 
without  ordination  baptized  an  individual  who  presented 
himself  at  the  Cadiz  Church  where  he  presided.  Mr. 
Campbell  and  his  father  and  James  Phillips  were  all 
present  in  the  Association  when  the  case  was  brought 
up,  and  defended  the  course  of  the  Cadiz  Church  as 
being  not  only  scriptural,  but  according  to  regular  Bap- 
tist precedent.  Elijah  Stone,  Mr.  Pritchard  and  other 
opposed  preachers,  formerly  of  Redstone,  could  make 
no  effective  reply,  and  finding  themselves  bafiied,  with- 
drew from  the  Association  and  formed  another  one, 
which,  from  its  littleness^  was  appropriately  called  Zoar. 
The  Stillwater  Association  met  the  following  year  at 
WelTs  Creek,  above  Steubenville,  and  in  1830,  having 
at  Cadiz,  as  before  stated,  resolved  itself  into  an  annual 
meeting,  has  continued  ever  since  to  meet  in  this  ca- 
pacity regularly  on  the  Friday  before  the  third  Lord's 
day  in  August.  The  system  of  annual  meetings  thus 
introduced  was  afterward  generally  adopted  by  the 
churches  in  various  districts  throughout  the  different 
States.  These  meetings  have  been  occasions  of  happy 
reunions  between  preachers  and  members  of  different 
churches,  and  have  been  usually  attended  with  large 

2S  * 


33°       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL, 


ingatherings.  In  no  case  has  any  attempt  been  made 
to  resume  the  powers  exercised  by  Baptist  associations. 
The  assembled  messengers,  instead  of  sitting  as  a  court 
of  inquirj^  to  ascertain  the  standing  of  churches  as  to 
orthodoxy,  have  occupied  themselves  mucl)  heller  in 
laboring  to  convert  sinners  to  Christ  and  in  exhorting 
one  another  to  love  and  good  works. 

During  the  spring  of  1830,  Mr.  Campbell  paid  a 
short  visit  to  Cincinnati  and  contiguous  parts  of  Ken- 
tucky, attending  a  very  interesting  meeting  at  Mayslick, 
and  in  the  month  of  October  he  undertook  a  more  ex- 
tended tour  through  Ohio  and  Kentucky,  to  Nashville, 
Tennessee.  Traveling  in  a  gig,  in  company  with 
Samuel  Parmley,  of  New  York,  he  passed  through 
Zanesville,  where  he  preached,  and  continued  thence 
through  other  towns  to  Wilmington,  Clinton  county. 
The  whole  Baptist  church  here,  with  the  exception  of 
one  member,  had  embraced  the  ancient  gos|)el,  and 
within  the  previous  five  months  about  two  hundred  per- 
sons had  been  added  to  the  churches  in  that  region 
under  the  labors  of  Aylelt  Raines,  Arthur  Crihlield  and 
Samuel  Rogers,  whom  Mr.  Campbell  much  rejoiced  to 
meet.  Mr.  Crihfield  was  a  man  of  considerable  ability, 
though  superficial  in  his  attainments.  He  seemed  much 
devoted  to  the  cause,  and  afterward  edited  for  some 
years  a  periodical  which  he  called  ''The  Heretic  De- 
tector." In  this,  growing  heady  and  opinicjnati ve,  as 
is  common  with  those  who  consider  other  j-)ef)ple's  faults 
to  the  neglect  of  their  own,  he  lost  for  a  time  the  confi- 
dence of  the  brotherhood.  This,  however,  by  an  aban- 
donment of  his  censorious  and  imprudent  course,  he 
subsequently  in  a  good  degree  regained,  for  he  was  a 
sincere-hearted  believer,  and  falling  after  some  years 
into  a  decline,  gave  ample  evidence,  not  only  of  his 


SAMUEL  ROGERS. 


confidence  in  the  truth,  but  of  his  regret  for  the  improper 
spirit  in  which  he  had  essayed  to  defend  it. 

Samuel  Rogers,  for  whom  Mr.  Campbell  had  a  very 
high  regard,  had  been  laboring  for  some  time  in  the 
cause  of  religious  reformation.  His  history  is  instruct- 
ive, and  may  be  best  given  in  his  own  brief  but  ex- 
pressive words  : 

*' I  was  born  in  old  Virginia,  November  6,  1789;  moved 
to  Kentucky  in  1793;  settled  in  Clarke  county,  Kentucky, 
until  iSoi.  Moved  then  to  Missouri,  called  Upper  Louisiana, 
then  under  Spanish  rule.  My  mother,  a  pious  Methodist, 
sewed  up  her  Bible  in  a  feather  bed  to  keep  the  priests  from 
finding  it.  This  was  the  only  Bible  I  ever  saw  until  I  was 
grown.  My  father  urged  my  mother  to  leave  her  Bible,  as  it 
might  give  her  trouble  in  this  new  territory,  but  she  said  she 
must  have  it  to  read  to  her  children,  and  she  did  read  it  to  us 
much,  and  by  her  piety  and  counsels  tried  to  impress  its 
truths  upon  our  minds  and  hearts.  As  I  was  the  eldest  child, 
this  was  all  the  preaching  I  heard  until  a  grown  man. 

After  my  mother  had  taught  me  to  write  my  name  and 
spell  a  little,  I  was  sent  to  school  three  months.  At  the  end 
of  this  time,  I  graduated  with  honor,  having  learned  to  read, 
write  and  cypher  to  the  rule  of  three.  This  was  about  all  our 
teachers  knew  themselves.  My  mother's  readings,  prayers 
and  counsels  gave  me  early  a  high  regard  for  her  religion. 
Though  my  proud  heart  often  rebelled,  yet  a  mother's  voice 
would  bring  me  back  to  sober  reflection  again.  I  heard  a 
Methodist  preach  the  first  discourse  I  ever  listened  to  :  soon 
after,  I  heard  a  Baptist.  I  liked  the  free  salvation  of  the 
Methodist,  but  disliked  his  baptism.  I  liked  the  baptism  of 
the  other,  but  disliked  his  Calvinism.  I  returned  to  Kentucky 
about  nineteen  years  old,  and  found  a  great  stir  occasioned  by 
the  late  strange  revivals  under  B.  W.  Stone  and  otiiers. 
Many  abused  Stone,  while  others  praised  him;  I,  however, 
went  to  hear  him  for  myself,  and  was  much  pleased.  He 
called  on  all  to  come  to  Christ,  and  invited  all  to  lay  aside 


332        MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


their  creeds  and  take  the  Bible  as  the  only  rule  of  faith  and 
practice.  I  was  pleased  with  his  preaching:  it  sounded  like 
the  truth — like  the  religion  I  had  read  of.  Whatever  may 
have  been  said  of  the  errors  of  Stone  and  those  people,  it  was 
evident  they  were  spiritually  minded,  and  the  most  prayerful 
people  of  their  times.  I  was  baptized  by  Stone,  1S12.  The 
war  came  on,  and  the  Church  became  greatly  demoralized ; 
and  I  among  the  rest  was  bv  no  means  exempt  from  its  un- 
happy influences.  However,  after  the  war,  through  the 
preaching  of  Stone  and  others,  we  all  got  to  work  again,  re- 
newing our  covenants  with  God,  and  a  glorious  revival  fol- 
lowed. I  became  an  exhorter  by  necessity.  We  held  little 
meetings  from  house  to  house,  and  often  had  to  send  for  a 
preacher  to  baptize  our  converts.  The  preachers  told  me  I 
was  called  of  God  to  preach.  I  had  not  thought  of  being  a 
preacher,  but  being  convinced  by  their  arguments  that  I  was 
divinely  called,  I  was  ordained  by  Stone  at  Caneridge  fift}'- 
two  years  ago.  He  then  gave  me  a  Bible,  saying :  '  Preach 
its  facts,  obey  its  commands  and  enjoy  its  promises.'  I  was 
greatly  troubled  about  my  call.  I  contended  that  if  I  was 
called,  as  were  the  apostles,  I  ought  to  have  their  credentials 
and  be  able  to  prove  my  apostleship.  I  attempted  to  draw 
from  dreams  and  visions  and  vague  impressions,  some  super- 
human aid  ;  often  went  on  long  tours  upon  a  mere  impression 
of  the  min^,  taking  it  as  a  call.  I  thought  I  ought  to  perform 
miracles.  My  mind  was  often  in  a  wretched  state.  About 
this  time  I  got  the  '  Christian  Baptist,'  and  found  relief.  I 
believe  I  should  have  gone  crazy  but  for  Alexander  Camp- 
bell. I  was  not  slow  to  embrace  his  view,  but  knew  it  to  be 
truth  the  very  moment  I  saw  it,  and  at  once  and  in  haste 
adopted  it.  This  was  about  1825.  I  had  traveled  thousands 
of  miles,  preached  all  over  the  wilds  of  Ohio,  Indiana,  Il- 
linois, Missouri — swam  rivers,  exposed  myself  to  every  da.i- 
ger,  saying,  '  Wo  is  me  if  I  preach  not  the  gospel !'  I  was 
ardent,  impulsive,  enthusiastic,  and  my  labors  were  greatly 
blessed.  But  a  heavy  gloom  hung  over  me  when  I  would 
think  of  my  call  and  compare  it  with  that  of  the  apostles. 


ORDINANCES  OBSERVED. 


333 


Bless  the  Lord  !  Alexander  Campbell  came  to  my  relief. 
His  debate  with  Walker,  and  then  his  debate  with  McCalla, 
walked  up  the  people,  and  to  me  it  was  like  the  rising  up  of 
the  sun  after  a  long  gloomy  night.  I  heard  him  at  Wilming- 
ton, Ohio,  on  his  first  visit.  I  compared  him  to  Ezra  of  old, 
that  great  reformer  who  restored  to  Israel  the  lost  law  of  God. 
Stone  had  given  me  the  book,  but  Campbell  taught  me  how 
to  read  it  in  its  connection.  I  took  his  first  periodical,  the 
'  Christian  Baptist,*  and  since  that  time  have  taken  and  read 
everything  he  eVer  published.  I  owe  him  more  than  any 
man  since  apostolic  times.  He  preached  no  new  gospel  and 
brought  in  no  new  God,  but  taught  us  to  worship  intelligently 
the  God  whom  we  had  ignorantly  worshiped,  and  to  go  back 
over  the  heads  of  all  human  teachers  to  the  great  Fountain  of 
truth  for  our  faith  and  practice. 

"  Alexander  Campbell  taught  as  no  other  man,  but  with  a 
clearness  and  simplicity  that  carried  at  once  conviction  to  the 
mind  of  every  man  of  common  sense.  He  gave  me  the  New 
Testament  he  published,  with  preface  and  appendix.  I  have 
it  yet.  It  is  the  best  of  all  new  translations  ;  his  preface  and 
appendix  are  invaluable. 

"  I  have  sacrificed  my  whole  life  for  this  cause — received' 
almost  nothing  for  twenty-five  years  of  the  time.  Baptized 
my  thousands — I  think  seven  thousand,  as  near  as  I  could  tell 
— but  have  a  beautiful  home  ready  for  me  on  the  other  side 
of  Jordan.  I  am  in  my  eightieth  year,  preach  yet  much,  my 
voice  as  good  as  ever ;  can  speak  in  the  open  air  so  as  to  be 
heard  by  one  thousand  people.  Amen." 

While  at  Wilmington,  Mr.  Campbell  was  much 
pleased  to  find  that  the  churches  in  that  vicinity  had 
adopted  the  ancient  order  of  things,  and  were  walk- 
ing in  the  ordinances  and  commandments  of  Christ. 
Under  the  labors  of  Samuel  Rogers,  the  church  at 
Antioch  was  the  first  congregation  in  Clinton  county 
that  met  for  these  purposes.  Nothing  ever  gave  Mr. 
Campbell  greater  happiness  than  to  find  those  who  had 


334       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


made  a  profession  of  the  gospel  leading  pious  lives  and 
carefully  observing  tlie  means  of  grace.  These  were 
with  him  alvva3's  matters  of  far  more  interest  and  im- 
portance than  the  making  of  converts. 

Having  delivered  a  discourse  at  Wilmington  from 
Acts  iii.  12-26,  one  young  man  came  forward  and  was 
immersed  for  the  remission  of  sins  by  Samuel  Rogers. 
On  the  fifth  of  November  he  went  on  to  Cincinnati, 
where,  at  this  time,  there  was  a  congregation  of  nearly 
three  hundred  members,  prospering  under  the  labors  of 
James  Challen.  Here  he  spoke  twice  on  Lord's  day, 
four  persons  coming  forward  for  baptism.  On  Monday 
he  spoke  at  Mill  Creek,  and  in  the  evening  of  the  same 
day  at  Covington,  Kentucky,  where  the  Baptists  gen- 
erally had  embraced  the  Reformation.  Samuel  Parm- 
ley,  here  embarking  on  a  steamboat  to  descend  the 
Ohio.  Ephraim  A.  Smith  of  Danville,  Kentucky,  noted 
for  his  humility,  zeal  and  devotion,  and  a  particular 
friend  of  Mr.  Campbell,  became  his  fellow-traveler. 
Preaching  in  Cynthiana,  Kentucky,  in  Leesburg  and  in 
Georgetown,  he  went  on  to  tlie  Crossing's  meeting-house, 
where  he  also  had  an  appointment.  Here  he  received 
a  pressing  invitation  from  Richard  M.  Johnson,  wliom 
he  designates  in  his  journal  as  the  author  of  the  Sun- 
day Mail  Report,"*  to  speak  at  his  house  in  the  evening, 

•  Mr.  Campbell  here  calls  Colonel  Johnson  "the  author  of  the  Suntlay  Mail 
Report"  by  courtesy,  since,  as  chairman  of  the  committee,  he  was  of  course 
the  reputed  author.  He  was  probably  led  the  more  to  do  this  as  he  did  not 
wish  the  authorship  to  be  attributed  to  himself,  as  had  been  done.  When 
his  friends  said  ti)  him,  '*  I'eople  say  you  are  the  author  of  that  Report,"  he 
wouiil  laughingly  reply.  "  People  say  a  great  many  things  that  are  not  true," 
and  so  pass  the  matter  by. 

While,  from  a  variety  of  circumstances,  it  is  difficult  to  think  that  Mr. 
Campbell  was  ni.>t  particularly  concerned  in  getting  uj*  this  document,  if  not 
by  furnishing  the  original  sketch,  at  least  by  suggesting  the  course  f»f  argu- 
ment or  sending  a  copy  of  his  discussions  with  Prest.  Wylie  and  others  upon 


L.  I.  FLEMING. 


335 


but  having  to  meet  appointments  at  Frankfort,  he  was 
compelled  to  decline.  At  Frankfort  he  was  very  kindly 
received  at  the  house  of  Governor  Metcalf,  whose  wife 
was  a  member  of  the  church.  After  preaching  in  the 
academy  and  baptizing  a  lady  who  presented  herself, 
he  went  on  to  the  neighborhood  of  Versailles  and  spent 
the  night  at  T.  Bullock's,  where  J.  Creath,  Jr.,  was 
holding  a  meeting,  and  where  he  found  Josephus  Hewit 
and  L.  I.  Fleming.  The  latter  was  a  very  devoted  and 
pious  Christian,  for  whom  Mr.  Campbell  had  a  warm 
attachment,  and  with  whom  he  had  become  acquainted 
on  his  first  visit  to  Kentucky  in  182  j.  He  was  a  na- 
tive of  Woodford  county,  born  near  Midway,  October 
15,  1798.  His  mother  was  a  pious  woman,  and  from 
early  boyhood  he  was  noted  for  his  devotional  spirit. 
He  united  with  the  church  in  Georgetown  under  the 
ministry  of  B.  W.  Stone,  from  whom  he  received  the 
chief  part  of  his  education.    He  soon  began  to  aid  at 

the  chief  questions  involved,  it  is  due  to  the  truth  of  history  to  say  that  some 
claim  the  actual  authorship  for  Rev.  Obadiah  Rrown,  a  Baptist  minister  at 
whose  house,  in  Washington,  Colonel  Johnson  boarded-  Mr.  Brown,  when  a 
young  man,  had  filled  the  office  of  chaplain  to  Congress,  but,  by  degrees, 
became  much  engaged  with  politics  and  politicians,  having  considerable  in- 
fluence over  General  Jacks«3n,  and  affording  him  valuable  assistance  in  the 
difficulties  of  his  stormy  administration.  lie  was  regarded  by  those  who 
knew  him  best  as  a  man  of  very  great  ability,  and  is  said  to  have  been  in  the 
habit  of  aiding  Colonel  Johnson  both  by  his  advice  and  in  the  preparation 
of  documents.  It  is  stated  by  a  highly  respectable  Baptist  minister  of  All>e- 
marle  county,  Virginia— W.  P.  Parish,  who  was  at  the  time  a  partner  of  Mr. 
Brown  in  the  stage  and  mail-carrj-ing  business — that  he  charged  l^rown  with 
being  the  author,  and  that,  after  some  evasive  replies,  he  understood  hira 
finally  to  admit  the  fact,  expressing,  however,  the  desire  that  Colonel  Johnson 
should  have  the  credit  of  it.  From  these  facts,  some  of  which  have  come  to 
the  knowledge  of  the  writer  since  the  publication  of  the  first  volume,  and  for 
which  he  is  indebted  to  R.  L.  Coleman  of  Virginia,  the  reader  can  form  his 
own  conclusions  as  to  the  authorship  of  this  famous  Report,  which,  at  least, 
emlxxlied  the  views  which  Mr.  Campbell  was  known  to  entertain  on  the 
subject 


33^       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


meetings  as  a  public  speaker,  but  was  especially  dis- 
tinguished by  his  habit  of  visiting  from  house  to  house 
in  order  to  promote  the  interests  of  Christ's  kingdom. 
He  was  so  humble  and  unassuming,  and  so  universally 
recognized  as  one  of  the  most  pious  of  men,  that  he  was 
everywhere  gladly  welcomed.  He  had  a  peculiar 
faculty  of  making  himself  at  home  wherever  he  went, 
attending  to  his  horse,  cutting  wood,  making  fires  and 
aiding  familiarly  in  everything  in  which  he  could  be  of 
service.  Nor  did  he  enter  less  readily  into  the  religious 
matters  of  the  household,  being  everywhere  "  a  sweet 
odor  of  Christ,"  and-  availing  himself  of  ever}'  oppor- 
tunity to  impart  some  spiritual  benefit.  Ever  preferring 
others  to  himself,  he  literally  "  went  about  doing  good," 
and,  indifferent  to  his  own  comfort,  seemed  to  live  only 
for  the  promotion  of  piety  and  humanity. 

Mr.  Campbell,  after  preaching  in  Versailles,  where 
he  found  J.  Creath,  Sr.,  and  John  Smith,  went  on 
toward  Lexington,  and  lodged  with  B.  A.  Hicks,  where 
he  had  an  interesting  conversation  with  Brethren  B.  W. 
Stone  and  F.  R.  Palmer  upon  religious  reformation.  Ar- 
riving in  Lexington  on  Saturday,  he  stopped  at  the  house 
of  his  friend  Joseph  Ficklin,  and  after  dining  with  Dr. 
Woods,  president  of  Transylvania  University,  repaired 
to  Dr.  Fishback's,  where,  in  the  presence  of  a  large 
company,  he  spent  about  four  hours  very  agreeably  in 
answering  questions  proposed  by  the  doctor  concerning 
the  Reformation. 

Next  day  he  addressed  a  very  large  audience  in 
Lexington,  from  John  iii.,  and  as  this  discourse  exhibits 
strikingly  his  power  of  tracing  analogies,  and  his  usual 
comprehensive  range  of  thought,  the  notes  of  it  are  here 
given  from  his  journal : 

After  attempting  to  show        John,  and  none  of  the  other 


ADDRESSES  AT  LEXINGTON. 


337 


evangelists,  narrated  the  interview  with  Nicodemus,  we  pro- 
ceeded to  speak  of  the  kingdoms  of  nature,  grace  and  glory, 
as  usually  defined.  The  constituents  of  a  literal  kingdom 
were  first  detailed.  The  propriety  of  the  application  of  the 
term  kingdom  to  nature,  grace  and  glory  was  next  vindicated. 
Then  the  analogies  between  these  three  kingdoms  were  traced 
in  the  prominent  characteristics  of  a  kingdom  :  i.  The  crea- 
tion of  each  by  a  word  of  God.  2.  The  design  of  each  to  pro- 
duce beings  correspondent  with  its  constitution — natural  be- 
ings— gracious  beings — glorious  beings.  3.  The  adaptation 
of  the  means  employed  to  each  of  the  ends  proposed,  natural 
life,  spiritual  life,  eteriial  life.  4.  The  three  births^  or  the 
modes  of  introduction  into  each  kingdom.  The  Jirst  birth, 
natural ;  the  second  birth,  gracious  ;  the  third  birth,  glorious. 
The  first  birth  of  and  from  the  Jicsh^  the  second  of  and  from 
the  water  and  the  Spirit^  the  third  of  and  from  the  grave, 

5.  The  three  salvations :  ist.  From  natural  dangers;  God  is 
thus  the  Saviour  of  all  men  in  the  kingdom  of  nature.  2d, 
The  salvation  of  the  soul  from  the  guilt,  pollution  and  the 
power  of  sin  in  the  kingdom  of  grace.  3d,  The  salvation  of 
the  body  from  the  grave,  or  the  glorification  of  soul  and  body 
at  the  resurrection  of  the  just  and  in  the  kingdom  of  glory. 

6.  The  impossibility  of  being  a  citizen  or  subject  of  any  one 
of  these  kingdoms,  without  being  born  into  it.  7.  An  illus- 
tration of  the  whole  subject,  drawn  from  the  use  and  mean- 
ing of  the  outer  court,  holy  place  and  most  holy,  in  the 
tabernacle.  In  the  conclusion,  we  emphasized  on  the  king- 
dom of  heaven,  or  of  grace  ;  the  import  of  being  born  of  water 
and  spirit,  or  the  necessity  of  regeneration  in  order  to  admis- 
sion into  the  kingdom  of  grace.  These  were  items  in  the 
series  of  illustrations  presented  on  this  occasion.  After  the 
discourse.  Squire  Hickman,  once  a  Deist,  cured  by  our  writ- 
ings, presented  himself  for  immersion." 

In  the  evening  of  that  day  he  addressed,  by  special 
invitation,  the  medical  class  of  Transylvania  University 
on  the  following  questions  :  i.  Has  God  ever  spoken  to 
man?    2.  In  what  language  has  he  spoken?    3.  If  in 

VOL.  II.— W  29 


« 


33S       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL, 


human  language,  how  is  it  to  be  interpreted?  4.  What 
has  he  said  to  us  in  his  last  message  by  his  Son  ? 

From  Lexington,  proceeding  southward  through 
Athens,  Nicholasville,  Harrodsburg  and  Danville — at 
which  latter  place  eleven  persons  presented  themselves 
for  baptism  after  his  discourse,  he  continued  on  his  way 
through  Columbia,  Glasgow  and  Bowling  Green  to 
Nashville,  preaching  at  various  points,  and  accompanied 
now  by  J.  Creath,  Jr.  On  Friday,  loth  December,  he 
delivered  an  address  at  Nashville  upon  the  character- 
istics of  the  apostasy  and  the  mystery  of  iniquity,  in  con- 
trast with  primitive  Christianity  ;  and  as  most  of  the 
clergy  of  the  city  were  present  he  gave  out  an  appoint- 
ment for  the  following  evening,  when  he  proposed  to 
attend  to  any  inquiries  or  objections  which  persons 
might  have  to  offer.  When  the  time  arrived,  after  some 
inquiries  had  been  noticed,  which  were  proposed  through 
J.  Creath,  in  regard  to  faith  and  repentance,  the  pastor 
of  the  Presb3-terian  church  in  Nashville,  Obadiah  Jen- 
nings, rose  and  controverted  Mr.  Campbell's  views  of 
faith  as  merely  natural  faith,"  advocating  a  faith  pro- 
duced by  a  ''supernatural  operation."  This  was  the 
same  INIr.  Jennings  who  had  been  active  many  years 
before  in  Washinirton  countv,  Pennsvlvania,  in  those 
hninor  associations  called  moral  societies,  which  had 
attempted  to  enforce  by  law  Presbyterian  views  of  the 
Sabbath,  and  which  Mr.  Campbell  had  so  successfully 
resisted. 

Mr.  Jennings  was  a  zealous  Presbyterian,  and  doubt- 
less conscientious  and  sincere  in  his  efforts  to  sustain 
the  theological  opinions  of  his  party.  He  had  relin- 
quished the  successful  practice  of  law  at  Steubenville  for 
the  ministerial  office,  to  which  he  had  zealously  devoted 
himself,  having  been  pastor  of  the  Steubenville  congre- 


JENNINGS  DEBATE. 


339 


gation  for  six  years,  and  then  succeeding  Rev.  Matthew 
Brown  in  the  congregation  at  Washington  in  the  spring 
of  1823.  In  1828  he  removed  to  Nashville.  He  pos- 
sessed respectable  abilities,  but  was  not  a  popular 
preacher,  being  wont  to  write  his  sermons  and  speak 
from  notes,  but  this  practice  did  not  appear  to  be  neces- 
sary to  him,  as  he  was  much  more  effective  and  fluent 
when  compelled  to  speak  extemporaneously.  To  his 
first  address  Mr.  Campbell  replied,  and  Mr.  Jennings 
then  rejoined  in  a  speech  of  considerable  length,  after 
which,  alleging  indisposition,  he  retired,  and  Mr.  Camp- 
bell, after  a  few  concluding  remarks,  dismissed  the 
assembly. 

Next  day  he  delivered  a  discourse  on  Eph.  iv.,  after 
which  ten  persons  came  forward  and  were  immersed  in 
the  Cumberland  river  in  presence  of  an  immense  crowd. 
At  the  close  of  his  sermon  in  the  evening,  three  others 
came  forwaid,  who  were  immersed  next  morning  by  J. 
Creath.  On  Monday  evening,  Mr.  Campbell  preached 
again,  and  then  left  the  city  to  visit  Franklin  and  Co- 
lumbia, Tennessee,  in  company  with  P.  S.  Fall.  Re- 
turning again  to  Nashville  on  tlie  21st,  he  delivered 
another  lecture  there  on  Friday  evening,  at  which  Mr. 
Jennings  was  present.  Having  learned  that  the  latter 
designed  to  make  further  objections  if  opportunity  were 
aflbrded,  Mr.  Campbell  then  gave  another  invitation  to 
objectors  and  inquirers,  appointing  to  hear  them  next 
day  (Christmas)  at  ten  o'clock. 

When  the  hour  had  arrived,  he  proposed  that  in 
order  to  prevent  any  misappropriation  of  time,  some 
one  should  preside  over  the  meeting,  and  that  only 
twenty  minutes  should  be  allowed  at  one  time  to  each 
speaker.  Dr.  Felix  Robinson  having  been  requested 
to  preside,  Mr.  Jennings  soon  rose,  and  after  inveigh- 


54^       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


ing  against  the  proposed  "Reformation,"  attempted  a 
defence  of  the  sects  against  the  censures  of  Mr.  Camp- 
bell, charging  Mr.  Campbell  himself  with  making  divis- 
ions. Mr.  Campbell  in  reply  showed  that  the  prin- 
ciples he  advocated  were  anything  but  sectarian,  since 
they  required  that  everything  for  which  there  was  clear 
scriptural  authority  should  be  received,  and  that  all 
opinions  should  be  held  as  private  property.  Mr. 
Jennings  then  attempted  to  sustain  the  doctrine  of  a 
special  divine  call  to  the  ministry,  and  in  the  course 
of  the  day  touched  upon  a  great  many  other  points, 
charging  Mr.  Campbell  with  fraternizing  with  Arians, 
criticising  at  considerable  length  the  new  version,  etc., 
and  finally  proceeding  to  deliver  strictures  upon  Mr. 
Campbell's  views  of  the  *'  New  Birth." 

Mr.  Jennings  had  very  adroitly  availed  himself  of 
the  privilege  which  Mr.  Campbell,  from  his  fearless 
confidence  in  the  power  of  divine  truth,  had  given  to 
objectors.  Having  provided  himself  witn  abundant 
materials  in  the  numerous  misrepresentations  which 
had  been  circulated  against  Mr.  Campbell  and  his  views, 
he  flitted  from  one  subject  to  another,  dwelling  upon 
each  just  long  enough  to  infuse  the  venom  of  the  sting 
of  sectarian  hostility,  and  carefully  evading  any  direct 
collision.  Declining  to  assume  the  affirmative  of  any 
prpposition  which  he  himself  believed,  he  said  that  he 
had  attended  with  a  view  to  discuss,  not  Presbyterian- 
ism  or  Calvinism,  but  Campbellism."  He  determined 
to  avail  himself,  accordingly,  to  the  utmost,  of  an  advan- 
tage which,  had  it  not  been  conceded  by  Mr.  Camp- 
bell, would  have  been  justly  regarded  as  ungenerous, 
since  there  is  nothing,  however  true  or  sacred,  against 
which  plausible  objections  may  not  be  offered,  and  that, 
too,  in  a  much  shorter  time  than  is  required  for  their 


RE  GENERA  TION. 


34» 


refutation.  After  Mr.  Campbell  had  indulged  Mr.  Jen- 
nings thus  during  the  day  in  making  these  assaults, 
he  at  length  proposed  to  remain  another  day  at  Nash- 
ville, provided  Mr.  Jennings  would  select  some  one 
topic  and  confine  himself  to  its  discussion.  To  this 
Mr.  Jennings  assented,  and  gave  as  the  subject,  "To 
be  born  again  ;  what  is  it,  and  what  the  effects  thereof?" 
still  carefully  avoiding  to  commit  himself  to  any  definite 
aflirmation.  When  the  time  for  discussion  arrived,  Mr. 
Campbell  objected  to  this  as  merely  a  topic,  and  not  a 
logical  proposition,  and  after  considerable  delay,  Mr. 
Jennings  finally  agreed  to  the  following  :  "  To  say  that 
to.be  born  again  and  to  be  immersed  is  the  same  thing, 
is  false  and  cannot  be  supported  by  the  word  of  God." 
Although  Mr.  Campbell  regarded  this  as  an  awkward 
proposition,  he  consented  to  discuss  it,  provided  Mr. 
Jennings,  to  save  time,  would  concede  that  the  term 
regeneration  in  Tit.  iii.  5  was  equivalent  to  being  born 
again,  in  his  sense  of  the  expression.  By  this  time  it 
was  one  o'clock,  and  the  moderators,  Messrs.  Hayes, 
Foster  and  Payne,  adjourned  to  three  o'clock.  Mr.  Jen- 
nings then  spoke  first,  descanting  on  the  uncharitable- 
ness  of  Mr.  Campbell's  view  that  the  terms  immersion 
and  regeneration  were  applicable  to  the  same  act.  Mr. 
Campbell,  in  reply,  appealed  to  the  congregation  against 
such  attempts  to  arouse  prejudice,  and  which  had  noth- 
ing to  do  with  the  proof  of  the  proposition,  and  showed 
by  the  article  on  the  "  Decrees"  from  Mr.  Jennings* 
Confession  of  Faith  how  ill  it  became  him  to  talk  about 
the  charitableness  of  systems.  Mr.  Jennings,  continuing 
in  the  same  strain,  was  called  to  order  by  Mr.  Payne, 
the  presiding  moderator,  who  was  a  Methodist. 

With  regard  to  the  merits  of  this  discussion  upon  re- 
generation, it  is  evident  that  it  was  mainly  a  debate 

29  * 


34^       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


about  the  meaning  of  a  term,  and  that  Mr.  Jennings, 
in  conceding  in  the  beginning  that  "  regeneration"  and 
"being  born  again  "  were  equivalent  expressions,  vir- 
tually yielded  the  whole  question.  Mr.  Campbell 
showed  that,  while  in  the  -process  of  regeneration  a 
begetting  by  the  word  of  truth  (James  i.  i8  ;  I  Pet.  i. 
23-25)  was  necessarily  involved,  the  person  thus  be- 
gotten and  quickened  by  the  Spirit  could  be  justly  and 
scripturally  regarded  as  born  again  only  in  the  act  of 
immersion,  through  which  he  formally  entered  into  a 
new  state  and  assumed  publicly  the  relation  of  a  child 
of  God.  As,  naturally,  a  child  is  born  of  its  father 
only  in  being  born  of  its  mother,  so,  spiritually,  bap- 
tism became  to  the  believer  the  new  birth — the  "  wash- 
ing," "bath"  or  "  laver "  (/ouroov)  of  regeneration, 
after  which  alone  he  could  be  scripturally  recognized  as 
born  of  water  and  spirit,  and  legitimately  in  the  king- 
dom of  heaven.  Hence,  by  the  early  Christian  writers, 
baptism  was  itself  termed  regeneration.  Mr.  Camp- 
bell did  not  really  regard  baptism  as  the  whole  -process 
of  regeneration,  as  Mr.  Jennings  sought  to  make  appear, 
but  insisted  as  strongly  as  any  one  upon  a  previous  im- 
partation  of  spiritual  life  through  faith  as  indispensably 
requisite.  As  this,  on  the  otner  hand,  constituted  in 
Mr.  Jennings'  view  the  whole  of  regeneration,  and  he 
desired  to  reduce  baptism  to  a  mere  emblem  of  "  spir- 
itual operations,"  it  w^as  evidently  neither  his  policy  nor 
his  aim  to  understand  or  to  represent  Mr.  Campbell 
correctly.  The  spirit  of  captiousness  and  perversion 
in  which  he  carried  on  the  discussion  is  indeed  Tully 
exhibited  in  the  pretended  report  of  it  which  he  pre- 
pared, and  which  was  published  after  his  death  by  his 
nephew,  S.  C.  Jennings,  who  was  also  a  bitter  oppo- 
nent.   This  work,  abounding  in  gross  personalities,  full 


PROVIDENTIAL  CARE. 


343 


of  misrepresentations  and  injurious  insinuations,  and 
bristling  on  ever}'  P^g<^  with  the  most  vindictive  hos- 
tihty,  served  only  to  show  the  power  of  bigotry  to  pre- 
s<int  one  so  amiable  and  irreproachable  in  a  moral  and 
social  point  of  view,  as  was  Mr.  Jennings,  in  a  light  so 
totally  different  as  a  religious  partisan. 

Daring  Mr.  Campbell's  stay  in  Nashville,  more  than 
thirty  persons  became  obedient  to  the  faith,  and  the 
cause  of  the  Reformation  was  greatly  strengthened. 
Bidding  an  affecting  adieu  to  his  friends  there,  on  the 
28tn  of  December  he  set  out  for  home,  accompanied 
b}'  his  daughter  Eliza  Ann,  who  had  been  spending 
some  time  with  her  sister  in  Tennessee,  Mrs.  Ewing. 
Passing  through  Kentucky  as  rapidly  as  the  state  of 
the  roads  and  weather  would  permit,  he  addressed 
large  audiences  at  his  different  appointments  on  the 
way  to  Maysville,  and  was  much  pleased  with  the 
general  prospects  of  the  cause,  finding  that  the  feelings 
of  the  great  mass  of  the  non-professing  community 
were  on  the  side  of  the  Reformers  on  account  of  the 
injustice  and  illiberality  which  had  characterized  the 
proceedings  of  their  opponents.  On  Wednesday,  the 
26th  of  January,  he  crossed  the  Ohio  river  through  the 
floating  ice,  and  passing  through  Ohio,  arrived  at  home 
on  the  evening  of  the  3d  of  February.  Thus,"  adds 
he  in  his  journal,  "  under  the  kind  and  indulgent  care 
of  our  heavenly  Father,  we  finished  a  tour  of  fourteen 
hundred  miles  by  land  in  one  hundred  days,  without  a 
single  accident  worthy  of  a  name.  .  .  .  We  found  the 
same  kind  care  and  merciful  providence  had  been 
extended  over  our  family  which  had  accompanied  us 
by  day  and  night,  through  all  the  dangers  and  toils  of 
a  winter  journey  through  a  great  variety  of  country  and 
circumstances." 


CHAPTER  X. 


Mormonism — Its  exposure— Co-operation  — Evangelists— Infidelity — Work 
of  the  Holy  Spirit — Divisions— Meeting-houses — Worship — Slavery. 

TOWARD  the  close  of  this  year  (1830)  the  de- 
lusion of  Mormonism  began  its  course  in  Northern 
Ohio.  Chief  amongst  its  promoters  appeared  Sydney 
Rigdon,  who  was  believed,  upon  good  evidence,  to  have 
been  also  its  originator.  Captivating  as  a  public  speaker 
by  his  fluency  and  his  exuberant  fancy,  he  had  de- 
pended upon  these  superficial  endowments  for  popularity 
and  success.  In  private  he  had  been  found  petulant, 
unreliable  and  ungovernable  in  his  passions,  and  his 
wayward  temper,  his  extravagant  stories  and  his  habit 
of  self-assertion  had  prevented  him  from  attaining  influ- 
ence as  a  religious  teacher  among  the  disciples.  He 
was  ambitious  of  distinction,  without  the  energy  and  in- 
dustry necessary  to  secure  it,  and  jealous  of  the  repu- 
tation of  others,  without  the  ability  to  compete  with  them. 
Floating  upon  the  tide  of  popular  excitement,  he  was 
disposed  to  catch  at  anything  which,  without  demanding 
labor,  might  serve  for  his  advancement,  and  was  natu- 
rally led  to  seek  in  deception  the  success  which  he  found 
denied  to  indolence. 

It  appears  that,  while  living  in  Pittsburg,  he  was  con- 
nected with  one  of  the  printing-offices,  and  obtained 
access  to  the  manuscript  of  a  romance  written  by  a 
former  Presbyterian  preacher — a  Solomon  Spaulding — 

344 


PRECONCERTED  IMPOSTURE,  345 


who,  adopting  the  style  of  the  Bible  history,  had,  for 
his  amusement,  given  a  fanciful  account  of  the  nations 
inhabiting  Canaan  before  the  time  of  Joshua,  and  de- 
scribed, with  great  minuteness,  their  modes  of  life, 
wars,  migrations,  etc.  He  attributed  also  in  it  the 
settling  of  North  America  to  the  ten  lost  tribes,  and, 
giving  to  his  work  the  title  of  Lost  Manuscript  Found," 
was  wont  to  read  portions  of  it  frequently  to  his  friends. 
Having  copied  or  obtained  possession  of  this  manu- 
script, Rigdon  seems  to  have  secretly  occupied  himself 
during  several  years  in  altering  and  arranging  it  to  suit 
his  purposes  ;  and  discovering,  at  Palmyra,  New  York,  as 
early  us  1827,  a  suitable  coadjutor  in  the  person  of  Joseph 
Smith,  a  pretended  fortune-teller  and  discoverer  of  hidden 
treasure,  noted  for  his  idleness  and  love  of  everything 
marvelous  and  mysterious,  he  arranged  with  him  the  plan 
of  future  operations.  Accordingly,  in  1830,  it  was  duly 
announced  that  Smith  had  by  an  express  revelation  dis- 
interred certain  golden  plates,  on  which  were  inscribed, 
in  the  reformed  Egyptian  character,"  important  di- 
vine communications,  giving  an  account  of  the  ten 
lost  tribes,  the  origin  of  the  North  American  Indians 
and  revelations  designed  to  usher  in  "  the  latter  days." 
These  plates  Smith  professed  to  have  the  power  to 
decipher  and  translate  by  means  of  translucent  pebbles 
which  had  been  provided  for  the  purpose,  and  by  the  aid 
of  polygraphic  angels ;  and  a  book  in  manuscript  was 
speedily  produced,  called  the  "Book  of  Mormon,"  an 
edition  of  which  was  at  once  printed  at  the  expense  of 
a  Martin  Harris,  who  was  so  credulous  as  to  believe  in 
Smith's  pretensions,  and  who  alone,  of  those  concerned, 
was  able  to  defray  the  expense  of  publication. 

Meanwhile,  Rigdon  had  been  for  some  time  diligently 
engaged  in  endeavoring,  by  obscure  hints  and  glowing 


34^       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


millennial  theories,  to  excite  the  imaginations  of  his 
hearers,  and  in  seeking  by  fanciful  interpretations  of 
Scripture  to  prepare  the  minds  of  the  churches  of  North- 
ern Ohio  for  something  extraordinary  in  the  near  future. 
He  sought  especiall}^  in  private  to  convince  certain  influ- 
ential persons  that,  along  with  the  primitive  gospel, 
supernatural  gifts  and  miracles  ought  to  be  restored, 
and  that,  as  at  the  beginning,  all  things  should  be  held 
in  common.  From  his  want  of  personal  influence, 
however,  he  failed  in  disseminating  his  views,  except  to 
a  very  limited  extent.  In  Menjpr,  where  he  resided, 
he  was  quite  unsuccessful,  but  was  more  fortiificite  in 
Kirtland,  the  adjoining  town,  where  a  flourishing  church 
became  much  disturbed  and  unsettled  by  his  plausible 
theories  and  brilliant  declamations. 

Immediately  upon  the  publication  of  the  "  Book  of 
Mormon,"  Smith  organized  his  dupes  and  abettors  at 
Palmyra  into  the  "  Church  of  Latter-Day  Saints,"  and 
sent  forth  his  "apostles"  to  convert  the  people.  Two  of 
these,  Cowdery  and  Pratt,  soon  made  their  appearance 
in  Mentor,  and  were  received  as  old  acquaintances  by 
Rigdon,  who  at  once  publicly  endorsed  their  claims, 
and,  with  several  others,  was  immersed  into  the  new 
faith,  which  he  immediately  endeavored  to  propagate  at 
Pa;'lrh3^ra.  The  people  there,  however,  knowing  too 
well  the  character  of  Smith  to  believe  that  he  could  be 
charged  with  a  heavenly  message,  treated  the  whole 
affair  with  contempt  and  ridicule.  It  became  necessarjs 
therefore,  to  change  the  basis  of  operations  to  some  re- 
gion where  Smith  was  unknown,  and  the  point  selected 
was  Kirtland,  where  the  minds  of  the  people  had 
already  become  to  some  extent  prepared  by  Rigdon, 
and  where  about  one-half  of  the  members  of  the  church 
ivere  soon  led  away  into  the  delusion  and  filled  with  the 


FORTUNES  OF  MORMONISM. 


347 


wildest  fanaticism.  Mormon  "  elders"  and  **  apostles'* 
were  speedily  sent  forth,  who  traversed  Northern  Ohio, 
and  gained  many  proselytes  among  the  ignorant  and 
superstitious,  and  some  even  among  persons  of  intelli- 
gence, who  had  been  filled  with  vague  expectations  of 
a  speedy  millennium. 

It  is  unnecessary  to  relate  particularly  the  progress 
of  this  gross  delusion  or  the  history  of  its  leaders,  who, 
after  erecting  a  temple  and  establishing  a  bank  at  Kirt- 
land,  found  it  necessary  to  emigrate  to  Independence, 
Missouri,  from  whence,  largely  increased  in  numbers, 
they  were  soon  driven  to  Illinois,  where  they  erected 
another  temple  and  built  the  city  of  Nauvoo.  Nor  is  it 
necessary  to  detail  their  introduction  of  polygamy,  their 
establishment  of  a  grand  and  successful  system  of  mis- 
sions throughout  the  world,  their  fortunes  in  Illinois, 
where  open  war  with  the  citizens  was  prevented  only 
by  the  voluntary  surrender  of  Smith  and  others  to  the 
civil  authorities  at  the  instance  of  the  governor ;  or  the 
subsequent  death  of  Smith  at  the  hands  of  a  mob  in  the 
prison  to  which  he  had  been  committed  for  safe-keep- 
ing. Suffice  it  to  say,  that  upon  his  death  Rigdon  and 
Brigham  Young  disputed  the  right  to  the  succession, 
and  Young  prevailing,  Rigdon  was  expelled  from  the 
community  and  retired  into  the  interior  of  New  York, 
where  he  has  since  lived  in  obscurity.  Meanwhile, 
under  the  guidance  of  their  new  and  far  more  compe- 
tent leader,  the  Mormons  sought  an  almost  inaccessible 
region  amidst  the  mountains  of  Utah,  beyond  the  boun- 
daries of  civilization,  where,  by  incredible  industry  and 
the  marvelous  power  of  communism  in  promoting  ma- 
terial interests,  they  have  created,  as  if  by  magic,  in 
the  midst  of  an  arid  waste  sown  with  salt,  a  magnifi- 
cent city,  through  whose  streets  streams  of  pure  water 


34^        MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL, 


conven  ed  from  the  mountains  impart  freshness  and  ver- 
dure to  rows  of  beautiful  shade-trees,  and  irrigate  ex- 
tensive orchards  and  fruitful  gardens,  and  where  on 
every  side  are  seen  commodious  residences  and  vast 
public  edifices  reared  by  the  hands  of  skillful  artisans 
decoyed  from  the  Old  World  by  the  whiles  of  no  less 
skillful  emissaries.  Here  is  presented  the  strange  spec- 
tacle of  a  social,  political  and  religious  absolutism  in 
the  midst  of  a  free  republic,  and  of  an  open,  legalized 
licentiousness  in  the  bosom  of  a  Christian  nation,  w  hich, 
extending  itself  around  this  corrupt  community,  grad- 
ually encircles  it  as  a  rapidly-growing  tree  encloses 
with  its  young  w^ood  a  cureless  canker  in  its  heart. 

From  the  first  moment  of  its  appearance,  Mr.  Camp- 
bell endeavored  to  stay  the  progress  of  this  impost- 
ure and  to  expose  the  villainy  of  those  concerned  in  it. 
Having  obtained  a  copy  of  the  *'  Book  of  Mormon," 
he  published  both  in  the  Harbinger  and  in  a  separate 
tract  of  twelve  pages  a  brief  analysis  of  its  contents 
and  character,  laying  bare  its  flagrant  falsehoods  and 
its  contemptible  absurdities.  The  timely  appearance 
of  this  tract,  the  active  opposition  of  the  intelligent 
preachers  on  the  Reserve,  and  a  visit  which  Mr.  Camp- 
bell paid  in  June  to  Northern  Ohio,  where  he  spent 
twenty-two  days,  delivered  eighteen  discourses  and 
baptized  twenty-seven  persons,  greatly  contributed  to 
expose  this  shameless  imposition  soon  after  its  first  ap- 
pearance, and  to  put  a  stop  to  its  progress  in  the  re- 
forming churches,  among  which,  indeed,  with  the  excep- 
tion of  the  one  at  Kirtland,  it  was  far  less  successful 
than  with  the  Methodists  and  other  popular  denomina- 
tions, with  whose  views  of  special  spiritual  operations 
^|^^^^nd  communications  it  possessed  a  greater  afllnity. 

The  schismatic  and  partisan  spirit  which  in  Kentucky 


FALSE  ACCUSATIONS. 


349 


and  elsewhere  had  induced  the  Baptists  to  exclude  the 
Reformers  from  their  communion,  was  still  steadily 
extending  itself  through  the  denomination.  In  Eastern 
Virginia,  a  conference  of  eight  churches  belonging  to 
the  Dover  Association  had  been  called  in  December, 
1830,  at  which  a  report  of  a  committee  of  nine  was 
adopted,  setting  forth  the  alleged  errors  of  Campbell- 
ism,"  and  recommending  a  declaration  of  non-fellow- 
ship with  all  who  should  persist  in  them.  As  both  R. 
B.  Semple  and  A.  Broaddus  were  on  the  committee,  it 
is  to  be  presumed  that  this  report  presents  as  clear  and 
intelligible  a  statement  of  the  supposed  differences  be- 
tween Mr.  Campbell's  views  and  those  of  the  B^kptists 
as  could  be  given,  and  it  is  interesting  as  showing  how 
strangely  party-spirit  can  blind  the  eyes  and  warp  the 
judgment  of  good  men,  and  lead  them  to  misconceive 
and  misrepresent  the  plainest  matters.  "  In  frinci^ 
•ples^^^  the  report  says,  '*the  errors  alluded  to  may  be 
classed  under  four  heads — viz.,  the  denial  of  the  influ- 
ence of  the  Holy  Spirit  in  the  salvation  of  man — the 
substitution  of  reformation  for  repentance — the  substitu- 
tion of  baptism  for  conversion,  regeneration  or  the  new 
birth — and  the  Pelagian  doctrine  of  the  sufliciency  of 
man's  natural  powers  to  effect  his  own  salvation." 

"  This,"  said  Mr.  Campbell,  in  his  notice  of  the  report, 
"  is  the  bill  of  indictment^  to  every  item  of  which  we  plead 
not  guilty,  .  .  .  The  four  obnoxious  '  principles,' "  he  after- 
ward remarks,  are  reducible  to  two.  The  whole  matter  in 
brief  is  the  denial  of  iheir  mystic  influences  of  the  Holy 
Spiiit  and  immersion  for  the  remission  of  sins.  .  .  .  That 
God  has  ''his  own  time^  iox  converting  every  person  is  a 
favorite  point  with  many.  .  .  .  And  because  we  differ  from 
them  in  this  one  opinion,,  they  have,  if  we  do  not  repent  of 
it,  assigned  us  our  portion  with  infidels  and  hypocrites.  I 
say  one  opinion^  for  none  of  the  other  charges  will  at  all,  in 

30 


350    -  MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


any  conceivable  latitude  of  interpretation,  apply  to  us.  We 
do  not  substitute  reformation  for  repentance,  except  they 
mean  the  term  and  not  the  thing.  But  we  prefer  the  term 
*  reformation '  to  their  distinction  between  'legal  and  evan- 
gelical repentance.*  Neither  do  we  substitute  baptism  for 
conversion.  And  as  for  the  Pelagian  notion  of  *  man's  natu- 
ral powers  to  effect  his  own  salvation.'  it  is  a  chimera  of  their 
own  heads.    We  never  said  nor  thought  such  a  thing." 

As  Mr.  Campbell  had  the  highest  respect  for  Messrs. 
Semple  and  Broaddus,  and  could  make  all  due  allow- 
ance for  their  prejudices,  he  did  not  entertain  or  express 
the  least  unkindness  on  account  of  their  misrepresenting 
him  as  above  and  thus  holding  him  up  to  public  odium. 
On  the  contrary,  he  said  : 

•*  I  sympathize  with  you.  believing  you  to  be  the  most  hon- 
orable of  my  opponents,  and  to  be  conscientious  as  far  as  any 
men  can  be  who  appeal  to  proscriptive  decrees.  I  know  you 
appear  to  fear  that  vital  religion  is  endangered  by  our  repre- 
sentations of  the  ancient  gospel.  We  know  that  the  reverse 
is  the  fact.  Our  greatest  objection  to  your  philosophy  is,  that 
it  substitutes  an  imaginary  work  of  grace  upon  the  heart  for 
that  love  and  peace  and  joy  and  purity  which  a  clear  percep- 
tion of.  and  an  unfeigned  submission  to.  the  ancient  gospel 
can  alone  produce  and  maintain. 

•'We  plead  for  faith,  repentance,  reformation,  a  new  heart 
and  universal  obedience  ;  and  ascribe  to  grace  and  the  blood 
of  Jesus,  to  the  Father,  Son  and  Holy  Spirit,  everything  which 
the  Scriptures  teach,  in  their  own  words  and  sentences,  in  the 
fullest  import  and  meaning  of  them,  but  each  in  its  proper 
place." 

When  the  report  above  referred  to  was  submitted  to 
the  church  at  Bruington,  to  which  Bishop  Semple  min- 
istered, Dr.  Duval,  in  the  pvresence  of  an  unusually- 
large  assembly  convened  upon  the  occasion,  exhibited 
so  forcibly  and  eloquently  the  injustice  done  by  it  to 


CO-OP  ER  AT  I  ox  OF  CHURCHES. 


35' 


Mr.  Campbell  and  his  friends,  that  although  Messrs. 
Todd,  Semple,  Broaddus  and  others  used  all  their  talents 
and  authority  to  induce  the  church  to  receive  it  and  enter 
its  "  resolutions  "  upon  their  church  book,  they  were  un- 
able to  prevail.  Bishop  Semple  then  insisted  that  those 
who  would  not  vote  with  him  should  take  letters  of  dis- 
mission and  join  some  other  church.  This  the  majority 
declined  to  do.  He  then  proposed  a  postponement,  and 
finally  a  modification  of  the  resolutions,  but  the  meeting 
closed  without  any  final  action.  Next  day  Bishop 
Semple  and  A.  Broaddus  preached,  after  which  Re- 
formers and  anti-Reformers  broke  the  loaf  together, 
when  the  good  old  bishop's  heart  relented ;  he  shed 
many  tears  and  they  had  quite  a  fine  time."  Such 
A^ere  the  conflicts  engendered  in  the  hearts  of  many  be- 
tween  the  expansive  Christian  love  which  the  gospel 
itself  inspired  and  the  narrow  aims  and  policies  of  the 
spirit  of  sectarianism — the  former  prompting  to  union 
with  all  who  trusted  in  Christ,  the  latter  inducing  those 
possessed  by  it  to  recoil  from  every  one  who  questioned 
the  authority  of  those  human  opinions  and  theories 
which  were  the  boast  and  the  reliance  of  orthodoxy. 

While  these  matters  were  in  progress,  Mr.  Campbell 
was  discussing  in  the  "  Harbinger"  various  subjects  of 
interest  having  an  immediate  relation  to  the  existing 
state  of  affairs.  Among  these  the  co-operation  of 
churches  in  sustaining  preachers  of  the  gospel  occupied 
much  attention.  As  the  few  overtasked  preachers 
already  engaged  were  poorly  supported  and  wholly  un- 
able to  supply  the  demands  of  the  cause,  Mr.  Campbell 
strongly  urged  that  the  churches  should  be  arranged  in 
districts,  as  he  endeavored  to  show  was  the  case  in 
primitive  times,  in  order  that,  by  mutual  aid,  they  might 
sustain  a  sufficient  number  of  evangelists  in  the  field.  It. 


352       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL, 


'vas  some  time,  however,  before  such  arrangements 
could,  be  properly  carried  out,  as  but  few  preachers 
could  be  obtained  who  were  able  to  devote  themselves 
wholh'  to  the  work,  and  vague  notions  of  the  "  freeness" 
of  the  gospel,  as  well  as  a  misapplication  of  his  remarks 
on  hirelings"  in  the  "  Christian  Baptist,"  and  of  his 
example  in  preaching  without  charge,  still  repressed 
the  exercise  of  the  liberality  needed  to  sustain  an 
effective  ministry.  The  subject  being  brought  to  the 
attention  of  the  annual  meeting  at  New  Lisbon,  in 
August,  1831,  a  plan  of  co-operation  by  counties  was 
devised  and  suggested  to  the  churches,  care  being  taken 
to  distinguish  it  as  a  matter  of  mere  expediency,  "to  be 
adopted,  continued  or  discontinued,  as  experience  might 
dictate."  Mr.  Campbell,  indeed,  in  his  recommendations 
to  the  churches,  never  presumed  in  the  slightest  degree 
upon  his  personal  influence  or  authority.  He  was  well 
aware  of  the  existence  among  the  churches  of  a  spirit  of 
independency  and  a  jealous  regard  for  their  liberties, 
which  his  own  writings  had  created,  and  which  would 
not  brook  even  the  appearance  of  dictation ;  and  while 
he  sought  on  various  occasions  to  guard  against  an  ex- 
treme in  this  direction,  he  rejoiced  to  see  the  churches 
so  much  on  their  guard  against  that  oppressive  religious 
thraldom  from  which  they  had  been  released,  and  which 
he  never  betrayed  the  slightest  desire  to  re-establish. 

In  the  absence  of  specific  directions  in  Scripture  re- 
specting the  appointment  and  regulation  of  evangelists 
or  preachers  of  the  gospel,  Mr.  Campbell  regarded 
these  matters  as  left  to  the  dictates  of  human  prudence. 
Recognizing  the  Church  as  the  authorized  tribunal  in 
such  cases,  he  thought  no  one  justified  in  assuming  the 
office  of  a  public  laborer  without  the  sanction  of  a  con- 
gregation,   and   esteemed   it   proper,  where  several 


DEFENCE  OF  THE  GOSPEL, 


353 


churches  existed  in  the  district,  that  these  should,  as 
far  as  practicable,  participate  in  the  selection,  recom- 
mendation and  ordination  of  preachers  whose  field  of 
labor  necessarily  included  many  churches,  and  whose 
conduct  and  standing  might  seriously  affect  the  interests 
of  the  cause  at  large.  Each  evangelist,  also,  was  re 
quired  to  have  his  membership  in  some  particular  con- 
gregation, to  which  he  was  amenable  for  the  faithful 
performance  of  his  duties,  official  or  unofficial. 

During  this  period  Mr.  Campbell  continued  his  able 
defences  of  the  gospel  against  the  cavils  of  infidelity,  in 
a  series  of  letters  to  Humphrey  Marshall,  a  bold  and 
self-sufficient  infidel  of  Kentucky,  who  had  published 
some  animadversions  on  the  debate  with  Owen,  and 
whose  imaginary  "  Bible  Contradictions"  Mr.  Campbell 
disposed  of  with  great  skill  and  point.  He  also  de- 
fended with  great  power  the  divine  mission  of  Jesus  of 
Nazareth  against  the  objections  of  L.  H.  Cohen,  a  rabbi 
of  the  synagogue  in  Richmond,  Virginia.* 

*  This  Mr.  Cohen  was  a  man  of  considerable  ability,  very  zealous  for  the 
Jews'  religion,  and  supposed  to  be  a  descendant  of  Aaron,  his  father  having 
acted  as  high-priest  and  being  succeeded  in  this  office  by  his  son.  In  youth 
he  had  conceived  a  sudden  and  violent  passion  for  the  granddaughter  of  Sir 
Charles  Burdette,  of  London,  an  orphan,  whom  he  met  accidentally  in  Phila- 
delphia. Her  father,  Malcolm  Campbell,  a  Scotchman,  had  been  a  member 
of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  while  her  mother  was  an  Episcopalian.  Mr. 
Cohen's  father,  hearing  of  the  engagement,  was  much  distressed,  and  exacted 
from  his  son,  in  presence  of  the  elders,  a  binding  oath  that  he  would  marry 
none  but  a  Jewess.  Perceiving  the  difficulties  which  surrounded  her  affianced 
husband.  Miss  Campbell  was  induced  to  become  a  proselyte  to  Judaism,  but 
after  her  marriage  experienced  great  depression  of  mind  in  consequence, 
and  finally  returned  to  the  Christian  profession,  on  account  of  which  her  hus- 
band separated  from  her.  She  was  a  lady  of  literary  tastes,  and  published  a 
number  of  fugitive  pieces  of  poetry  in  a  little  volume,  which  furnished  also  a 
touching  history  of  her  life  and  trials,  and  of  the  religious  transports  and 
death  of  her  son,  Henry  Luria,  who,  as  well  as  several  others  of  her  children, 
embraced  the  faith  of  Christ.  Her  sad  narrative  affords  a  striking  illustra- 
tion of  the  unhappy  effects  resulting  from  religious  disagreements,  especially 
vol..  II.— X  80  * 


354        MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


As  the  work  of  the  Holy  Spirit  in  the  salvation  of 
man  continued  to  be  one  of  the  chier matters  of  con- 
troversy with  the  Baptists,  he,  about  this  time,  wrote 
his  "  Dialogue  on  the  Holy  Spirit,"  in  which  he  pro- 
posed to  develop  the  subject  with  special  reference  to 
the  systems  of  the  sects.  In  this  he  was  led  to  employ 
abstractions  and  philosophical  distinctions  in  relation  to 

in  the  marriage  relation.  Among  other  matters,  the  volume  contains  two 
letters,  addressed  to  her  by  Mr.  Campbell,  from  one  of  which  the  following 
is  an  extract : 

"  My  dear  Mrs.  Cohen  :  Your  letters  to  Mrs.  Campbell  and  myself  were 
duly  received.  I  am  glad  to  learn  that  you  are  about  to  publish  a  narrative 
of  your  son's  conversion  from  Judaism  to  Chri.stianiiy.  It  will  be  no  doubt 
a  very  interesting  work.  It  will  afford  me  pleasure  to  notice  and  commend 
it  in  the  *  Harbinger.'  I  have  heard  my  wife  often  speak  with  much  pleasure 
of  her  having  met  you  on  the  Ohio  river  and  forming  a  very  agreeable  and 
interesting  acquaintance  with  you,  such  as  I  once  enjoyed  in  forming  the 
acquaintance  of  your  husband  in  Richmond.  .  .  . 

"Unfortunately,  sects  and  schisms,  and  consequently  controversies,  strifes 
and  alienations,  have,  more  or  less,  through  all  Christendom,  paralyzed  the 
Church  of  Jesus  Christ  and  greatly  prevented  the  spread  and  power  of  the 
gospel  of  the  great  Messiah.  As  did  the  Jews,  so  do  the  Gentiles,  more  or 
less,  render  ineffectual  the  word  and  teachings  of  the  Holy  Spirit  by  their 
traditions.  Christ's  gospel  is  no  theory,  no  philosophy,  no  mere  dogmata,  no 
opinionisms.  It  is  a  glorious  and  yet  a  simple  development  of  the  most  sig- 
nificant, splendid  and  grace-abounding  facts,  precepts  and  promises  that  ever 
were  or  ever  can  be  submitted  to  the  human  understanding,  the  conscience 
and  the  affections  of  men.  Paul,  the  great  apostle  to  the  Gentiles,  as  did 
Peter,  the  great  apostle  to  the  Jews,  on  the  first  Pentecost  after  Christ's 
ascension  and  glorification  as  Lord  of  all,  Jew,  Gentile  and  Samaritan,  pre- 
sented the  facts  of  Christ's  death  as  the  only  sin-offering ;  together  with  his 
burial,  resurrection,  ascension  and  coronation  as  Lord  of  the  universe,  as 
the  foundation  alone  siifficient  and  all-sufficient  for  the  salvation  of  Jew  and 
Greek  and  Samaritan  ;  and  whosoever  desires  pardon,  peace  and  eternal  life 
may  indeed  enjoy  all  the  blessings  which  the  largest  heart  and  the  most  ar- 
dent soul  in  the  world  can  enjoy  or  entertain.  But  upon  these  glorious  facts 
and  realities  I  need  not  enlarge.  You  doubtless  appreciate  them.  It  is  a 
personal,  living  faith  in  a  Divine  Redeemer ;  and  it  is  this  alone  which  can 
meet  the  essential  wants  and  cravings  of  enlightened  reason.  Mrs.  Campbell 
unites  with  me  in  kindest  regards  to  you.  In  all  benevolence, 
"  Yours  most  respectfully, 

"Alex.\nder  Campbell." 


THE   V/ OR D- ALONE  THEORY. 


355 


moral  and  physical  power," etc.,  with  a  view,  as  he  said, 
to  make  himself  understood,  but  which  only  opened  the 
way  to  new  misunderstandings.  As  these  distinctions 
were  unknown  to  Scripture,  and  some  of  the  conclusions 
built  upon  them  seemed  peculiarly  liable  to  misconcep- 
tion, Thomas  Campbell  quite  disapproved  of  the  Dia- 
logue as  a  full  and  just  presentation  of  the  subject,  and 
it  was  from  respect  to  his  judgment  that  Mr.  Campbell 
subsequently  omitted  it  from  a  volume  labeled  "  Chris- 
tianity Restored,"  in  the  first  edition  of  which  it  had 
been  inserted,  along  with  some  of  the  Extras  of  the 

Harbinger."  In  this  Dialogue  he  had,  indeed,  applied 
his  reasonings  specially  to  the  case  of  conversion,  and 
had  clearly  stated  in  it  that  while  the  Holy  Spirit  operated 
upon  sinners  by  the  demonstrations  and  evidences  of 
the  gospel,  he  took  up  his  abode  in  the  saints.  "The 
Spirit  of  God,"  said  he,  '*  the  author  of  these  proofs, 
by  them  opens  ir,en's  minds  to  hear,  to  obey  the  gospel. 
Those  who  obey  the  gospel  are  in  that  gospel  declared 
to  be  sons  of  God,  and  as  such  receive  the  Holy  Spirit, 
promised  through  faith."  The  principles  from  which 
he  reasoned  had,  however,  a  much  more  extensive  ap- 
plication than  to  the  case  of  conversion,  and,  like  all 
human  philosophy  in  religious  matters,  were  calculated 
to  create  difficulties  rather  than  to  remove  them.  Hence, 
w^hile  his  opponents  raised  a  clamor  against  him  as  de- 
nying "  the  operations  of  the  Holy  Spirit,"  some  of 
those  who  were  professed  advocates  of  the  Reformation 
were  led  to  construct  a  word-alone  theory  which  virtu- 
ally dispensed  wdth  the  great  promise  of  the  gospel — 
the  gift  of  the  Holy  Spirit  to  believers.  These  persons 
were  found  chiefly  among  those  who  had  been  pre- 
viously skeptical,  and  who  were  habitually  disposed  to 
rely  upon  reason  rather  than  to  walk  by  faith  ;  and  their 


SS^       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


crude  and  erroneous  doctrines  were  well  calculated  ta 
bring  a  reproach  upon  the  Reformation.  They  were 
disposed  to  resolve  religion  entirely  into  a  system  of 
moral  motivity ;  to  disbelieve  the  actual  indwelling  of 
the  Holy  Spirit  in  believers ;  to  deny  special  provi- 
dences and  guidings,  and,  by  consequence,  the  efficacy 
of  prayer.  Taking  Locke's  philosophy  as  the  basis 
of  their  system,  and  carrying  his  Essay  on  the  Human 
Understanding "  along  with  the  Bible  in  their  saddle- 
bags, they  denied  even  to  its  Creator  any  access  to  the 
human  soul  except  by  words  and  arguments,"  while 
they  conceded  to  the  Author  of  evil  a  direct  approach, 
and  had  more  to  say  in  their  discourses  about  "  the  laws 
of  human  nature  "  than  about  the  gospel  of  Christ. 

It  was  to  check  the  effects  of  such  speculations, 
wholly  inconsistent  with  the  reformatory  principles,  but 
well  suited  to  a  superficial  and  unspiritual  religionism, 
that  Walter  Scott  at  this  period  wrote  and  published 
his  "  Discourse  on  the  Holy  Spirit."  In  this  he  en- 
deavored to  show  that  "  Christianity  as  developed  in 
the  Sacred  Oracles  is  sustained  by  three  divine  missions 
— the  mission  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  the  mission  of  the 
apostles  and  the  mission  of  the  Holy  Spirit;'"  and  fur- 
thermore that  as  the  personal  mission  of  Christ  was  to 
the  yews,  and  that  of  the  aposdes  to  the  world,  that  of 
the  Holy  Spirit  was  to  the  Church.  DwelHng  upon 
these  points,  he  showed  that  in  each  case,  as  propriety 
required,  the  mission  terminated  upon  its  proper  object; 
Christ  confining  his  ministry  to  "  the  lost  sheep  of  the 
house  of  Israel,"  the  apostles  going  out  into  the  world 
to  disciple  the  nations,  and  the  Holy  Spirit,  sent  on  the 
day  of  Pentecost,  remaining  in  the  Church  or  body  of 
Christ,  dwelling  in  all  its  members,  and  acting  through 
them  in  comforting  the  saints  and  convincing  the  world 


DISCOURSE  ON  THE  HOLT  SPIRIT.  357 

of  sin,  righteousness  and  judgment.  Exposing  the 
incorrectness  of  the  popular  notion  that  the  Spirit  was 
sent  to  the  world,  as  being  in  direct  contravention  of  o 
Christ's  declaration  that  the  world  could  not  receive 
him,  he  insisted  upon  the  absolute  need  of  the  indwell- 
ing of  the  Holy  Spirit  in  every  believer  in  order  to  real 
and  permanent  union  with  Christ,  and  to  the  production 
of  those  fruits  through  which  Christ  was  glorified  among 
men.  Finally,  he  showed  that  while  the  personal  mis- 
sion of  Christ  to  the  Jews  and  that  of  the  apostles  to 
the  world  were  limited  in  duration,  the  mission  of  the 
Holy  Spirit  to  the  Church  was  fer^nanent  in  its  nature, 
since  the  Comforter  was  to  abide  with  it  for  ever. 
'*  There  is  no  member  of  the  body  of  Christ,"  said  he, 
**in  whom  the  Holy  Spirit  dwelleth  not;  for  it  will 
hold  as  good  at  the  end  of  the  world  and  in  eternity  as 
it  does  now,^and  it  holds  as  good  now  as  it  did  on  the 
day  of  Pentecost  and' afterward — that  *  if  any  man  have 
not  the  Spirit  of  Christ,  he  is  none  of  his.' " 

This  discourse,  being  widely  circulated  in  pamphlet 
form,  had  a  powerful  effect  in  imparting  clearness  and 
definiteness  to  the  views  of  the  Reformers  upon  this 
important  subject.  It  was  the  first  time  it  had  been 
publicly  brought  forward  in  so  particular  a  manner,  and 
the  clear  scriptural  evidence  presented  in  the  discourse 
was  generally  received  as  decisive  of  the  questions  in- 
volved. This  result  was  much  aided  by  Mr.  Camp- 
bell's warm  commendation  of  the  sentiments  which  it 
contained. 

"  Brother  Walter  Scott,"  said  he—"  who  in  the  fall  of  1827, 
arranged  the  several  items  of  faith,  repentance,  baptism,  re- 
mission of  sins,  the  Holy  Spirit  and  eternal  life,  restored 
them  in  this  order  to  the  Church  under  the  title  of  Ancient 
Gospel,  and  successfully  preached  it  for  the  conversion  of  the 


35^       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


world — has  written  a  discourse  on  the  fifth  point  (viz.,  the 
Holy  Spirit),  which  presents  the  subject  in  such  an  attitude 
as  cannot  fail  to  make  all  who  read  it  understand  the  views 
entertained  by  us,  and,  as  we  think,  taught  by  the  apostles  in 
their  writings.  We  can  recommend  to  all  the  disciples  this 
discourse  as  most  worthy  of  a  place  in  tlieir  families,  because 
it  perspicuously,  forcibly  and  with  a  brevity  favorable  to  an 
easy  apprehension  of  its  meaning,  presents  the  subject  to  the 
mind  of  the  reader.  Our  opponents,  too,  who  are  continu- 
ally misrepresenting,  and  many  of  them  no  doubt  misconceiv- 
ing, our  views  on  this  subject,  if  they  would  be  advised  by  us, 
we  would  request  to  furnish  themselves  with  a  copy,  that 
they  may  be  better  informed  on  this  topic,  and,  if  they  should 
still  be  conscientiously  opposed,  that  they  may  oppose  what 
we  teach,  and  not  a  phantom  of  their  own  creation." 

It  was  because  Mr.  Campbell  opposed  the  popular 
notions  of  special  illuminations  and  mystic  influences 
of  the  Holy  Spirit  upon  the  heart,  that  he  became  ob- 
noxious to  the  charge  of  undervaluing  the  Exercises  of 
the  heart.  In  a  very  courteous  review,  published  this 
year,  of  the  Extra  on  remission,  Andrew  Broaddus 
remarked  : 

"The  great  error  which  lies  at  the  bottom  of  Mr.  Camp- 
bell's theory,  of  the  actual  forgiveness  of  sins  in  baptism,, 
appears  to  consist  in  an  undervaluing  of  the  exercises  of 
the  hearty  and  attaching  to  external  conduct  or  actio7Z  the 
ifnportance  ivhich  really  belongs  to  those  exercises^ 

"  I  doubt  not,"  said  Mr.  Campbell,  in  reply,  "  that  Mr. 
Broaddus  thinks  this  is  all  correct,  and  yet  a  more  unjust 
representation  of  my  views  was  never  penned.  I  cannot 
blame  Mr.  Broaddus  for  censuring  in  strong  terms  a  view  of 
Christianity  against  which  such  a  charge  could  fairly  lie. 
I  would  join  with  him  and  denounce  such  a  rejDresentation 
of  Christianity  as  leaves  the  heart  of  man  not  only  out  of 
view,  but  in  the  background.  How  often  have  we  said  that 
the  greatest  objection  we  have  against  the  whole  system  we 


PHILOSOPHY  OF  RELIGION. 


359 


oppose  is  because  of  its  impotency  on  the  heart?  But  Mr. 
Broaddus  thinks  that  his  system  is  the  only  one  which  takes 
the  heart  of  man  into  good  keeping,  and  consequently  he 
that  dissents  from  him  leaves  the  heart  out  of  view." 

"  Once  for  all,"  said  he  again,  "  let  it  be  distinctly  noted 
that  we  appreciate  nothing  in  religion  which  tends  not  directly 
and  immediately,  proximately  and  remotely,  to  the  purifica- 
tion and  perfection  of  the  heart.  Paul  acts  the  philosopher 
fully  once,  and  if  we  recollect  but  once,  in  all  his  writings 
upon  this  subject.  It  is  in  his  first  Epistle  to  Timothy  :  '  Now 
the  end  of  the  commandment,  or  gospel,  is  love  out  of  a  pure 
heart  and  of  a  good  conscience  and  of  faith  unfeigned.'  .  .  . 
We  proceed  upon  these  as  our  axiomata  in  all  our  writings, 
reasonings,  preachings  :  first,  unfeigned  faith  ;  second,  a  good 
conscience  ;  third,  a  pure  heart ;  fourth,  love.  The  testimony 
of  God  apprehended,  produces  unfeigned  or  genuine  faith ; 
faith  obeyed,  produces  a  good  conscience.  This  Peter  de- 
fines to  be  the  use  of  baptism,  the  answer  of  a  good  con- 
science. This  produces  a  pure  heart,  and  then  the  consum- 
mation is  love — love  to  God  and  man." 

Mr.  Campbell  believed  that  as  in  nature  the  position 
of  the  earth  in  reference  to  the  sun  is  changed  in  order 
to  the  production  of  summer  fruits,  so  in  religion  the 
internal  state  of  the  sinner  in  reference  to  God  is 
changed  through  the  faith  and  obedience  of  the  gospel, 
so  that  the  heavenly  influences  might  produce  their 
proper  effects.  *' Jesus,"  said  he,  "  gives  us  the  philo- 
sophy of  his  scheme  in  an  address  to  a  sinner  of  that 
time  :  '  Your  sins,'  says  he,  '  are  forgiven  you  ;  go,  and 
sin  no  more.'  He  first  changes  the  sinner's  state,  not 
*  external  but  internal,'  and  then  says,  *  Go^  and  sin 
no  more.'  He  frankly  forgave  the  debt.  The  sinner 
loved  him." 

These  remarks  were  elicited  chiefly  by  the  course 
pursued  by  Mr.  Broaddus  in  his  review.     This  was 


360       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 

largely  composed  of  disquisitions  upon  "real"  and 
"  relative"  change,  upon  "  state,"  "  quality,"  etc.,  and 
was  permeated  throughout  by  that  entire  misconception 
of  Mr.  Campbell's  teaching  already  adverted  to,  as 
neglecting  the  heart  and  having  nothing  in  view  but 
external  and  formal  changes.  Mr.  Campbell  showed 
in  his  reply  that  no  changes  are  more  real  than  such 
as  are  relative,  and  that  the  term  "  state"  was  as  appli- 
cable to  internal  as  to  external  conditions,  to  the  latter  of 
which  Mr.  Broaddus  erroneously  supposed  Mr.  Camp- 
bell to  confine  it.  In  his  overweening  estimate  of 
religious  experiences,"  and  his  effort  to  represent 
Mr.  Campbell  as  advocating  a  mere  outward  work  or 
of  us  opera  turn  in  religion,  Mr.  Broaddus  was  led  to 
speak  of  baptism  as  **  an  external  or  bodily  act,"  and 
to  controvert  the  view  taken  by  Mr.  Campbell  that 
through  it  the  "  state"  of  the  sinner  was  changed.  In 
reply,  Mr.  C.  expresses  his  surprise  that  the  Baptists 
should  have  so  long  contended  with  Paedobaptists  and 
broken  fellowship  with  them  about  a  matter  which  in 
their  view  was  of  so  little  importance.  Entering  then 
into  the  heart  of  the  subject,  he  thus  ably  exposes  the 
shallowness  of  the  philosophy  opposed  to  him : 

"  I.  There  are  no  acts  of  worship  or  of  religion  ordained 
by  Jesus  Christ  that  are  at  all  to  be  regarded  as  outward  or 
external  bodily  acts,  '  God  is  a  Spirit,  and  they  who  worship 
him  must  worship  him  in  spirit  and  in  truth.'  Vocal  prayer 
and  praise,  though  they  are  exercises  of  the  larynx,  the 
tongue  and  the  lips ;  the  bending  of  the  knee,  or  the  stand- 
ing erect  or  falling  upon  the  ground ;  the  eating  of  bread, 
the  drinking  of  wine,  or  any  other  exertion  of  one  or  more 
or  all  of  our  organs,  mental  or  corporeal,  are  not  to  be  re- 
garded as  acts  of  religion  except  they  are  exercises  of  the 
understanding  and  the  heart ;  and  no  man  of  any  sense  pleads 
for  these,  as  bodily  acts,  as  of  any  importance  whatever. 


REVISION  OF  NEW  TESTAMENT. 


361 


"  2.  But  the  spirit  of  man  cannot  think  at  all  without  the 
body  ;  it  cannot  think  if  the  brain  be  not  exercised  ;  it  cannot 
speak  unless  the  tongue  be  moved  ;  it  cannot  feel  but  by  the 
nerves  ;  it  cannot  move  but  by  the  organs  of  the  body.  How- 
unreasonable,  then,  to  separate  or  to  regard  human  action  in 
reference  to  the  particular  organ  which  operates !  Immer- 
sion is  as  spiritual  an  act  when  proceeding  from  faith  in 
God's  promise  as  any  act  in  which  a  person  is  either  active 
or  passive.  Faith  is  as  much  a  bodily  act  as  immer- 
sion. No  man  without  the  exercise  of  his  senses  can  be- 
lieve anything.  '  Faith  comes  by  hearing^  says  a  master  in 
Israel." 

Thus  ever,  upon  his  stronger  pinions,  Mr.  Campbell 
rose  above  the  highest  altitude  of  his  ablest  opponents, 
and  from  his  loftier  point  of  observation  was  enableci 
to  take  wider  and  better  views  of  truth  and  duty.  His 
confutation  of  Mr.  Broaddus'  "  Extra  Examined"  was 
throughout  triumphant,  and  became  the  means  of  con- 
vincing many  of  the  truth  of  the  positions  he  advocated. 

In  October  of  the  year  1831  his  family  was  increased 
by  the  birth  of  a  son,  who  was  named  Alexander.  His 
domestic  happiness  continued  uninterrupted,  and  at  no 
period  were  his  public  labors  more  incessant.  During 
the  year  he  had  been  about  half  the  time  from  home, 
laboring  in  word  and  doctrine,  and  had  immersed  about 
two  hundred  persons.  Everywhere  the  principles  he 
taught  were  undergoing  the  most  active  scrutiny,  and 
gaining  the  confidence  and  the  support  of  unsectarian 
and  intelligent  minds.  His  various  publications  were 
constantly  gaining  a  wider  circulation,  and  his  incessant 
activity  was  still  adding  to  their  number.  A  pocket 
edition  of  the  New  Version  of  the  Testament  was  about 
this  time  projected.  Being  subjected  to  a  careful  revis- 
ion, in  which  he  received  important  aid  from  F.  W. 
Emmons,  who  had  then  taken  up  his  abode  in  Wells- 

31 


362       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


burg,  It  was  subsequently  stereotyped  and  published  in 
a  small  and  portable  form. 

The  intolerance  with  which,  in  many  cases,  the  Re- 
formers were  treated  by  the  Baptists  served  to  ilkistrate 
more  fully  the  tendencies  and  spirit  of  the  sectarianism 
which  Mr.  Campbell  sought  to  overthrow,  and  tended 
to  justify  more  fully  his  efforts  in  the  estimation  of  the 
people.  It  was  impossible  to  explain  satisfactorily,  on- 
Christian  principles,  the  necessity  of  division  where 
there  were  so  many  points  of  agreement,  and  the  un- 
prejudiced were  unable  to  recognize  as  just  reasons 
those  distinctions  which  appeared  so  vast  as  seen  through 
the  magnifying  glass  of  sectarian  bigotry,  but  so  minute 
and  trivial  in  the  eyes  of  Christian  love.  Mr.  Camp- 
bell, however,  by  no  means  attached  the  blame  to  the 
Baptists  as  a  people,  but  attributed  the  whole  difficulty 
to  a  few  individuals,  who  were  bent  on  maintaining  the 
supremacy  of  their  own  favorite  theories,  rather  than  the 
freedom  and  the  clemency  which  the  Baptists  were 
wont  to  cherish. 

These  ancient  characteristics,  however,  were  at  times 
still  exhibited  among  them,  even  by  Mr.  Campbell's 
opponents,  as  may  be  seen  in  the  following  instance  : 

Toward  the  close  of  this  year  ( 1831 ),  Thomas  Camp- 
bell had  set  out  upon  a  visit  to  the  churches  in  Eastern 
Virginia.  Upon  arriving  at  Fredericksburg  on  a  Friday, 
•he  was  invited  by  Elder  G.  F.  Adams,  the  pastor  of 
the  Baptist  church  there,  to  preach  on  the  following 
Lord's  day.  Bishop  R.  B.  Semple,  coming  into  town 
on  Saturday,  was  introduced  to  him,  and  next  morning 
had  another  interview  with  him  and  accompanied  him 
to  meeting.  Here  the  bishop  listened  to  his  discourse, 
and  at  its  close  added  a  few  remarks.  In  the  after- 
noon also  he  gave  a  short  exhortation  when  the  Lord's 


JEALOUSIES  AND  DIVISIONS,  363 


Supper  was  administered,  and  afterward  returned  home, 
bestowing  his  parting  benediction  on  Thomas  Camp- 
bell, who  was  to  preach  again  at  night.  In  the  kind 
and  courteous  recognition  thus  granted  by  Bishop 
Semple  to  Tliomas  Campbell  it  is  not  to  be  supposed 
that  he  intended  to  compromise  in  any  degree  his  cher- 
ished religious  sentiments,  or  to  sanction  what  he  still 
honestly  thought  to  be  defects  in  Mr.  Campbell's  teach- 
ing. After  so  much  religious  disputation,  however,'it 
was,  under  the  circumstances,  a  very  pleasing  incident, 
showing  that  the  supposed  differences  were  not  such, 
alter  all,  in  the  estimation  of  Bishop  Semple,  as  to  pre- 
clude fraternal  communion.  Providence,  too,  seemed 
to  give  to  this  incident  a  peculiar  significance,  for  in  a 
few  days  Bishop  Semple  was  seized  with  pleurisy,^ 
which  terminated,  on  Christmas  day,  1831,  his  long 
and  useful  life  ;  and  it  hence  so  happened  that  the  last 
discourse  he  ever  heard  was  from  the  lips  of  the  godly 
man  to  whom  tlie  Reformation  owed  its  origin,  and  that 
it  was  likewise  with  Thomas  Campbell  he  enjoyed  his 
last  coiiunimion  upon  earth — an  antepast,  it  is  to  be 
hoped,  of  tiiat  higher  Eucharistic  feast  where  the 
pious,  redeemed  from  all  their  prejudices  and  errors, 
shall  sit  down  together  with  x\braham,  Isaac  and  Jacob 
in  the  kingdom  of  God. 

The  jealousies  and  misconceptions  created  by  Mr. 
Campbell's  opponents  among  the  Baptists  continued 
nevertheless  to  produce  their  natural  effects,  and  soon 
after  Thomas  Campbell's  arrival  at  Richmond  the  pastor 
of  the  Baptist  church  there,  and  those  with  him,  re- 
quested all  favorable  to  the  Reformation  to  withdraw 
and  become  a  separate  people.  To  this  sixty  eight 
members  fmally  assented  and  formed  a  distinct  church, 
which  met  first  in  the  Capitol  on  the  fourth  of  March, 


3^4       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


1832,  on  which  occasion  Thomas  Campbell  preached  to 
a  large  assemblage  with  great  acceptance.  He  con- 
tinued for  some  time  successfully  his  labors  in  Rich- 
mond, where  he  was  at  length  confined  by  a  serious 
and  protracted  illness,  during  which  he  received  the 
kindest  attentions  from  his  friends  and  the  medical  visits 
of  the  eminent  Dr.  Cullen,  who  conceived  a  warm  at- 
tachment for  his  patient,  and  would  receive  nothing  for 
hfs  valuable  services.  Separations  between  the  Baptists 
and  the  Reformers  occurred  in  various  other  portions 
of  the  State,  and  these  were  still  farther  extended  by 
the  action  of  the  Dover  Association  in  the  fall,  excluding 
six  of  the  most  prominent  Reform  preachers  in  their 
body,  and  recommending  the  churches  to  separate  all 
Reformers"  from  their  communion.  The  preamble 
and  resolutions  adopted  on  this  occasion,  couched  in 
terms  to  which  Andrew  Broaddus  himself  objected,  con- 
tained so  many  incorrect  and  unjust  statements  that  they 
occasioned  no  little  bitterness  of  feeling  between  the 
parties,  and  tended  to  increase  public  sympathy  for  the 
worthy  individuals,  as  well  as  for  the  cause  they  were 
designed  to  discredit.  The  consequence  was  a  general 
division  between  the  Baptists  and  Reformers,  and  a 
rapid  increase  on  the  part  of  the  latter,  who  now  met 
regularly  without  hindrance  to  keep  the  ordinances, 
and  enjoyed  the  labors  of  a  number  of  excellent  and 
devoted  preachers.  A  meeting-house  was  soon  erected 
in  Richmond,  as  well  as  one  in  Bowling  Green,  in  Essex 
and  at  other  points.  These  were  plain,  substantial 
buildings,  conveniently  arranged,  and  without  any  of 
those  expensive  and  unnecessary  ornaments  in  which 
vanity  and  pride  so  often  expend  the  wealth  which 
ought  to  be  devoted  to  charitable  and  religious  uses. 
Such,  indeed,  has  in  general  been  the  character  of  the 


CHURCH  EDIFICES. 


meeting-houses  built  by  the  Reformers.  Mr.  Campbell 
himself,  who  was  extremely  simple  in  all  his  tastes  and 
habits,  was  decidediy  opposed  to  everything  which 
savored  of  show  or  ostentation  in  houses,  dress  or 
equipage.  On  the  character  of  church  edifices  he  about 
this  time  made  the  following  remarks : 

"  It  is  most  devoutly  to  be  wished  that  all  who  plead  for 
reformation  would  carry  out  their  principles  in  the  plainness,, 
convenience  and  cheapness  of  the  buildings  which  they  erect 
for  the  assemblies  of  Christians.  No  greater  satire  could  be 
inscribed  on  marble  against  the  religion  of  Jesus  Christ  than 
are  many  of  the  houses  called  churches,  wherever  the  people 
have  the  means  of  gratifying  the  spirit  which  is  in  them. 
There  is  no  difference  between  the  Baptists  and  other  sects  in 
this  particular.  Opulent  communities  amongst  them  have 
stately  edifices,  with  lofty  steeples  and  ponderous  bells.  There 
are  some  Baptist  cathedrals  on  which  more  than  forty  tliou- 
sand  dollars  have  been  expended  for  the  sake  of  showing  that 
the  Baptists  would  be  as  respectable  as  any  other  sect  if  they 
had  it  in  their  power.  The  spirit  of  baptized  and  sprinkled 
Calvinism,  whether  in  the  Presbyterian  or  Congregational 
form,  is  one  and  the  same,  if  a  thousand  arguments  could 
prove  such  a  proposition.  Large,  convenient  and  permanent 
houses  may  be  built  for  generally  half  the  sum  usually  ex- 
pended on  the  same  number  of  square  feet.  The  Quakers 
are  more  exemplary  in  this  respect  than  any  other  sect.  But 
even  their  plan  could  still  be  improved.  Let  there  only  be  a 
regard  to  convenience  and  durability  ;  let  all  that  is  merely  to 
gratify  the  lusts  of  the  eye  and  the  pride  of  life  be  lefl  to  them 
who  seek  to  gain  influence  over  the  children  of  the  flesh  by  re- 
ducing Christianity  to  the  taste  and  fashion  of  this  world,  and 
we  can  build  two,  three  and  sometimes  four  meeting-houses 
for  the  price  of  one  of  the  same  dimensions. 

Under  the  present  political  influences  which  govern 
society  it  is  necessary  to  have  synagogues  or  meeting-house* 
large  enough  for  the  accommodation  of  the  disciples  who  can 

31  « 


366       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


meet  in  any  one  place,  and  such  of  the  community  as  may 
desire  to  attend  their  meetings.  But  for  the  sake  of  the  humble 
Founder  of  this  our  religion  and  the  Author  of  our  hope  before 
God,  let  not  the  walls  of  the  house  nor  anything  in  it  reproach 
our  protession." 

Similarly,  he  loved  to  see  the  utmost  simplicity  in  the 
order  and  worship  of  the  house  of  God.  He  delighted 
in  the  public  reading  of  the  Scriptures,  the  plain  and 
earnest  exhortations  of  the  brotherhood,  and  in  solemn 
psalms  and  hymns  of  praise.  He  had  no  relish  for 
anything  formal  or  artificial,  such  as  the  repetitions  in 
fugue  tunes  or  the  establishment  of  singing  choirs.  As 
to  the  use  of  musical  instruments  ir*  worship,  he  was 
utterly  opposed  to  it,  and  took  occa^-Su  at  a  later  period 
to  remark  in  regard  to  it  that^  !t  was  w^ell  adapted  to 
churches  ''founded  on  the  ish  pattern  of  things** 
and  practicing  infant  springing. 

"  That  all  persons,"  ..e,  "  who  have  no  spiritual  dis- 
cernment, taste  or  relish  spiritual  meditations,  consolations 
and  sympathies  of  renewed  hearts,  should  call  for  such  aid  is 
but  natural.  Pure  water  from  the  flinty  rock  has  no  attractions 
for  the  mere  toper  or  wine-bibber.  A  little  alcohol,  or  genuine 
Cogniac  brandy,  or  good  old  Madeira  is  essential  to  the  bev 
erage  to  make  it  truly  refreshing.  So  to  those  who  have  no 
real  devotion  or  spirituality  in  them,  and  whose  animal  nature 
flags  under  the  oppression  of  cliurch  service,  I  think  that  in- 
strumental music  would  be  not  only  a  desideratum,  but  an  es- 
sential prerequisite  to  fire  up  their  souls  to  even  animal  de- 
votion. But  I  presume  to  all  spiritually-minded  Christians 
such  aids  would  be  as  a  cow-bell  in  a  concert."  M.  H.,  Series 
iv.,  vol.  i.,  p.  581. 

Shortly  before  the  time  of  Thomas  Campbell's  visit 
to  Richmond  a  slave  insurrection  in  Southampton 
county,  attended  with  the  brutal  slaughter  of  more  than 
sixty  persons,  nearly  half  of  whom  were  mothers  and 


EMANCIPATION  OF  SLAVES. 


children,  had  spread  a  feeling  of  alarm  and  insecurity 
through  that  portion  of  the  State  exposed  to  a  similar 
calamity,  and  every  one  seemed  j^nxious  that  something 
should  be  at  once  done  to  avert  impending  dangers. 
The  subject  of  slavery,  previously  referred  to  only  in 
the  most  guarded  manner,  was  now  everywhere  freely 
and  unreservedly  canvassed,  and  various  plans  were 
proposed  for  its  removal,  its  injurious  effects  upon  the 
political  and  social  interests  of  the  State  being  strongly 
urged  in  the  Richmond  papers  and  in  the  Legislature. 
Although  far  removed  from  the  troubled  district  and 
free  from  the  immediate  evils  of  the  slavery  institution, 
Mr.  Campbell  thought  it  his  duty  as  a  citizen  to  use  hiSi^ 
influence  in  favor  of  emancipation,  and  to  express  his 
sentiments  upon  the  institution  itself. 

''''Slavery**  s^\d  he,  "  that  largest  and  blackest  blot  upon 
our  national  escutcheon,  that  many-headed  monster,  that  Pan- 
dora's box,  that  bitter  root,  that  i)ligluing  and  blasting  curse 
under  which  so  fair  and  so  large  a  portion  of  our  beloved 
country  groans — that  deadly  Upas,  whose  breath  pollutes  and 
poisons  everything  witliin  its  inlluence — is  now  evoking  the 
attention  of  this  ancient  and  venerable  commonwealth  in  a 
manner  as  unexpected  as  it  is  irresistible  and  cheering  to 
every  philanthropist — to  every  one  who  has  a  heart  to  feel,  a 
tear  to  siied  over  human  wretchedness,  or  a  tongue  to  speak 
for  degraded  humanity.  .  .  .  VV^e  have  always  thought,  and 
frequently  said,  since  we  became  acquainted  with  tiie  general 
views  and  character  of  the  people  of  Virginia,  that  tiiere  was 
as  much  republicanism  in  Virginia,  even  in  the  slaveholding 
districts,  as  could  be  found  among  the  same  number  of  inhab- 
itants in  any  State  in  the  Union.  And,  moreover,  we  have 
thought  tliat  if  the  abolition  of  slavery  was  legitimately  to 
be  laid  before  tlie  people  of  this  commf)nwealtli,  as  it  now  is, 
ihere  would  be  found  even  among  slaveholders  a  majority  to 
concur  in  a  national  system  of  emancipation. 


36S        MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


"  Ui  vler  this  conviction  we  had  digested  a  plan  for  the  final 
abolition  of  slavery  in  this  State,  which  we  intended  to  sub- 
mit in  the  Convention  which  framed  the  present  constitution  ; 
and  indeed  this  was  a  chief  inducement  to  reconcile  us  to  a 
seat  in  that  body.  But  in  the  more  matured  judgment  of 
many  members  of  that  convention  with  whom  we  conferred, 
and  who  were  as  alive  to  the  subject  as  we  could  be,  it  was 
thought  impolitic  and  inexpedient  at  that  time  to  urge  this 
subject  farther  than  to  guard  against  the  insertion  of  a  single 
word  in  the  constitution  recognizing  the  existence  of  this  evil. 
The  subject  is  then  constitutionally  within  the  power  of  the 
Legislature  to  take  any  measures,  at  any  time,  which  in  its 
wisdom  it  may  think  expedient." 

As  the  plan  recommended  by  Mr.  Jefferson,  which  was 
to  colonize  beyond  the  limits  of  the  United  States  all  slaves 
born  after  a  certain  period,  was  then  under  discussion,  along 
with  other  methods  of  getting  rid  of  the  evil.  Mr.  Campbell 
on  his  part  proposed  this  plan  :  That  the  ten  millions  of  dol- 
lars previously  appropriated  annually  to  the  payment  of  the 
national  debt  then  just  extinguished,  should  thenceforth  be 
applied  to  the  colonization  of  the  colored  race,  as  stated  in 
these  terms : 

^^Be  it  enacted^  That  from  and  after  the  first  day  of  January, 
one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  thirty-four,  the  sum  of  ten 
millions  of  dollars  shall  be  annually  appropriated  to  the  col- 
onization of  all  people  of  color,  either  slaves  or  free  persons, 

in  ,  until  the  soil  of  our  free  and  happy  country  shall  not 

be  trod  by  the  foot  of  a  slave,  nor  enriched  by  a  drop  of  his 
sweat  or  blood  ;  that  all  the  world  may  not  believe  that  we 
are  a  nation  of  hypocrites^  asserting  all  men  to  have  cer- 
tain natural  and  inherent  rights,  which  in  our  practice  we 
deny  ;  and  shedding  crocodile  tears  over  the  fall  of  Warsaw, 
and  illuminating  for  the  revolution  of  the  Parisians,  while  we 
have  millions  of  miserable  human  beings  at  home  held  in 
involuntary  bondage,  in  ignorance,  degradation  and  vice,  by 
a  republican  system  of  free  slaveholding.^' 

He  add?  •  "  Virginia  can,  and  she  will,  rid  herself  of  this 


THE  PUBLIC  INTERESTS. 


curse  ;  and  we  say  the  sooner  she  does  it,  the  better  for  herself, 
morally,  politically,  religiously  and  every  other  way.  But 
should  the  nation  take  it  up,  how  gloriously  would  the  cause 
triumph  !  And  as  sure  as  the  Ohio  winds  its  way  to  the 
Gulf  of  Mexico,  will  slavery  desolate  and  blast  our  political 
existence,  unless  effectual  measures  be  adopted  to  bring  it  to 
a  close  while  it  is  in  the  power  of  the  nation." 

Thus  it  was  that  Mr.  Campbell,  ever  mindful  of  the 
best  and  highest  interests  of  society,  omitted  no  oppor- 
tunity of  employing  his  abilities  and  his  influence  in 
behalf  of  every  measure  likely  to  promote  them.  Prompt 
but  not  rash,  conservative  but  not  stationary,  his  plans 
were  usually  characterized  no  less  by  novelty  than  by 
prudence,  and  his  thoughts  upon  political  as  well  as 
upon  religious  and  other  subjects  were  marked  by  that 
breadth  of  view,  that  truthful  simplicity  and  practical 
sagacity  which  ever  distinguish  superior  minds. 

TOL.  II. — Y 


CHAPTER  XI. 


Union  with  the  "  Christians  " — Faith  and  opinion — Distinguished  fellow- 
laborers — Eastern  tour — Skeptics  of  New  York — Editorial  labors — Pro- 
gress of  truth. 

"  I  ^HE  tendency  of  religious  theories  to  create  division, 


as  seen  in  the  last  chapter,  was  now  to  be  con- 
trasted with  the  power  of  the  Scriptures  to  promote 
union.  The  good  feeling  between  the  "Reformers" 
and  the  preachers  and  members  of  the  "Christian  Con- 
nection," which  a  common  advocacy  of  the  Bible  had 
produced  some  years  before  on  the  Western  Reserve, 
had  gradually  extended  itself  to  other  parts  of  Ohio, 
and  especially  to  Kentucky,  where  the  "Christians" 
constituted  a  large  and  respectable  body,  estimated  at 
from  ten  to  twelve  thousand  members.  It  was  natural 
that  a  warm  mutual  sympathy  should  arise  between  the 
two  people  whose  religio.us  views  and  aims  in  many 
respects  corresponded,  and  that  the  high  personal  re- 
gard existing  between  Mr.  Campbell  and  B.  W.  Stone, 
L.  Fleming  and  other  preachers  of  the  "Connection," 
as  well  as  between  many  of  the  private  members  of  the 
two  communities,  should  lead  to  mutual  intercourse  and 
to  a  better  understanding  upon  religious  subjects. 

The  agreement  which  was  found  to  exist  in  all  im- 
portant matters  had  already  given  rise  to  desires  aild  even 
plans  for  union,  but  each  of  the  communities  still  pre- 
served its  separate  organization,  and,  in  some  respects, 


370 


DISTINCTIVE  DIFFERENCES.  371 


its  distinctive  character.  B.  W.  Stone  favored  a  more 
free  communion.  *' As  well,"  said  he,  "  might  we  forbid 
unimmersed  persons  to  pray,  to  praise,  to  teach,  as  to 
forbid  them  to  commune.  .  .  .  What  authority  have 
we  for  inviting  or  debarring  any  pious,  holy  believer 
from  the  Lord's  table?  Though  it  is  done  by  many, 
we  see  no  divine  authority  for  it."  Mr.  Campbell  had 
formerly  expressed  sentiments  precisely  similar,  but  a 
fuller  comprehension  of  the  relations  of  baptism  to 
regeneration  and  the  remission  of  sins  had  latterly  in- 
clined him  to  stricter  views.  He  dreaded  even  the 
appearance  of  setting  aside  any  divine  institution,  or 
of  assuming  to  judge  of  men  by  their  supposed  sin- 
cerity rather  than  by  their  actual  obedience  to  the 
word  of  God.  Again,  B.  W.  Stone  thought  that  the 
name  "  Christian"  was  given  by  divine  authority  and 
ought  to  be  the  distinctive  title  of  every  follower  of 
Jesus.  This  was  also  the  view  of  Thomas  Campbell 
(C.  B.,  vol.  ii.,  p.  12),  but  his  son  did  not  concur  in 
this,  nor  concede  the  correctness  of  the  criticism  on 
the  word  (^X()rjiiaTiaac)  upon  which  it  chiefly  rested. 
He  admitted  indeed  that  the  name  Christian  was  pro- 
per and  appropriate,  and  only  wished  that  all  were 
worthy  of  it.  He  preferred  "  disciple,"  however,  as  a 
more  humble  appellation  and  of  earlier  and  more  fre- 
quent use  in  the  New  Testament.  Much  of  Mr.  Camp- 
bell's repugnance  to  the  denominational  narhe  Christian 
was  due  to  the  fact  that  the  anti-Trinitarian  specula- 
tions of  those  who  had  already  adopted  it,  had  sub- 
jected them  to  charges  of  Arianism,  a  heresy  to  which 
he  had  a  peculiar  antipathy.  These  charges  indeed  he 
had  found  by  intercourse  with  Mr.  Stone  and  others  to 
be  unjust,  and  he  had  become  latterly  well  satisfied 
that  the  "  Christians"  generally  in  Kentucky  were  dis- 


37*       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 

posed  to  abandon  all  speculation  about  the  modus  of 
the  divine  existence  : 

"  In  Kentucky,"  said  he,  "  and  the  South-west  generally, 
this  is  getting  out  of  fashion,  and  many  of  the  congregations 
called  *  Christians*  are  just  as  sound  in  the  faith  of  Jesus  as 
the  only-begotten  Son  of  God,  in  the  plain  import  of  these 
terms,  as  any  congregations  with  which  I  am  acquainted. 
With  all  such  I,  as  an  individual,  am  united,  and  would  re- 
joice in  seeing  all  the  immersed  disciples  of  the  Son  of  God 
called  *  Christians,*  and  walking  in  all  the  commandments 
of  the  Lord  and  Saviour.  We  plead  for  the  union,  commu- 
nion and  co-operation  of  all  such  ;  and  wherever  there  are  in 
any  vicinity  a  remnant  of  those  who  keep  the  commandments 
of  Jesus,  whatever  may  have  been  their  former  designation, 
they  ought  to  rally  under  Jesus  and  the  apostles  and  bury  all 
dissensions  about  such  unprofitable  subjects  as  those  long- 
vexed  questions  about  trinity,  atonement,  depravity,  election, 
effectual  calling,  etc.  If  it  had  not  been  for  this  most  unrea- 
sonable war  about  Arian  or  Unitarian  orthodoxy,  the  name 
Christian  would  not  have  been  traduced  in  the  land  as  it 
has  been,  and  much  might  have  been  done  to  promote  the 
union  of  all  who  love  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  sincerely.  With 
all  such  I  am  united  in  heart  and  in  hand,  and  with  all  such 
I  will,  with  the  help  of  God,  co-operate  in  any  measure 
which  can  conduce  to  the  furtherance  of  the  gospel  of  Christ. 
Indeed  I  feel  myself,  as  an  individual  (for  here  I  only  speak 
for  myself),  at  perfect  liberty  to  unite  in  every  act  of  relig- 
ious worship  with  any  sect  of  Baptists  in  America — not  as  a 
sect,  but  as  disciples  of  Jesus  Christ — if  their  moral  and 
Christian  behavior  be  compatible  with  the  gospel,  irrespect- 
ive of  all  their  speculations  upon  the  untaught  questions  of 
their  creeds." 

Thus  faith,  and  not  opinion,  was  ever  with  Mr.  Camp- 
bell the  basis  of  Christian  union.  He  advocated  fel- 
lowship with  all  who  received  the  teachings  of  the 
Scripture  in  their  simple  and  obvious  meaning,  and 


MEANS  OF  UNION. 


373 


whose  conduct  corresponded  with  these  teachings. 
There  was  no  need  of  strained  interpretations,  spe- 
cious glosses  or  textual  perversions  where  no  theologi- 
cal theory  was  to  be  sustained,  but  all  could  learn  the 
truth  by  taking  the  Bible  in  its  proper  connection,  and 
construing  it  in  harmony  with  the  established  laws  of 
language.  When,  from  the  necessity  of  the  subject^ 
as  in  the  case  of  the  inscrutable  myteries  of  the  divine 
nature,  a  boundary  was  reached  beyond  which  the 
human  mind  was  unable  to  pass,  there  its  investigations 
must  be  reverently  stayed  in  humble  adoration.  Within 
these  boundaries  even,  a  just  regard  was  to  be  paid  to 
time  and  opportunity  as  to  the  extent  of  Christian 
attainment.  The  simple  truths  of  the  gospel  could  be 
received  by  babes  in  Christ,  and  upon  these  truths  all 
could  be  united  in  one  body,  in  which  progress  was 
indicated  not  by  schism  but  by  growth,  and  every  part 
of  which,  ^'fitl}^  joined  together,"  thus  made  increase 
*'  unto  the  edifying  of  itself  in  love."  All,  if  not  taught, 
must  at  least  be  teachable ;  all  must  seek  wisdom,  but 
not  to  be  wise  above  what  is  written ;"  and  in  all  cases 
obedience  must  keep  pace  with  knowledge  of  the 
divine  will. 

Such  were  alike  the  guiding  principles  of  both  com- 
munities, and  any  apparent  differences  in  progress 
were  more  complementary  than  antagonistic.  Both 
Mr.  Campbell  and  Mr.  Stone  were  alike  devoted  to 
the  great  end  of  uniting  the  true  followers  of  Christ  into 
one  communion  upon  the  Bible,  but  each  regarded  the 
method  of  its  accomplishment  from  his  own  point  of 
view.  Mr.  Campbell,  contemplating  the  distinct  con- 
gregations with  their  proper  functionaries  as  the  highest 
religious  executive  authority  on  earth,  was  in  doubt  how 
a  formal  union  could  be  attained,  whether  by  a  general 

32 


.V/4       J^fEMO/RS   OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


convention  of  messenorers  or  a  ireneral  assembly  of  the 
people.  Barton  W.  Stone,  on  the  other  hand,  looking 
at  the  essential  spirit  of  the  gospel,  exclaimed,  "  Oh, 
my  brethren,  let  us  repent  and  do  the  first  works,  let  us 
seek  for  more  holiness,  rather  than  trouble  ourselves  and 
others  with  schemes  and  plans  of  union.  The  love  of 
God,  shed  abroad  in  our  hearts  by  the  Holy  Ghost  given 
unto  us,  will  more  effectually  unite  than  all  the  wisdom 
of  the  world  combined."  This  great  truth  was  not  long 
in  being  exemplified,  and  that,  too,  by  methods  which, 
like  the  natural  movements  of  the  body,  were  the  most 
direct  and  simple,  and  which  will  be  fully  seen  in  the 
brief  notices  which  it  is  necessary  now  to  take  of  some 
of  the  individuals  who  chiefly  aided  in  accomplishing 
the  desired  end. 

Among  these  may  be  particularly  mentioned  John 
Rogers,  a  younger  brother  of  Samuel  Rogers,  already 
spoken  of.  Born  in  Clark  county,  Kentucky,  Decem- 
ber 6,  1800,  he  was  taken  in  1801,  with  the  rest  of  the 
family,  to  the  West,  and  spent  his  early  years  on  the 
plantation  owned  by  his  father  not  far  from  St.  Louis, 
then  called  Pancoiir.  In  1S09  the  family  returned  to 
Kentucky,  and  settled  near  Concord  in  Nicholas  county, 
where  considerable  religious  excitement  still  lingered. 
After  the  baptism  of  his  brother  Samuel  in  1S12,  his 
attention  became  strongly  directed  to  religion,  so  that 
in  the  following  year,  during  meetings  held  in  Millers- 
burg  in  Bourbon  county,  by  B.  W.  Stone  and  others, 
and  where  Walter  Warder  and  J.  Vardeman  also  were 
preaching,  he  earnestly  sought  for  some  time  that  ''re- 
ligious experience"  which  v^'as  supposed  to  be  conver- 
sion, and  which  apparently  had  been  obtained  by  some 
of  his  associates  who  joined  the  Baptist  Church.  Being 
exhorted  to  pray  on,  and  still  hoping  for  some  inexplic- 


CALL  TO  THE  MINISTRY, 


375 


able,  palpable  or  sensible  manifestation  by  which  he 
would  "know  his  sins  forgiven,"  he  passed  through 
various  states  of  feeling,  and  was  finally,  in  December, 
1818,  baptized  by  B.  W.  Stone,  and  united  with  the 
Christian  Church.  As  he  gave  evidence  of  piety  and 
speaking  abilities,  his  brother  Samuel  obtained  his  re- 
lease from  his  apprenticeship  to  the  cabinet  business,  to 
which  he  had  already  devoted  three  years,  and  he 
engaged  soon  after  in  preaching  in  Ohio  and  else- 
where, working  occasionally  at  his  business  in  order 
to  defray  expenses,  and  encountering  all  the  toils  and 
hardships  of  the  pioneer  Christian  preachers,  traveling 
on  foot  and  preaching  almost  daily  with  little  pecuniary 
compensation,  but  considerable  success  in  turning  sin- 
ners to  Christ.  Having  procured  a  horse,  he  worked 
again  at  his  trade  in  Wilmington,  Ohio,  to  obtain  cloth- 
ing and  a  saddle  and  bridle,  and  preached  for  a  con- 
siderable time  in  that  portion  of  the  State.  He  accom- 
panied afterward  his  brother  Samuel  on  two  long  tours 
through  Missouri,  making  a  great  many  converts,  and 
after  his  return  visited  various  parts  of  Virginia.  During 
all  this  time  he  was  greatly  troubled  in  regard  to  his 
**  call  to  the  ministry,"  it  being  strongly  held  by  the 
"  Christians"  that  there  must  be  a  sensible,  special  and 
unmistakable  "  call"  to  preach,  and  that  no  one  should 
"  take  this  honor  to  hiraself"  or  presume  to  administer 
the  ordinances  unless  thus  "  called  of  God."  As  John 
Rogers  had  not  been  the  subject  of  any  special  visita- 
tion, but  felt  impelled  to  labor  simply  from  an  earnest 
desire  to  serve  the  cause  of  Christ  and  to  bring  men  to 
a  knowledge  of  salvation,  he  often  felt  inclined  to  doubt 
his  authority.  These  doubts,  however,  were  subse- 
quently transferred  to  the  clerical  theory  which  had 
created  them. 


37^       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


In  the  year  of  Mr.  CampbelFs  debate  with  McCalla 
(1823)  he  became  the  regular  preacher  for  the  church 
at  Carlisle,  in  Nicholas  county,  Kentucky,  where  three 
years  afterward  he  first  saw  Mr.  Campbell,  who  was 
there  on  a  visit.  From  this  interview,  and  the  reading 
of  the  "Christian  Baptist,"  his  views  of  the  Christian 
institution  were  much  enlarged,  and  he  learned  greatly 
to  admire  and  love  the  individual  whose  developments 
of  the  primitive  gospel  had  done  so  much  to  enlighten 
men's  minds  on  the  subject  of  religion.  Being  a  true 
lover  of  the  Bible,  and  a  man  of  clear  perception  and 
sober  judgment,  he  was  not  long  in  comprehending  and 
appreciating  aright  those  points  in  which  Mr.  Camp- 
bell was  thought  to  differ  from  Mr.  Stone ;  and  as  he 
had  much  influence  with  his  own  people,  he  became 
largely  instrumental  in  removing  prejudices  and  pre- 
paring the  way  for  a  cordial  Christian  union  with  the 
Reformers. 

Another  individual  whose  influence  greatly  contrib- 
uted to  this  union  was  Thomas  M.  Allen,  a  native  of 
Shenandoah,  now  Warren  county,  Va.,  born  October 
21,  1797.  His  ancestors  were  Presbyterians,  and  he  re- 
ceived his  education  chiefly  from  Mr.  Snyder  and  Wil- 
liam Williamson,  Presbyterian  preachers,  and  from 
John  S.  McNamara,  one  of  the  most  eminent  mathe- 
maticians of  the  time.  Before  he  was  seventeen  years 
of  age  he  entered  the  army  as  a  volunteer,  and  served 
for  more  than  six  months  during  the  war  with  England, 
in  a  Virginia  regiment  commanded  by  Colonel  Yancy. 
In  1816,  while  returning  to  Virginia  from  a  visit  to 
Kentucky,  when  within  six  miles  of  Washington,  Pa., 
in  a  violent  storm  a  large  tree  suddenly  fell  across  the 
road,  instantly  killing  a  young  lady  by  his  side  and 
crushing  his  own  horse  under  him,  inflicting  upon  hiro 


THOMAS  M.  ALLEN. 


VII 


at  the  same  time  so  much  injury  as  to  result  in  the 
almost  entire  loss  of  the  use  of  his  left  arm.  Remov- 
ing to  Kentucky  in  1819,  he  married  in  Fayette  county, 
and  attended  the  law  school  of  Transylvania  University, 
and  subsequently,  in  1822,  commenced  the  practice  of 
law  in  Bloomington,  Ind.  Here  his  success  equaled 
his  highest  expectations,  but  he  and  his  wife  being  im- 
mersed by  B.  W.  Stone,  he  returned  to  Kentucky,  and 
on  the  23d  of  June,  1823,  became  one.  of  the  original 
six  members  of  the  church  constituted  at  "  Old  Union," 
in  Fayette  county,  the  other  male  members  being 
Samuel  Ellis  and  James  Rankin.  He  soon  commenced 
preaching,  and  in  May,  1825,  was  ordained  at Union.** 
His  speaking  abilities,  fine  personal  appearance  and 
popular  manners  gave  him  great  influence,  and  his 
labors  were  attended  with  marked  success.  He  planted 
churches  at  Paris,  Antioch  and  Clintonville  in  Bour- 
bon county,  and  at  Cynthiana  in  Harrison,  being  also 
a  fellow-laborer  with  most  of  the  distinguished  pioneer 
preachers  of  Kentucky,  and  enjoying  the  confidence 
and  esteem  of  the  entire  brotherhood. 

He  had  obtained  the  *' Christian  Baptist"  soon  after  it 
commenced,  and  was  delighted  with  its  developments 
of  the  simple  nature  of  the  religion  of  Christ,  its  dis- 
tinctions between  the  diflierent  dispensations,  and  the 
new  light  which  it  threw  upon  the  themes  of  the  Bible. 
He  quickly  abandoned  all  the  speculations  for  which 
with  others  he  had  been  contending,  and  accustomed 
himself  to  speak  always  of  Bible  things  in  Bible  words. 
The  total  avoidance  of  the  terms  of  scholastic  divinity, 
and  the  practice  of  speaking  of  the  Father,  the  Son 
and  the  Holy  Spirit  just  as  the  Scriptures  speak,  he 
soon  found  to  do  more  toward  settling  the  vexed  ques- 
tions about  the     Trinity"  than  had  been  done  by  the 

32  * 


37S       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


controversies  of  fifteen  centuries.  He  aided  much  in 
extending  the  circulation  of  the  "Christian  Baptist"  and 
of  the  views  it  presented,  and  in  leading  the  people  for- 
ward to  more  accurate  conceptions  of  primitive  Chris- 
tianity, and  labored  to  promote  the  most  fraternal  and 
friendly  relations  between  the  "  Christians"  and  the 
Reformers. 

In  July,  1827,  he  baptized  at  Georgetown  a  young 
man  about  twenty-two  years  of  age,  who  was  destined  to 
exert  no  inconsiderable  influence  upon  the  progress  of 
truth  in  Kentucky.  Born  at  Georgetown,  John  Allen 
Gano  had  received  during  his  early  years  a  good  Eng- 
lish education  and  some  knowledge  of  the  languages 
from  B.  W.  Stone,  Jesse  Olds  and  Charles  O'Hara. 
During  this  period  his  religious  impressions  were 
strong,  but  were  afterward  effaced  by  his  love  of  so- 
ciety and  youthful  pleasure.  Having  studied  law,  he 
resolved,  after  his  admission  to  the  bar,  to  go  to  Texas 
as  his  permanent  home,  but  upon  his  way,  descending 
the  Ohio,  was  seized  with  a  severe  haemorrhage  of  the 
lungs,  and  was  left  at  a  village  on  the  Kentucky  shore 
to  die.  While  in  this  alarming  state,  his  religious  feel- 
ings returned  with  great  force,  and  as  he  slowly  recov- 
ered he  determined  to  study  the  word  of  God  and  to 
adopt  a  different  course  of  life.  When  able  to  return 
to  Georgetown,  he  waited  on  the  ministrations  of  vari- 
ous preachers,  but  found  so  little  light  and  so  many 
contradictions  in  their  teachincj  that  he  became  dis- 
couraged  as  to  the  possibility  of  finding  the  way  of  life, 
and  had  nearly  fallen  into  his  old  associations,  when 
he  fortunately  attended  the  preaching  of  B.  W.  Stone 
and  his  brethren,  under  which  he  was  brought  into  a 
state  of  deep  conviction  and  was  led  to  confess  Christ. 
Possessed  of  warm  feelings  and  great  readiness  of  ex- 


JOHN  ALLEN  GANO, 


379 


pression,  he  could  not  refrain  from  urging  the  claims 
of  the  gospel  upon  the  people,  both  at  the  time  he  con- 
fessed his  faith  and  at  his  immersion,  and  soon  became 
fully  engaged  in  the  work  of  the  ministry,  in  which  he 
was  eminently  successful.  It  was  in  the  year  of  his 
baptism  that  he  first  saw  and  heard  Mr.  Campbell,  and 
was  at  once  impressed  by  his  preaching  and  teaching, 
which  he  thought  excelled  anything  he  had  ever  heard. 

"  I  sought  him  out,"  he  remarked,  "  at  the  residence  of 
Brother  J.  T.  Johnson.  I  feared  I  should  be  overawed  in 
the  presence  of  one  so  gifted.  But  I  found  him  so  easy  of 
access,  so  kindly  attentive  to  every  question,  such  Christ- 
like humility  and  benevolence  breathing  in  every  word  and 
manifest  in  every  action,  that  I  soon  felt  myself  at  home  with 
him.  I  do  not  remember  to  have  seen  so  much  of  heavenly 
wisdom  and  true  dignity  of  character,  blended  with  such 
child-like  simplicity  and  meekness,  except  in  the  beautiful 
life  of  his  co-laborer,  B.  W.  Stone.  I  wondered  that  any  one 
could  see  and  hear  him  and  not  admire  and  love  him.  After 
this  I  read  his  writings  with  great  interest  and  profit.  Since 
then,"  he  continues,  in  a  recent  communication,  '"I  have  had 
the  pleasure  of  his  company  at  our  home  and  elsewhere,  more 
or  less  through  a  period  of  nearly  fort}'  years.  I  have  always 
found  him  the  same  truly  courteous,  affable.  Christian  gen- 
tleman— pure,  chaste  and  dignified  in  deportment  and  con- 
versation— a  model  of  piety  and  devotion  to  God.  Oh  it  was 
always  a  rich  treat  to  listen  to  his  words  of  wisdom  and 
divine  instruction,  drawing  as  he  ever  did  from  the  Book 
of  books  his  lessons  of  truth  and  love !  .  .  .  I  owe  to  this 
gieat  and  good  man  much  indeed.  And  amongst  the  things 
not  the  least,  the  lesson  that  enabled  me  to  distinguish  the 
gospel,  in  its  facts,  commands  and  promises,  from  the  opinions 
and  speculations  of  men  about  them — the  one  the  power  of 
God  unto  salvation,  the  other  powerless,  empty  and  vain." 

There  was  another  individual,  however,  who  perhaps 
more  than  any  one  else  directly  contributed  to  effect  the 


380       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


coalescence  of  the  two  communities.  This  was  j.  T. 
Johnson,  at  whose  house  Mr.  Gano  first  formed  a  per- 
sonal acquaintance  with  Mr.  Campbell.  Born  October 
5,  1788,  in  Scott  county,  Kentucky,  and  educated  at 
Transylvania  University,  he  studied  law  and  was  ad- 
mitted to  practice  before  he  was  twenty-one.  x\fter  his 
marriage  he  resided  on  a  farm  near  Georgetown,  and 
early  in  the  war  of  181 2  became  a  volunteer  aid  to 
General  Harrison,  and  at  the  siege  of  Fort  Meigs,  in 
his  fearless  discharge  of  duty,  had  a  fine  gra\'  charger 
shot  under  him,  and  was  himself  struck  by  a  ball,  though 
not  seriously  injured.  After  the  peace  he  became,  in 
1815,  a  candidate  for  the  Legislature,  and  was  readily 
elected  every  year  in  succession  till  1819.  In  the  finan- 
cial crisis  of  this  year  he  lost  his  entire  fortune,  some 
fifty  thousand  dollars,  which  he  voluntarily  gave  up  to 
pay  the  debts  of  his  friends,  for  whom  his  generous  con- 
fidence had  induced  him  to  become  surety.  In  1820  he 
was  elected  to  Congress,  in  which  he  served  four  years, 
and  in  1828  was  again  returned  to  the  State  Legislature, 
after  which,  from  his  love  for  domestic  quiet,  he  deter- 
mined to  abandon  political  life,  much  to  the  regret  of 
the  people. 

Ever  characterized  by  the  highest  moral  integrity,  he 
had  evinced  also  a  sincere  religious  faith,  and  before  his 
first  entrance  upon  congressional  duties  had  become  a 
member  of  the  Baptist  church  at  the  Great  Crossings 
during  the  summer  of  182 1.  It  was  not,  however,  until 
after  his  retirement  from  the  busy  scenes  of  political 
life  that  he  undertook  to  examine  carefully  those  re- 
ligious questions  which  were  at  this  time  occasioning  so 
much  excitement  in  Kentucky,  and  to  which  his  atten- 
tion had  been  particularly  directed  by  the  proceedings 
of  the  church  at  Great  Crossings  in  1828  against  J. 


JOHN  T.  JOHNSON. 


381 


Creath,  Jr.,  who  was  at  that  time  their  preacher  and 
known  to  favor  the  doctrines  of  the  Reformers.  During 
the  years  1829-30  he  himself  says, 

I  had  more  leisure.  The  public  mind  was  much  excited 
in  regard  to  what  was  vulgarly  called  Campbellism,  and  I  re- 
solved to  examine  it  in  the  light  of  the  Bible.  I  was  won 
over,  and  contended  for  it  with  all  my  might  in  the  private 
circle.  I  was  astonished  at  the  ignorance  and  perversity  of 
learned  men  who  were  reputed  pious  and  otherwise  esteemed 
honorable.  My  eyes  were  opened  and  I  was  made  perfectly 
free  by  the  truth.  And  the  debt  of  gratitude  I  owe  to  that 
man  of  God,  Alexander  Campbell,  no  language  can  tell." 

He  was  no  sooner  convinced  of  the  correctness  of  the 
reformatory  principles  than,  with  that  promptitude  and 
earnestness  which  belonged  to  his  character,  he  at  once 
endeavored  to  introduce  them  into  the  church  at  the 
Great  Crossings.  These  efforts,  however,  being  resisted, 
and  the  church  persisting  in  unscriptural  usages,  and  in 
refusing  to  receive  as  members  persons  who  had  con- 
fessed Christ  and  been  immersed  into  his  name  after 
the  primitive  model,  he  resolved  to  detach  himself  and 
form  a  society  governed  exclusively  by  the  Bible.  Ac- 
cordingly, on  the  second  Saturday  of  February,  183 1, 
he,  with  two  others,  B.  S.  Chambers  and  W.  Johnson, 
formed  the  nucleus  of  a  separate  congregation  at  the 
Great  Crossings,  and  at  this  first  meeting  he  baptized 
his  wife  and  his  brother  Joel  and  his  wife,  thus  consti- 
tuting a  church  of  six  members.  Abandoning  soon  after 
the  lucrative  practice  of  law  in  which  he  had  been  en- 
gaged, he  began  the  public  advocacy  of  that  primitive 
gospel  which,  by  its  simplicity  and  wonderful  adap- 
tation to  the  wants  and  condition  of  a  sinful  world, 
had  captivated  his  heart  and  enlisted  all  the  powers  of 
his  noble  nature.    Abounding  in  human  sympathies, 


382       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


high-minded  and  honorable  in  all  his  feelings,  he  pos- 
sessed a  remarkable  ingenuousness  and  simple  direct- 
ness of  purpose  which  inspired  at  once  respect  and  con- 
fidence. Without  that  profundity  or  reach  of  thought 
by  which  some  men  are  characterized,  he  possessed  a 
singular  power  of  perceiving  the  practical  relations  of 
things  and  of  disengaging  at  once  the  speculative  and 
the  fanciful  from  the  actual  and  the  positive.  Hence 
he  soon  became  distinguished  as  a  preacher  for  the 
directness  of  his  appeals  and  the  scriptural  simplicity 
of  his  addresses,  while  his  high  personal  character,  his 
well-known  disinterestedness,  his  courteous*  bearing  and 
fervid  devotion  to  the  cause  of  God  and  of  humanity 
soon  rendered  him  one  of  the  most  successful  and 
effective  advocates  of  the  cause.  In  stature  he  was 
slightly  above  the  medium  height,  and  his  person  was 
finely  formed.  His  countenance  was  pleasing,  with  an 
unmistakable  air  of  frankness  and  kindness,  which,  to- 
gether with  the  peculiar  dignity  of  his  manner,  secured 
the  most  respectful  attention. 

His  separation  from  the  Baptist  party,  and  his  adop- 
tion of  the  Bible  alone  as  the  source  of  religious  light, 
led  him  to  a  closer  intimacy  with  B.  W.  Stone,  who 
lived  near  Georgetown,  and  for  whom  he  entertained  a 
high  regard,  and  he  was  urged  by  the  latter  to  become 
co-editor  of  the  ''Christian  Messenger,"  to  which  he 
acceded  at  the  close  of  183 1.  Heartily  sympathizing 
in  the  earnest  efforts  of  Elder  Stone  to  establish  the 
union  of  Christians  upon  the  Bible,  this  subject  en- 
grossed much  of  his  attention,  and  he  appears  to  have 
agreed  to  aid  in  editing  the  paper  in  order  to  promote, 
if  possible,  a  general  coalescence  between  those  in  re- 
ligious connection  with  INJr.  Stone  and  the  Reformers, 
who  had  recently  been  in  a  good  measure  separated 


MEETINGS  FOR  UNION. 


from  the  Baptists.  He  found  that  a  union  ii:  sentiment 
and  religious  aims  already  existed  between  the  two 
people  to  a  great  extent.  Both  desired  to  build  upon 
the  Bible  alone ;  both  were  opposed  to  creeds  as  terms 
of  communion  ;  both  desired  the  spread  of  the  primitive 
gospel ;  both  were  alike  persecuted  and  maligned  by 
those  who,  gloi^ying  in  orthodoxy  of  opinion,  failed  to 
recognize  a  scriptural  unity  of  faith.  He  felt,  there- 
fore, that  he  could  heartily  co-operate  with  Elder  Stone 
in  endeavoring  to  overthrow  the  bigotry  which  he  de- 
tested and  to  promote  the  Christian  union  which  he 
longed  to  see  prevail,  and  which  was  throughout  his 
life  one  of  his  most  favorite  themes. 

This  editorial  union  of  B.  W.  Stone  and  J.  T.  John- 
son was  soon  followed  by  a  fraternal  union  between  the 
**  Christian"  church  and  a  number  of  Reformers  residing 
in  Georgetown.  Agreeing  to  worship  together,  they 
found  so  much  agreement  in  all  essential  matters,  and 
so  happy  an  effect  produced  in  the  increased  number 
of  conversions,  that  they  were  induced  near  the  close 
of  183 1  to  appoint  a  general  meeting  at  Georgetown  to 
continue  four  days,  for  the  purpose  of  considering  the 
subject  of  a  complete  union  between  the  two  people. 
This  meeting  included  Christmas  day,  and  a  similar 
one  was  appointed  for  the  following  week,  including 
New  Year's  dav.  at  Lexincrton.  Manv  of  the  leadingr 
preachers  on  both  sides  attended  and  took  part  in  these 
meetings,  and  so  much  evidence  was  afforded  of  mutual 
Christian  love  and  confidence,  and  such  undoubted  as- 
surances were  given  of  a  firm  determination  on  the  part 
of  all  to  have  nothing  to  do  with  doctrinal  speculations, 
but  to  accept  as  conclusive  upon  all  subjects  the  simple 
teaching  of  the  Bible,  that  there  seemed  to  be  no  longer 
anything  in  the  way  of  the  most  earnest  and  hearty  co- 


o<54       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL, 


operation.  After  the  meeting  at  Lexington,  some  fur- 
ther friendly  conferences  were  held  by  means  of  com- 
mittees, and  by  arrangement  the  members  of  both 
churches  communed  together  on  the  19th  of  February, 
agreeing  to  consummate  the  formal  and  public  union 
of  the  two  churches  on  the  following  Lord's  day,  the 
26th.  During  the  week,  however,  some  began  to  fear 
a  difficulty  in  relation  to  the  choice  of  elders  and  the 
practical  adoption  of  weekly  communion,  which  they 
thought  would  require  the  constant  presence  of  an  or- 
dained administrator.  The  person  who  generally  min- 
istered to  the  Christian  Church  at  Lexington  at  this 
time  was  Thomas  Smith,  a  man  of  more  than  ordinary 
abilities  and  attainments,  and  long  associated  with  the 
movement  of  B.  W.  Stone.  He  was  an  excellent  preacher 
and  was  considered  a  skillful  debater.  He  possessed 
withal  a  very  amiable  disposition,  and  was  highly  es- 
teemed by  Mr.  Campbell,  whom  he  often  accompanied 
during  his  visits  in  Kentucky.  He  was  at  first,  Hke 
others,  apprehensive  that  the  proposed  union  was  pre- 
mature, and  that  disagreement  might  arise  in  re<^ard  to 
questions  of  church  order.  The  union  was  therefore 
postponed,  and  matters  remained  for  a  short  ti-ne  sta- 
tionary, but  it  soon  became  generally  apparent  to  the 
Christian  brethren  that  there  were  no  exclusive  privi- 
leges belonging  to  preachers  as  it  concerned  the  admin- 
istration of  ordinances,  and  Thomas  M.  Allen  coming  to 
Lexington,  induced  them  to  complete  the  union  and  to 
transfer  to  the  new  congregation,  thus  formed  under  the 
title  of  "the  Church  of  Christ,"  the  comfortable  meet- 
ing-house which  they  had  previously  held  under  the 
desio-nation  of  "the  Christian  Church."  This  wise 
measure  secured  entire  unanimity,  and  was  especially 
gratifying  to  the  Reformers,  who  had  been  meeting  in 


FXANCIS  AND  HENRT  PALMER. 


385 


n.nted  building.  At  Paris,  also,  Mr.  Allen  succeeded 
in  effecting  a  union  between  the  two  churches,  for 
one  of  which  he  had  been  himself  preaching,  while 
James  Challen  at  this  time  ministered  to  the  other.  He 
proposed  that  both  he  and  Mr.  Challen  should  retire, 
and  that  the  united  churches  should  engage  permanently 
the  services  of  Aylett  Raines.  This  was  accordingly 
done,  and  Mr.  Raines,  leaving  his  field  in  Ohio,  from 
this  time  continued  to  preach  for  the  church  at  Paris,  as 
well  as  for  other  churches  in  Kentucky,  for  more  than 
twenty  years,  aiding  besides  in  numerous  protracted 
meetings,  and  by  his  steady,  unremitting  labors  and 
able  advocacy  of  the  Reformation  principles  greatly 
extending  their  influence. 

In  this  connection  it  is  proper  to  mention  F.  R.  Palmer, 
who  had  been  for  some  time  preaching  at  Caneridge. 
He  was  a  warm  friend  of  Mr.  Campbell,  and  often  with 
him  during  his  visits  in  Kentucky.  He  had  been  edu- 
cated by  B.  W.  Stone,  and  was  a  man  of  superior 
abilities,  a  fine  preacher  and  entirely  friendly  to  the 
union,  as  was  abo  his  brother,  Henry  D.  Palmer ;  and 
their  history  serves  still  further  to  illustrate  the  suffi- 
ciency of  the  Bible  as  the  source  of  religious  light  and 
the  basis  of  Christian  union.  Called  providentially  in 
the  midst  of  an  irreligious  community  in  South-west 
Tennessee  to  the  study  of  the  Scriptures,  they  soon  dis- 
covered how  different  were  modern  churches  from 
the  models  given  in  the  New  Testament.  Both  were 
men  of  fine  personal  appearance,  strongly  resembling 
Henry  Clay,  not  only  in  form  and  features,  but  also  in 
gifts  of  oratory.  Devoting  themselves  to  the  spread  of 
the  simple  truths  they  learned  from  the  book  of  God, 
they  traversed  the  entire  region  west  out  to  the  Missis- 
sippi river,  accomplishing  great  good.  Subsequently 


386       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


Francis  came  into  Kentucky,  and  Henry,  bringing  his 
slaves  to  Illinois,  freed  them  there  and  distributed  among 
them  a  large  portion  of  his  estate.  Finally  settHng  in 
this  State,  he  continued  his  labors  in  the  gospel  with 
extraordinar}'  success  until  the  close  of  life,  greath'  en- 
deared by  his  labors  and  sacrifices  and  noble  Christian 
character  to  the  entire  community.  He  had  remarkably 
correct  views  of  the  gospel,  great  faith  in  God  and  in 
Providence,  praying  always  for  everything,  and  urging 
the  necessit}^  of  a  new  and  of  a  divine  life,  of  spiritual- 
mindedness,  of  entire  devotion  to  God  and  of  the  pres- 
ence and  aids  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  In  church  discipline 
also  he  desired  to  see  a  strict  enforcement  of  tlie  Scrip- 
ture precepts  and  a  prompt  separation  of  those  who 
walked  unworthily.  Removing  finally  to  Eureka,  in 
Woodford  county,  he  died  in  September,  1861.  His 
brother  Francis,  emigrating  to  Missouri  in  1836,  has 
labored  most  successfully  in  that  State,  and  still  preaches 
as  well  as  ever,  though  eight}'  years  of  age,  having 
been  for  more  than  half  a  centur}'  engaged  in  the 
ministry. 

The  union  of  the  churches  in  Georgetown,  Lexington 
and  Paris  led  at  once  to  the  union  of  the  Christians  and 
Reformers  throughout  the  State.  This  was  greatly  pro- 
moted by  the  efforts  of  John  Smith  and  John  Rogers, 
who  had  been  appointed  at  the  Lexington  meeting  to 
visit  all  the  churches  and  hold  meetings  in  conjunction 
with  each  other,  and  who  were  most  successful  in  re- 
moving any  lingering  doubts  or  prejudices — a  result  to 
which  Elder  Stone's  earnest  and  intelligent  advocacy  of 
the  movement  greatly  contributed.  Thus,  as  the  latter 
had  foreseen.  Christian  love  resolved,  by  simple  and 
direct  methods,  differences  and  difficulties  which  would 
probably  have  been  only  augmented  by  any  system  of 


EFFECTS  OF  CHRISTIAN  UNION. 


church  representation  or  any  formal  general  convention, 
and  Mr.  Campbel.  rejoiced  in  an  issue  which  he  greatly 
desired  to  see  accomplished,  but  which  he,  for  a  time, 
feared  was  prematurely  effected.  He  thought  sufficient 
time  had  not  perhaps  been  allowed  for  a  thorough  com- 
prehension of  the  principles  of  the  Reformation,  and 
dreaded  lest  these  should  in  any  wise  be  overruled  or 
lost  sififht  of  in  so  sudden  and  unceremonious  an  ar- 
rangement.  His  misgivings,  however,  proved  to  be 
entirely  crroundless.  Everywhere  throuo-hout  the  united 
churches  these  cherished  principles  were  found  to  be 
sincerely  approved  and  carried  into  effect.  Untaught 
questions  were  no  longer  debated  ;  baptism  for  remission 
of  sins,  which  had  been  adopted  by  many  of  the  Chris- 
tian brethren  before  the  union,  was  universally  prac- 
ticed ;  weekly  communion  was  generally  adopted,  and 
stricter  rules  recognized  in  relation  to  church  order  and 
discipline.  All  were  united  upon  the  Bible  alone,  and 
with  the  most  fraternal  feelings  strove  together  for  the 
faith  and  institutions  of  the  gospel.  Nor  was  the  effect 
less  striking  as  respects  the  community  without.  Never 
before  had  the  word  of  God  manifested  so  much  power 
in  the  conversion  of  sinners.  Never  before  were  meet- 
ings so  successful  in  bringing  the  people  to  an  intelli- 
gent and  scriptural  profession  of  Christ.  Multitudes 
were  added  to  the  churches  throughout  the  State,  and  an 
impetus  was  given  to  the  cause  by  the  union  of  the  two 
people,  which  served  to  illustrate  the  overwhelming 
power  which  the  gospel  would  exert  upon  the  world  if, 
in  like  manner,  all  the  sad  divisions  of  Protestants  could 
be  healed.  The  sectarians  of  Kentucky,  who  had  fore- 
told a  speedy  disruption  of  the  union,  were  surprised  to 
find  their  vaticinations  unfulfilled,  and  not  less  grieved 
at  the  inroads  continually  making  upon  their  own  power, 


388       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


which,  from  this  period,  steadily  and  rapidly  declined, 
until  the  Reformers  became  by  far  the  most  numerous 
and  influential  body  in  the  State. 

Mr.  Campbell,  himself,  previous  to  the  union,  was 
not  fully  aware  to  what  extent  the  principles  advocated 
in  the  "Christian  Baptist"  had  been  diflfused  in  Ken- 
tucky. Many  of  the  Christian  preachers,  indeed,  were 
already  fully  satisfied  of  their  correctness,  and  some, 
as  has  been  seen,  had  openly  adopted  them  even  before 
B.  W.  Stone  had  fully  yielded  his  assent.  To  those  of 
this  class,  already  mentioned,  may  be  added  B.  F. 
Hall,  who,  in  1826,  on  returning  to  Kentucky  from 
some  meetings  in  Tennessee,  where  many  "  mourners" 
were  left  uncomforted,  and  during  which  he  had  be- 
come greatly  impressed  with  the  conviction  that  the 
modern  administration  of  the  gospel  must  differ  greatly 
from  that  in  use  in  primitive  times,  happened  at  the 
house  of  a  friend  to  meet  with  the  McCalla  debate. 
Turning  the  leaves  slowly  over,  his  eye  caught  Mr. 
Campbell's  remarks  on  the  design  of  baptism.  Read- 
ing it  carefull}',  he  had  scarcely  finished,  when  he 
sprang  to  his  feet  and  clapping  his  hands,  cried  out, 
"  I  have  found  it  I  I  have  found  it !" 

"  I  gave  thanks  to  God,"  he  said  in  speaking  of  the  inci- 
dent, I  had  found  the  keystone  of  the  arch.  It  had  been 
lost  a  long  time.  I  had  never  seen  it  before — strange  that  I 
had  not  I  But  I  had  seen  the  vacant  space  in  the  arch  a  hun- 
dred times,  and  had  some  idea  of  the  size  and  shape  of  it, 
and  when  I  saw  baptism  as  Mr.  Campbell  had  presented  it, 
I  knew  it  would  exactly  fit  and  fill  the  space.  I  felt  as  if 
converted  anew,  and  was  far  happier  than  when  I  first  made 
profession,  and  far  more  certain  that  I  was  right.  Now  all 
was  light  around  me,  and  I  felt  that  I  was  standing  on  a 
rock. 

'*  In  the  summer  of  1826,"  he  continues,  ''I  met  B.  VV» 


VISIT  TO  RICHMOND. 


Stone  and  spoke  of  the  matter  to  him.  He  told  me  that  he 
had  preached  it  early  in  the  present  century,  and  that  it  was 
like  ice-water  thrown  on  the  audience ;  it  chilled  them,  and 
he  had  in  consequence  abandoned  it  altogether.  I  insisted  it 
was  God's  truth,  nevertheless,  and  that  I  felt  compelled  to 
preach  it  at  tlie  meeting  to  which  we  were  then  going.  He 
begged  that  I  would  not  preach  it  while  he  was  present,  and 
said  he  was  to  leave  after  meeting  on  Lord's  day  morning, 
and  then  I  could  do  as  I  thought  proper.  I  complied  with 
his  request,  but  preached  it  privately  to  those  who  appeared 
concerned,  and  five  of  them  were  induced  to  take  the  Lord  at 
his  word,  whom  I  immersed  the  next  morning  for  the  remis- 
sion of  sins.  Our  venerable  Samuel  Rogers  was  present  at 
that  meeting,  and  was  the  only  preacher  who  did  not  oppose 
the  doctrine." 

Some  time  after  the  union  was  accomplished  in  Ken- 
tucky, Mr.  Campbell  paid  a  visit  to  the  East,  accom- 
panied as  far  as  Richmond  by  his  father,  who  designed 
to  make  a  tour  through  North  Carolina  and  to  dissemi- 
nate there  the  principles  of  the  Reformation.  He  was 
attended  also  by  his  daughters  Maria  and  Eliza,  the 
former  of  whom,  in  January  preceding,  had  been  mar- 
ried to  R.  Y.  Henley,  and  who,  with  her  husband,  was 
now  on  a  visit  to  East  Virginia.  B.  F.  Hall,  also,  who 
had  arrived  at  Bethany  shortly  before,  continued  with 
Mr.  Campbell  during  the  most  of  his  tour.  Preaching 
at  Fredericksburg,  Bowling  Green  and  other  points,  he 
arrived  at  Richmond  about  the  24th  of  October,  and 
addressed  the  citizens  in  the  new  meeting-house,  called 
♦*  Sycamore"  from  the  tree  which  shades  its  doors.  The 
meeting  being  continued  for  some  days  by  Mr.  Camp- 
bell and  others,  among  whom  was  D.  S.  Burnet  who 
had  been  for  some  weeks  in  East  Virginia,  some  twenty- 
five  persons  were  added  to  the  church.  Mr.  Campbell 
preached  also  at  several  points  in  the  vicinity  of  Rich- 

33  » 


39°       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


mond,  and  finally  passing  down  to  Jamestown,  York 
town  and  Norfolk,  took  passage  in  the  "  Columbus'^ 
for  Baltimore,  where  several  meetings  were  held  with 
great  benefit  to  the  cause. 

Proceeding  thence  direct  to  New  York,  he  found  the 
Church  there  divided  into  several  parts,  owing  to  ex- 
treme views  in  regard  to  church  order  and  unanimity 
of  opinion.  His  labors  were  therefore  chiefly  directed 
to  the  restoration  of  unity  and  the  correction  of  existing 
errors  among  the  brethren,  and  were,  to  a  considerable 
extent,  successful  in  preparing  the  way  for  a  reunion, 
which  happily  occurred  in  March,  1835.  While  here, 
he  addressed  the  numerous  skeptics  of  the  city  at  Tam- 
manv  Hall  and  Concert  Hall  on  several  occasions,  ob- 
taining  a  very  respectful  hearing  and  making  a  pro- 
found impression.  At  the  close,  Mr.  Often,  in  behalf 
of  one  of  their  societies,  presented  him  with  the  fol- 
lowing thank-ofiering  : 

Sir  :  The  trustees  and  members  of  the  society  of  Moral 
Philanthropists  (of  which  I  am  also  a  meinber)  have  de- 
puted me  to  present  to  you  their  thanks  for  your  friendly  visit 
to  Tammany  Hall,  being  higlily  pleased  with  the  splendid 
talents  they  have  witnessed,  connected  with  erudition  the  most 
profound,  which  has  both  delighted  their  ears  and  conferred 
dignity  upon  their  hall.  The  friendly  sentiments  you  have 
also  expressed  toward  skeptics,  appealing  to  them  as  men — 
as  honest  ?nen — instead  of  treating  them  with  contumely,  as 
do  the  Christian  priesthood  of  New  York,  are  specially  noted. 
These  kind  feelings,  sir,  they  duly  appreciate,  and  to  them 
they  heartily  respond.  As  it  respects  some  of  the  evidences 
of  the  Christian  religion,  you  have  candidly  and  ably  stated 
them.  Should  a  change  take  place  in  our  views  on  that 
subject,  be  assured  it  will  be  honestly  and  pubhcly  avowed. 

In  the  event  you  should  again  visit  New  York,  you  will 
be  to  us  always  a  welcome  guest.    Permit  me,  sir,  to  tender 


EXCLUSION  OF  PAUL. 


to  you  their  best  wishes  for  your  health  and  prosperity,  and 
be  pleased  to  accept  the  full  assurance  of  tlieir  high  esteem." 

During  his  stay  at  New  York,  he  delivered  several 
discourses  in  the  Laurence  Street  Church,  where  Dr. 
Barker  presided,  and  in  Union  Chapel,  where  ten  per- 
sons came  forward  for  baptism,  two  of  whom  had  been 
skeptics.  On  one  occasion  in  passing  up  Broadway  he 
was  struck  with  a  statue  placed  in  a  niche  in  the  front 
of  St.  Paul's  Church,  and  in  his  characteristic  vein  of 
humorous  satire  made  it  the  subject  of  a  short  article 
in  the  Harbinger,"  headed  '''-Turning  out  the  Afos- 
tles,''^  in  which  he  says : 

One  of  the  most  appropriate  designings  in  the  various 
models  of  architecture  in  the  church-building  department  in 
the  city  of  New  York  is  to  be  seen  at  St.  Paul's  Church, 
Broadway.  Whether  by  accident  or  design  in  the  plan  of 
the  chief  architect,  one  thing  is  certain,  he  has  most  symboli- 
cally, graphically  and  emphatically  pictured  out  the  truth. 
On  the  outside  of  the  church,  in  a  very  substantial  and  plain 
niche,  facing  the  great  thoroughfare,  there  stands  in  marble 
the  Great  Apostle.  He  seems  greatly  offended  at  being  turned 
out  of  doors ;  has  his  parchments  under  his  arm  and  his  staff 
in  his  hand,  as  if  hasting  out  of  the  walls  of  the  cathedral. 
The  little  old  man  appears  careworn  and  vexed  with  what  he 
has  seen  within,  and  seems  to  cast  an  eye  to  heaven,  welcom- 
ing the  peltings  of  the  storm  rather  than  the  mummery 
and  the  mockery  of  the  blind  adoration  and  insulting  homage 
of  wood  and  stone — instead  of  the  religious  obedience  of  man 
and  woman  to  the  Master  through  the  traditions  which  he 
was  commanded  to  deliver  to  the  Church  of  Christ.  The 
apostles,  indeed,  are  turned  out  of  all  the  fashionable  churches 
in  all  the  Atlantic  cities,  as  far  as  we  are  able  to  judge.  They 
are  not  only  exiled  from  the  great  cathedrals  with  crosses 
and  cowls,  from  the  St.  Pauls',  the  St.  Peters',  the  St.  Johns* 
and  the  Christs'  churches  of  English  and  Roman  Episcopacy, 
but  from  the  religious  theatres  of  all  the  daughters  of  the  Scarlet 


392        MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL, 


Lady.  Thousands  of  dollars  are  squandered  in  all  the  pomp 
and  pageantry  of  the  pride  of  life  to  beautify  and  adorn 
masses  of  brick  and  stone,  rather  than  to  cover  the  nakedness 
and  to  feed  and  educate  the  inrtates  of  the  '  sordid  huts  of 
cheerless  poverty.'  Pulpits  built  of  mahogany,  cushioned 
and  crimsoned  in  all  the  gorgeousness  of  unblushing  pride, 
like  inner  temples,  costing  from  two  to  three  thousand  dollars, 
environ  the  object  of  their  adoration — encircle  the  golden 
altar  on  which  they  present  their  weekly  oblations  to  that  god 
who  delights  in  a  splendid  house,  in  the  ornaments  of  crim- 
son and  scarlet,  in  gold  and  silver,  in  the  melodies  of  organs 
and  the  sound  of  unbelieving  and  unsanctified  choristers,  more 
than  in  the  incense  of  a  grateful  heart.*' 

During  this  period  Mr.  Campbell  had  himself  many 
practical  illustrations,  not  only  of  the  unpopularity  of 
the  apostles  but  of  those  who  in  their  name  sought  to 
reform  religious  society.  These  were  exhibited  not 
only  in  the  usual  form  of  detraction  and  misrepresenta- 
tion, but  in  the  absolute  refusal  by  the  religious  parties 
to  admit  liim  to  speak  in  their  houses  of  worship.  In 
New  York  he  was  refused  all  the  Baptist  meeting- 
houses. Even  Archibald  McClay,  formerly  one  of  his 
warmest  friends,  denied  him  the  use  of  his  house,  be- 
cause, as  he  said,  "  he  was  not  in  full  fellowship  with 
the  Baptists."  At  Philadelphia,  which  he  next  visited, 
he  experienced  similar  treatment.  Mr.  Chambers,  who 
with  his  Presbyterian  congreg'ation  had,  as  formerly 
stated,  rejected  creeds  some  years  before,  assured  Mr. 
Campbell  of  his  sincere  wish  that  he  should  occupy 
his  pulpit,  but  through  the  influence  of  the  Baptists,  as 
was  supposed,  his  elders  refused  assent.  He  spoke, 
therefore,  in  a  house  courteously  tendered  by  the  Uni- 
versalists,  as  well  as  in  the  Callowhill  street  meeting- 
house, where  during  his  stay  some  sixteen  persons 
were  added  to  the  disciples  meeting  in  Bank  street, 


WILLIAM  BALLANTINE. 


393 


under  the  care  of  William  Ballantine.  This  excellent 
man,  formerly  in  charge  of  one  of  Robert  Haldane's 
seminaries  at  Elgin,  and  whose  essay  on  the  elder's 
office  had  occasioned  so  much  division  in  the  Haldanean 
churches  on  the  subject  of  church  order,  was  now 
engaged  at  Philadelphia  in  teaching  classes  in  Greek 
and  Hebrew.  Like  many  of  his  coadjutors  in  Scot- 
land, he  had  been  opposed  to  immersion,  and  had  even 
written  a  work  in  favor  of  infant  sprinkling,  which,  as 
elsewhere  stated,  falling  into  the  hands  of  Robert  Tener 
of  Dungannon,  had  for  a  time  deterred  him  from  being 
immersed  according  to  his  previous  intentions.  Mr. 
Ballantine  afterward,  however,  became  enlightened  on 
the  subject  and  was  himself  immersed,  so  that  when 
Robert  Tener,  in  1833,  emigrated  to  the  United  States, 
the  first  person  who  arrested  his  attention  upon  landing 
at  Baltimore  and  uniting  with  the  church  there,  was 
William  Ballantine,  then  a  prominent  member  of  the 
congregation.  Mr.  Campbell,  after  leaving  Philadel- 
phia, preached  three  times  at  Baltimore,  also  at  other 
points  in  Maryland,  reaching  home  after  an  absence 
of  upward  of  three  months,  during  which  he  had 
traveled  seventeen  hundred  miles  and  delivered  about 
eighty  discourses.  Much  good  had  been  accomplished, 
and  about  seventy  persons  in  all  added  to  the  churches 
during  his  tour.  Soon  after,  D.  S.  Burnet,  calling  at 
Baltimore  on  his  way  to  Cincinnati,  held  some  meet- 
ings, during  which  the  church  received  an  addition  of 
fifty  new  members.  Everywhere,  Mr.  Campbell  had 
left  scriptural  truths  so  deeply  implanted  in  the  minds 
of  the  people  that  the  fruits  could  be  gathered  long 
after  his  departure.  After  some  time,  William  Ballan- 
tine visited  Bethany,  and  Mr.  Campbell  published  for 
him  an  edition  of  his  essay  on  the  elder's  office,  which 


394       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


was  well  received  by  the  churches.  The  questions, 
however,  of  which  it  treated  had  been  long  since  con- 
sidered and  determined  among  them,  and  the  scriptural 
truths  it  urged  in  relation  to  elders  had  been  already 
embraced  in  the  "  ancient  order  of  things." 

On  January  24th  of  this  year  (1834)  another  daughter 
was  born  to  Mr.  Campbell,  and  named  Virginia.  On 
the  24th  of  June  following  his  eldest  daughter,  Jane 
Caroline,  died  of  consumption.  During  the  preceding 
winter  she  had  removed  from  Nashville,  Tennessee, 
with  her  husband,  Albert  G.  Ewing,  and  her  three 
children,  to  reside  near  Bethany,  buc  a  severe  cold 
contracted  during  the  journey  at  once  awakened  into 
activity  the  pulmonary  disease  inherent  in  the  family, 
which  proved  rapidly  fatal.  Amiable  in  her  disposition 
and  patient  in  sufiering,  she  calmly  resigned  herself 
in  the  midst  of  happiness  and  youth  into  the  hands  of 
the  Redeemer  in  whom  she  had  put  her  trust,  and  died 
in  the  hope  of  a  blissful  immortality. 

Continuing  unremittingly  his  editorial  and  other 
labors,  Mr.  Campbell  not  only  maintained  his  positions 
against  all  assailants,  and  made  successful  raids  into  the 
territories  of  his  opponents,  but  cultivated  with  assiduity 
the  wide  domain  already  possessed.  James  G.  J3ell, 
an  intelligent,  zealous  and  amiable  disciple,  who  some 
years  before  had  been  an  inmate  of  his  family,  had  left 
by  his  will  a  small  sum  to  be  expended  in  essays  on  the 
Patriarchal,  Jewish  and  Christian  dispensations,  in  pur- 
suance of  which  Mr.  Campbell  this  year  printed  for 
distribution  an  extra  embracing  these  subjects,  but  par- 
ticularly expounding  the  nature  and  elements  of  the 
kingdom  of  heaven.  In  this  he  adopted  and  pre- 
sented an  analysis  given  by  Dr.  Richardson  three 
months  before  in  the  "  Evangelist,"  a  periodical  which 


CHURCH  GOVERNMENT. 


395 


Walter  Scott  had  established  at  Carthage,  Ohio.  Pre- 
viously, the  phrase  "  kingdom  of  heaven"  had  been  sup- 
posed to  signify  the  Churchy  and  in  consequence  of  this 
error  various  false  interpretations  had  been  given  to 
portions  of  Scripture.  It  was  shown  that  the  idea  in- 
volved in  "  kingdom"  was  a  compound  one,  embracing 
at  least  three  distinct  conceptions — viz.,  a  king^  subjects, 
and  the  territory  or  place  where  the  subjects  lived 
under  the  government*of  their  king.  In  the  kingdom 
of  heaven  Jesus  was  the  king^  those  who  had  acknow- 
ledged him  were  the  subjects,  and  the  world  (yj)aaoz) 
in  which  they  lived  was  the  territory.  This  view  both 
Mr.  Campbell  and  Mr.  Scott  regarded  as  an  important 
addition  to  the  truths  developed  during  the  progress 
of  the  Reformation,  as  it  served  to  elucidate  various 
portions  of  Scripture,  and  to  correct  false  and  mis- 
chievous applications  of  the  teachings  of  Christ,  as 
especially  exemplified  in  the  parable  of  the  tares 
(Matt.  xiii.). 

Much  attention  was  at  this  time  given  to  subjects  of 
church  order  and  discipline  arising  from  the  peculiar  con- 
dition of  the  churches.  The  union  between  the  Re- 
formers and  the  Christian"  brethren  in  Kentucky  had 
extended  itself  through  most  of  the  Western  States,  and 
immense  numbers  of  new  converts  had  everywhere 
been  added  to  the  churches,  which  were,  as  yet,  but 
imperfectly  supplied  with  elders,  and  but  partially  ac- 
quainted with  the  rules  and  principles  of  church  gov- 
ernment. B.  W.  Stone,  removing  to  Jacksonville,  Il- 
linois, established  there  his  periodical,  and  by  his  per- 
sonal labors  and  those  of  his  coadjutors  greatly  extended 
the  spread  of  the  gospel  in  the  West.  J.  T.  Johnson,  in 
connection  with  B.  F.  Hall,  started  a  periodical  in  Ken- 
tucky, where  the  formei  continued  to  labor  with  such 


39^       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


indefatigable  industry  and  success  that  he  became 
known  as  the  Evangelist  of  Kentucky,"  and  every- 
where imparted  strength  to  the  churches  by  his  unfail- 
ing faith  and  courage. 

Meanwhile,  a  young  member,  P.  C.  Wyeth,  from 
near  Bethany,  going  to  England,  united  in  London  with 
the  Scotch  Baptist  church  there,  over  which  William 
Jones,  author  of  various  works  on  Ecclesiastical  History 
and  former  co-pastor  with  William  Ballantine,  presided. 
Mr.  Jones,  much  surprised  to  hear  from  Mr.  Wyeth 
the  particulars  of  so  extended  a  reformatory  movement 
in  America,  and  conceiving  that  in  its  general  features 
it  agreed  with  that  attempted  by  Archibald  McClean 
and  the  Scotch  Baptist  churches,  at  once  opened  a 
communication  with  Mr.  Campbell  and  obtained  some 
of  his  works,  with  which  he  was  so  much  pleased  that 
he  determined  to  reproduce  them  in  England  in  a  peri- 
odical which  he  entitled  "The  British  Millennial  Har- 
binger." Thus  the  views  of  Mr.  Campbell  obtained 
favorable  access  to  the  minds  of  a  community,  them- 
selves professing  a  desire  to  return  to  the  primitive 
faith  and  practice,  and  numbering  some  thirty  churches 
in  Great  Britain,  many  of  which,  however,  were  small, 
the  one  in  London  consisting  of  only  thirty  members, 
under  the  pastoral  care  of  Elders  Jones  and  Nixon. 
Elder  Jones'  letters  to  Mr.  Campbell  and  the  replies 
occupied  considerable  space  in  their  respective  Har- 
bingers, until  at  the  end  of  sixteen  months  William 
Jones  suspended  his  publication,  alleging  increasing 
age  and  his  desire  to  prepare  for  the  press  a  volume  of 
sermons.  Subsequently,  he  thought  fit  to  express  pub- 
licly his  dissent  from  some  views  which  he  erroneously 
attributed  to  Mr.  Campbell,  but  this  sudden  turn  was 
without  avail  to  check  the  progress  of  free  opinion,  and 


JAMES  WALLIS. 


397 


the  republication  of  Mr.  Campbeirs  writings  was  shortly 
after  resumed  by  the  congregation  of  disciples  meeting 
at  Nottingham,  in  a  periodical  called  the  "Christian 
Messenger,  or  a  Voice  from  America,"  edited  by  J. 
Wallis,  a  devoted  Christian  and  friend  of  Reformation, 
who  for  a  number  of  years,  with  marked  ability  and 
prudence,  continued  to  promote  the  interests  of  the 
cause  in  Great  Britain  and  Ireland,  which  thus  received 
in  return  the  fruitage  of  those  germs  of  independent 
thought  and  religious  truth  which,  within  those  realms, 
had  been  long  before  implanted  in  the  youthful  mind 
of  Alexander  Campbell. 

34 


CHAPTER  XII. 


Sectarian  hostility— Tour  to  Nashville — Bishop  Otcy— Discussion  with  Mr. 
Meredith— Tour  to  the  Eastern  States. 

THE  separation  of  the  Reformers  from  the  Baptists, 
instead  of  lessening,  had  at  first  only  increased, 
sectarian  hostility.  At  no  former  period  had  so  great 
rancor  been  manifested  toward  Mr.  Campbell  or  more 
strenuous  efforts  made  to  injure  his  reputation  and  excite 
the  animosity  of  the  religious  \yorld  against  him.  Al- 
though the  Reformers  had  been  quite  willing  to  frater- 
nize with  the  Baptists,  and  in  no  case  where  they  had 
the  majority  in  a  church  had  excluded  them,  the  attempt 
was  made  to  throw  upon  Mr.  Campbell  the  odium  of  a 
separation  which  the  Baptist*  themselyes  had  eflected, 
and  to  excite  the  sympathy  of  other  religious  parties,  so 
as  to  induce  them  to  refuse  him  the  use  of  their  houses 
of  worship  upon  his  tours,  by  representing  him  as  haying 
no  higher  object  than  to  diyide  the  Baptists.  Blinded 
by  their  attachment  to  denominational  theories  and  in- 
terests, they  were  unable  to  perceiye  the  noble  purj>oses 
for  which  Mr.  Campbell  labored,  or  to  ajipreciaie  en- 
larged and  synthetic  principles  which,  from  the  na- 
ture of  the  case,  can  beloni:  to  no  relij^ious  sect.  From 
the  more  eleyated  region  of  religious  thought  which 
Mr.  Campbell  occupied,  he  could  well  look  down  with 
pity  upon  all  the  vain  attempts  which  were  at  this  time 
made  to  arrest  the  progress  of  his  plea  for  the  restoration 

398 


TOUR  TO  NASHVILLE. 


399 


of  the  primitive  gospel  and  the  original  unity  of  the 
Church.  Knowing  that  a  little  time  would  correct  un- 
just representations,  and  that  the  means  employed  to 
prevent  the  people  from  hearing  him  would  only  the 
more  excite  their  curiosity  to  hear,  he  continued  with 
tinabated  zeal  to  expose  the  errors  and  evils  of  sec- 
tarianism and  to  exhibit  the  excellency  of  the  simple 
scriptural  plan  of  salvation.  Nor  was  he  disappointed 
in  his  expectations.  It  was  not  long  until  a  calmer  state 
of  mind  supervened,  and  many  were  led  to  discover  that 
they  had  been  mistaken  in  regard  to  Mr.  Campbell's 
views  and  purposes.  The  Reformers,  in  consequence, 
began  to  receive  frequent  accessions  from  the  Baptist 
churches  in  various  places,  and  the  community  became 
more  and  more  enlightened  as  to  the  real  nature  of  the 
reform  proposed. 

During  this  period  many  important  practical  subjects 
were  treated  by  him  in  the  **  Harbinger"  very  interest- 
ingly in  a  series  of  dialogues,  entitled  Conversations  in 
Father  Goodall's  Family  Circle,"  which  were  continued 
for  several  years  and  were  much  admired,  communicat- 
ing a  large  amount  of  varied  and  valuable  instruction 
derived  from  the  Scriptures  and  from  the  experience  of 
human  life.  He  published  also  several  severe  articles 
upon  Roman  Catholicism,  to  which  he  began  now  to 
pay  considerable  attention,  having  been  long  satisfied 
tiiat  it  was  its  purpose  to  secure  the  political  control  of 
the  United  States.  In  occasional  essays,  too,  upon  edu- 
cation, he  continued  to  manifest  the  great  interest  he 
felt  in  this  important  subject. 

In  February,  1S35,  company  with  his  daughter 
Lavinia,  he  made  another  tour  to  Nashville,  and  spent 
several  weeks  in  Tennessee  in  disabusing  the  public 
mind  of  the  false  impressions  made  upon  it  by  the  mis- 


400       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


representations  of  his  opponents.  Great  crowds  every- 
where flocked  to  hear  him,  so  that  it  was  seldom  any 
house  could  be  found  large  enough  to  accommodate 
them.  While  he  was  in  Nashville  some  twenty  persons 
were  added  to  the  church  there,  which  now  numbered 
about  six  hundred.  He  found  several  new  churches  in 
the  vicinity,  established  through  the  influence  and  labors 
of  a  Brother  Hardin,  of  whose  piety  and  devotion  he 
entertained  a  high  opinion.  On  the  30th  of  March,  ac- 
companied by  T.  Fanning,  he  set  out  for  Louisville, 
where  a  Brother  Gates  had  been  for  some  time  laboring. 
The  church  there,  however,  had  not  made  much  pro- 
gress, having  the  use  of  the  house  of  worship  only  a  por- 
tion of  the  time.  Recently  they  had  sold  out  their  interest 
in  it  to  the  Baptists  and  purchased  a  Methodist  meeting- 
house, where,  with  the  able  assistance  of  the  eminent 
Dr.  T.  S.  Bell,  who  spoke  for  them  as  often  as  his  pro- 
fessional engagements  would  permit,  their  prospects 
were  more  favorable.  Here  Mr.  Campbell  delivered 
several  discourses  and  afterward  visited  New  Albany, 
Jeflersonville  and  Madison,  in  Indiana,  and  spent  some 
days  at  Cincinnati,  where  the  church  was  progressing 
under  the  labors  of  D.  S.  Burnet.  He  also  visited 
Carthage,  where  Walter  Scott  and  Dr.  Richardson  then 
resided.  After  enjoying  a  pleasant  interview  with  these 
and  other  old  friends,  he  passed  thence  again  into  Ken- 
tucky and  traversed  the  whole  central  part  of  the  State, 
having  appointments  at  all  the  principal  points,  and  re- 
newing his  happy  personal  intercourse  with  a  great 
number  of  his  former  acquaintances  and  fellow-laborers. 
From  Georgetown  he  repaired,  in  company  with  the 
Hon.  Richard  M.  Johnson,  to  his  residence,  eight  miles 
distant,  where,  in  the  evening,  he  addressed  the  Choc- 
taw Indians  of  the  Indian  Academy.    At  Lexington  he 


BISHOP  OTET. 


401 


spoke  twice  in  the  hall  of  Transylvania  University  to 
large  audiences,  and  then,  setting  out  with  B.  H.  Payne 
in  his  gig,  he  visited  Paris  and  Mount  Sterling,  and 
proceeded  to  Mayslick,  where  he  held  a  two-days'  meet- 
ing, aided  by  Brothers  Gates  and  Hall.  As  he  was 
much  exhausted  by  fifty  days'  continual  speaking,  he 
felt  quite  indebted  to  these  brethren  and  to  Aylett  Raines 
for  the  effective  assistance  which  they  rendered  him  at 
various  points  in  Northern  Kentucky.  At  Mayslick  he 
met  with  John  O'Kane,  who^  some  time  before,  had  dis- 
tinguished himself  by  his  successful  labors  in  Indiana, 
and  had  been  recently  preaching  in  Mason  county, 
Kentucky.  This  individual  continued  for  many  years 
to  sustain  ably  the  cause  of  the  Reformation  in  the 
Western  States,  and  especially  in  Indiana.  Of  a  tall 
and  commanding  figure,  having  a  powerful  voice,  great 
earnestness  and  considerable  ability,  he  became  the 
means  of  adding  great  numbers  to  the  churches.  From 
Maysville,  where  he  spoke  three  or  four  times,  Mr. 
Campbell  returned  directly  home,  where  he  arrived 
May  loth,  having  been  instrumental  in  inducing  forty- 
five  persons  to  embrace  the  gospel  during  his  tour,  be- 
sides removing  much  prejudice  and  in  many  ways  pro- 
motinj;  the  interests  of  the  cause. 

While  he  was  absent,  his  mother,  who  still  resided 
with  her  daughter  near  West  Middletown,  Pennsylvania, 
ended  her  days  in  great  peace  and  with  unshaken  con- 
fidence in  the  promises  of  her  Redeemer.  Of  her  last 
hours,  Thomas  Campbell,  who  was  present  with  her, 
gives  an  interesting  account  in  a  letter  to  his  daughter 
Alicia,  published  in  the  "  Harbinger"  for  1835,  P-  284, 
m  which  also  he  pays  a  touching  tribute  to  her  many 
virtues. 

During  Mr.  Campbell's  visit  to  Tennessee  he  had 

VOL.  II. — 2  A  34  * 


402       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


spent,  by  invitation,  the  evening  of  iSth  March  very 
pleasantl}^  with  James  Otey,  bishop  of  Tennessee,  at 
his  hospitable  mansion.  Amidst  their  pleasant  conver- 
sation upon  various  topics,  the  bishop  introduced  the 
subject  of  the  Christian  priesthood  in  its  relations  to  the 
Christian  ministr}'.  At  parting  he  presented  Mr.  Camp- 
bell with  a  copy  of  a  work  by  Bishop  Onderdonk  of 
Penns}  Ivania,  entitled  "Episcopacy  tested  by  Scrip- 
ture." Having  the  subject  thus  brought  to  his  atten- 
tion, he  addressed  afterward  a  series  of  eight  letters  to 
Bishop  Otey,  discussing  the  subject  in  the  most  cour- 
teous manner,  and  ably  pointing  out  the  fallacies  in 
Bishop  Onderdonk's  reasoning,  as  well  as  in  the  works 
of  J  .  E.sten  Cook  of  Lexington,  and  of  Chapman,  who 
had  written  in  defence  of  Episcopal  ordination.  These 
cogent  and  argumentative  letters  attracted  much  atten- 
tion, especially  in  Tennessee;  and  though  Mr.  Camp- 
bell courteously  proposed  to  lay  before  his  readers  any- 
thing which  Bishop  Otey  might  feel  disposed  to  say,  no 
attempt  was  ever  made  to  reply  to  them.  About  the 
same  time  he  became  engaged  in  a  discussion  with  Mr. 
Meredith,  of  North  Carolina,  editor  of  the  "Baptist 
Interpreter,"  and  subsequently  of  the  "Biblical  Re- 
corder," whom  he  justly  designated  as  "one  of  the 
most  respectable  and  honorable  of  the  Baptist  ministers 
in  the  South,  a  gentleman  of  verv  handsome  attain- 
ments,"  and  "  the  ablest  editor  of  the  Baptists  south  of 
New  York."  Mr.  Meredith  had  written  a  series  of 
articles  reviewing  Mr.  Campbell's  Extras  on  Remission 
of  Sins  and  Regeneration,  and  now  offered  to  give  him 
page  for  page  in  his  paper  in  order  to  discuss  these 
subjects.  This  unwonted  liberality  quite  won  upon  Mr 
Campbell,  who  at  once  accepted  the  proposition.  Sub- 
sequently, however,  he  was  led  to  think  that  Mr.  Mere- 


POWER  OF  THE  GOSPEL. 


dith  was  about  to  decline  adhering  to  the  arrangement 
as  he  understood  it,  and  in  the  July  number  for  1835 
he  noticed,  in  his  peculiar  way,  the  supposed  fact  in  an 
article  commencing  with  the  following  queer  analogy : 
"  The  full-moon  face  with  which  our  friend  Mr.  Mere- 
dith, of  North  Carolina,  looked  on  us  is  now  gibbous 
and  fast  waning  into  the  last  quarter."  Mr.  Campbell, 
however,  was  misinformed  as  to  the  intentions  of  Mr. 
Meredith,  who  remained  quite  willing  to  publish  what 
Mr.  Campbell  chose  to  write  in  defence  of  his  Extras. 
A  discussion  accordingly  ensued,  which,  unfortunately, 
from  the  want  of  a  clear  statement  of  the  propositions 
in  dispute,  consisted  chiefly  in  a  mere  war  of  words,  and 
proved  altogether  unsatisfactory.  Mr.  Meredith  ob- 
jected to  Mr.  Campbell's  proposition  in  reference  to  the 
gospel  facts,  afiirming  that  "  when  these  facts  are  un- 
derstood or  brought  into  immediate  contact  with  the 
mind  of  man,  as  a  moral  seal  or  archetype,  they  deline- 
ate the  image  of  God  upon  the  human  soul."  Taking 
this  sentence  apart  from  its  connection,  Mr.  Meredith 
understood  Mr.  Campbell  to  assert  that  the  gospel  facts 
accomplished  this  work  "  of  themselves J*^  Mr.  Camp- 
bell denied  stating  any  such  proposition,  calling  Mr. 
Meredith's  attention  to  the  context  in  which  he  had 
said  :  These  [facts]  are  the  moral  seal  which  testi- 
mony conveys  to  the  understanding  and  faith  brings  to 
the  heart  of  sinners,  by  which  God  creates  them  anew 
and  forms  them  for  his  glory."  So  far  from  represent- 
ing the  facts  as  accomplishing  this  of  thcfnselves^'^  he 
had  here  expressly  declared  them  to  be  a  means  or  in- 
strument in  the  hands  of  God,  and  in  the  proposition 
itself  had  affirmed  that  these  facts  delineated  the  image 
of  God  upon  the  soul,  ''^wheii  understood  and  brought 
into  immediate  contact  with  the  mind  of  man^  thus 


4^4       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


leaving  the  question  of  co-operative  agencies  entirely 
open. 

"  I  do  believe,"  said-  Mr.  Campbell  in  reply,  "  and  have 
clearly  taught  time  after  time,  that  the  Spirit  of  God  is  the 
regenerator,  and  that  he  does  it  only  by  his  Word  ;  and  while 
I  cordially  reprobate  your  theory,  or  rather  that  of  Andrew 
Fuller,  about  his  previous  holy  principle  and  his  regenerated 
unbeliever,  and  all  that  philosophy,  I  do  teach  that  the  Holy 
Spirit  renovates  the  human  mind  by  the  instrumentality  of 
his  Word ;  while  you  and  many  others  seem  to  me  to  con- 
tend that  the  Holy  Spirit  personally  descends  from  heaven, 
enters  the  human  heart,  and,  without  his  Word,  miraculously 
creates  a  man  anew."  ...  "I  pretend  not  to  separate  the 
Word  and  the  Spirit  of  God.  I  do  not  say  the  Word  alone 
nor  the  Spirit  alone  enlightens,  sanctifies  or  saves.  With 
the  Lord  Jesus  I  would  pray  to  the  Father,  '  Sanctify  them 
through  thy  truth  ;  thy  Word  is  the  truth.*  I  would  not  say 
with  you,  '  Sanctify  them  by  thy  Spirit  alone.'" 

On  his  part,  Mr.  Meredith  denied  holding  the  senti- 
ment which  Mr.  Campbell  attributed  to  him,  viz.  :  that 
regeneration  was  accomplished  without  the  Word.  He 
believed  that  there  was  an  immediate  and  direct  influ- 
ence  of  the  Holy  Spirit  in  aid  of  the  Word,  and  that 
the  Word  alone ^  unattended  by  the  Spirit,  was  insuffi- 
cient for  this  work."  Again  he  had  said,  It  is  to  the 
direct  action  of  this  omnipotent  Spirit  that  the  Word, 
otherwise  -powerless^  is  indebted  for  its  triumphs  over 
the  natural  heart."  This  direct  divine  interposition  thus 
claimed,  Mr.  Campbell  regarded  as  miraculous  and  as 
nowhere  promised  in  the  Scriptures.  He  thought  the 
doctrine  most  pernicious,  because  it  led  men  to  dis- 
regard or  undervalue  the  word  of  God,  looking  for 
sensible  **  impressions"  or  operations"  nowhere  prom- 
ised. He  therefore  utterly  refused  to  commit  him- 
self to  any  positive  statement  or  theory  of  the  influences 


DESIGN  OF  BAPTISM, 


by  which  the  facts  of  the  gospel  were  brought  into 
immediate  contact  with  the  mind  and  heart  of  the 
sinner.  He  thought  it  the  duty  of  all  to  leave  these 
matters  with  God  and  simply  to  preach  the  Word. 
Speaking  of  regeneration,  he  said, 

"  The  human  heart  must  be  changed  and  renovated  by 
some  cause ;  for  unless  the  heart  be  reconciled  to  God, 
purified,  cleansed,  no  man  can  be  adfnitted  i?ito  the  society 
of  heaven.  These  views  I  have  always  presented  to  the 
public.  But  the  question  is,  How  is  this  moral  change  to 
be  effected?  By  the  Spirit  alone?  By  the  gospel  facts 
alone?  By  the  Word  alone?  I  do  not  affirm  any  one  of 
these  propositions.    /  never  did  affirm  any  one  of  them. 

"  How  the  Spirit  operates  in  the  Word,  through  the  Word, 
by  the  Word,  or  with  the  Word,  I  do  not  affirm.  I  only 
oppose  the  idea  that  any  one  is  changed  in  heart  or  renewed 
in  the  spirit  of  his  mind  by  the  Spirit  without  the  Word." 

Thus  it  was  that  the  matter  continued  as  before,  the 
real  question  being,  all  the  while,  not  whether  influ- 
ences accompanied  the  gospel,  but  what  was  the  nature 
of  those  influences ;  Mr.  Campbell  declining  to  discuss 
or  determine  this,  or  to  adopt  the  popular  notions  in 
regard  to  this  untaught  question. 

As  respects  the  doctrine  of  baptism  for  the  remission 
of  sins  as  set  forth  in  Mr.  Campbell's  first  Extra,  there 
was  really  no  appreciable  diflference  between  him  and 
Mr.  Meredith.  Upon  this  subject.  Professor  Ryland 
of  Richmond  published  about  this  time  a  discourse,  in 
which  he  denied  that  Peter  was  to  be  literally  under- 
stood to  command  the  people  to  be  baptized  for  the 
remission  of  sins,  and  endeavored  to  show  that  the 
Greek  preposition,  ire,  rendered  for^  should  be  trans- 
lated into,  so  that  the  meaning  of  Peter's  words  might 
be  thus  stated  :      Be  baptized  into  the  confession  or 


4o6       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


doctrine  of  forgiveness."  This  discourse  Mr.  Meredith 
reviewed,  and  after  disputing  Dr.  Ryland's  criticism 
upon  i:7,  went  on  to  say : 

"  The  proper  question  to  be  asked  here,  it  appears  to  us, 
is  this :  What  is  the  scriptural  import  of  the  phrase,  h<^ 
a(ptGL^  d//«/>r:(t)v,  in  the  text  rendered  '  for  the  remission  of 
sins?'  To  answer  this  question  in  short  we  turn  first  to 
Matt.  xxvi.  38,  and  read  as  follows:  'For  this  is  my  blood 
of  the  New  Testament,  which  is  shed  for  many  (ijc  aipzaiv 
aij.ap-nu'j')  for  the  remission  of  sins.'  This  passage  is,  in  our 
opinion,  decisive.  That  the  blood  of  Christ  was  slied  '  into 
the  remission  of  sins'  or  '  into  the  confession  or  the  doctrine 
of  forgiveness,'  we  are  sure  no  one  will  contend.  On  the 
contrary,  that  it  was  shed  for  the  remissio7i  of  sins  as  an 
end  is  equally  beN'ond  the  possibility  of  a  doubt.  The  same 
phrase  occurs  Mark  i.  4:  'John  did  baptize  in  the  wilderness 
and  preach  the  baptism  of  repentance  (i£c  a^tcv^  aimpziwy)  for 
the  remission  of  sins.'  This  passage,  when  interpreted  by 
the  former,  as  it  ought  to  be,  is  not  less  certain  and  decisive 
in  its  import.  To  say  that  John  preached  the  baptism  of 
repentance  the  remission  of  sins  would  be  to  employ 

language  singularly  obscure,  if  not  altogether  unintelligible. 
See  again  Luke  iii.  3  :  'And  he  came  into  all  the  country 
around  Jordan,  preaching  the  baptism  of  repentance  (cr<? 
d(fsatv  d/xapTiw>)  for  the  remission  of  sins.'  The  same  remark 
applies  to  this  case  which  was  made  in  relation  to  th»;  pre- 
ceding. These,  including  the  passage  in  question,  are  the 
only  instances  in  which  the  phrase  ^f?  a<p-fft>  apapriujv  occurs 
in  the  New  Testament.  That  the  first  case  is  decidedly  in 
favor  of  the  present  rendering,  for  the  remission  of  sins^ 
and  that  the  others  are  but  little  less  so,  it  seems  to  us  cannot 
admit  of  a  doubt.  To  say  the  least,  there  is  certainly  no 
evidence  in  favor  of  the  rendering  proposed  by  the  author." 

After  objecting,  then,  to  the  rendering  or  paraphrase  given 
by  Dr.  Ryland,  as  well  as  to  the  theology  implied  in  it,  he 
says,  in  conclusion,  "We  object  in  the  last  place  to  the  neces- 


CANDOR  OF  AN  OPPONENT. 


407 


■sary  tendency  of  the  argument  before  us.  This  argument,  if 
we  understand  it  correctly,  goes  to  show  that  baptism  has  no 
sort  of  connection  with  remission  ;  and  that  ahhough  a  posi- 
tive institution  of  the  New  Testament,  and  the  only  autlior- 
ized  medium  of  admission  into  the  Christian  Church,  it  is 
nevertheless  a  matter  in  which  the  sinner's  salvation  is  in  no 
way  concerned.  Now,  when  we  hear  two  evangelists  speak 
of  the  baptism  of  repentance  for  the  remission  of  sins — when 
we  liear  the  King  himself  in  his  last  commission  affirm  that 
*  he  that  believes  and  is  baptized  shall  be  saved' — when  we 
hear  an  apostle  acting  under  that  commission  require  the 
people  to  'repent  and  be  baptized  for  the  remission  of  sins' — 
when  we  hear  Ananias  say  to  Paul,  'And  now  why  tarriest 
thou  ?  Arise  and  be  baptized  and  wash  away  thy  sins' — we 
believe  that  all  these  must  mean  something.  And  when  we 
call  to  mind  that  three  thousand  were  baptized  on  the  same 
day  of  conversion  ;  that  the  household  of  Cornelius  had  no 
sooner  given  evidence  of  repentance  than  Peter  demanded 
their  baptism  ;  that  the  Ethiopian  eunuch  was  baptized  in 
the  midst  of  his  journey,  and  that  the  Philippian  jailer  and 
his  household  were  baptized  at  midnight, — we  cannot  but  be- 
lieve that  baptism  has  a  much  more  important  connection 
with  salvation  and  remission  than  is  now  generally  supposed. 
At  any  rate,  we  cannot  but  suspect  the  expediency  of  ;*ny 
attempt  to  explain  away  the  force  of  passages  which,  if  we 
be  not  much  mistaken,  are  well  sustained  by  the  analogy  of 
faith  and  the  usus  loquendi^ 

Such  plain  admissions  as  these  brought,  as  a  matter 
of  course,  upon  Mr.  Meredith  charges  of  *'  Campbellism" 
from  some  of  his  brethren,  but  he  was  too  independent 
and  high-minded  to  yield  his  convictions  of  truth  to  any 
partisan  clamors.  Some  years  after,  he  thus  wrote  to 
a  correspondent  who  accused  him  of  agreeing  with  Mr. 
Campbell : 

"  That  the  Scriptures  have  connected  baptism  and  remis- 
sion in  some  sense  it  is  worse  than  useless  to  deny.    We  are 


408       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


aware  that  attempts  have  been  made  to  destroy  the  force  of 
the  passages  referred  to ;  but  always  with  such  success  as  to 
betray  the  nakedness  of  the  land,  and  at  the  same  time  to 
illustrate  the  deplorable  effects  of  partisan  prejudice.  On 
this  point,  Mr.  Campbell  has  always  had  the  advantage  of  his 
opponents.  He  has  triumphantly  quoted  such  passages  as 
Acts  ii.  38,  against  which  nothing  has  ever  been  offered  better 
than  a  fHmsy  criticism  or  a  palpable  perversion  of  apostolic 
teaching. 

"Here  we  have  taken  different  ground  from  the  rest  of  our 
brethren.  We  have  promptly  conceded  to  Mr.  Campbell 
everything  which  candor  seemed  to  demand.  We  have  con- 
ceded that  the  evangelists  and,  apostles,  in  the  places  referred 
to,  meant  what  they  said.  We  have  conceded  that,  in  a  given 
sense,  and  under  certain  limitations  and  for  certain  ends,  re- 
mission has  been  connected  with  baptism."  Upon  this,  Mr. 
Campbell  remarked  :  "  The  above  concessions  contain  all  that 
we  are  anxious  to  maintain.  '  If  the  evangelists  and  the 
apostles  meant  what  they  said  in  the  places  referred  to*  for 
proof  by  us,  we  ask  no  more :  for  it  was  always  alleged  by 
us  that  '  in  a  given  sense  and  under  certain  limitations  and  for 
certain  ends,  remission  has  been  connected  with  baptism.* 
We  never  went  further  than  this  ;  our  opponents  said  we  did, 
but  no  man  can  show  from  our  own  language  that  we  have 
ever  transcended  the  words  above  quoted  from  Mr.  Meredith." 

The  above  candid  and  manly  utterances  of  Mr.  Mere- 
dith, so  far  from  creating  disaffection  among  the  Bap- 
tists in  North  Carolina,  only  increased  their  respect  for 
him,  and  tended  to  diffuse  throughout  the  extensive 
Chowan  Association  to  which  he  belonged  a  spirit  of 
gentleness  and  liberality  toward  the  Reformers  scarcely 
found  elsewhere.  The  consequence  was,  that  division 
did  not  occur  among  the  churches  there,  and  the  Re- 
formers, both  preachers  and  people,  continued  to  hold 
and  to  express  their  sentiments  without  hindrance. 
And  it  is  worthy  of  note  that  this  concession  to  the 


ASSAULT  UPON  INFIDELS. 


ancient  spirit  of  Baptist  toleration  and  freedom  enured 
greatly  to  the  benefit  of  the  Baptists  themselves  in  North 
Carolina,  where  the  memory  of  Mr.  Meredith,  who  was 
distinguished  no  less  for  piety  and  talent  than  for  inde- 
pendence and  candor,  is  still  fondly  and  most  deservedly 
cherished. 

In  the  spring  of  1836,  at  Mr.  CampbelPs  desire.  Dr. 
Richardson  removed  from  Carthage  to  Bethany  to  assist 
in  the  editorial  duties  of  the  "  Harbinger,"  in  order  that 
Mr.  Campbell  might  be  enabled  to  spend  more  time 
abroad  in  answer  to  many  urgent  calls.  On  the  30th 
of  May,  he  accordingly  set  out  on  a  tour  to  the  North- 
east, accompanied  by  T.  Fanning  of  Nashville,  and  J. 
Taffe,  of  Wilmington,  Ohio.  Mr.  Taffe  had  some  time  \ 
before  abandoned  the  legal  profession  and  devoted  himself 
to  preaching.  He  was  much  esteemed  by  Mr.  Campbell 
for  his  abilities  and  many  agreeable  qualities,  and  es- 
pecially for  his  earnest  and  intelligent  advocacy  of  the 
cause  of  truth,  whose  interests  he  labored  to  promote, 
not  only  by  his  public  addresses,  but  by  the  publication 
of  various  pamphlets,  in  which  he  treated  some  of  the 
important  subjects  connected  with  the  gospel  in  a  very 
cogent  and  effective  manner. 

As  some  leading  skeptics  were  at  this  time  very 
actively  propagating  their  sentiments  in  Northern  Ohio, 
Mr.  Campbell  visited  Ravenna,  where  he  spoke  six 
times,  exposing  the  dark  and  dreary  speculations  of 
the  Free-Thinkers,  who  were  publishing  there  an  infidel 
paper,  deriving  its  contents  largely  from  the  "Boston 
Investigator,"  edited  by  the  apostate  Kneeland.  Pass- 
ing thence  to  Cleveland,  he  delivered  several  lectures 
on  the  evidences  of  Christianity,  inviting  the  doubting 
to  state  their  objections  publicly.  One  of  the  leaders 
of  the  skeptics  there,  Mr.  Irad  Kelley,  availed  himself 

35 


4IO       MEMOIRS   OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


of  this  privilege,  and  Mr.  Campbell  replied.  Great 
interest  being  manifested  by  the  people,  the  discussion 
was  continued,  and  at  the  next  meeting  Mr.  Kelley  de- 
livered a  long  tirade  against  the  Bible,  full  of  reckless 
assertions  and  incorrect  statements.  Mr.  Campbell 
having  become  quite  hoarse,  requested  Matthew  Clapp, 
who  had  some  time  before  married  his  sister  Alicia,  and 
happened  to  be  on  the  ground,  to  reph-  to  Mr.  Kelley, 
which  he  did  with  much  point  and  argument. 

In  the  mean  time,  Dr.  Samuel  Underbill  appeared  on 
the  stage  as  the  defender  of  skepticism,  and  requested 
to  be  heard.  A  discussion  consequently  ensued,  taking 
a  somewhat  wide  range,  during  some  eight  or  ten  half- 
hour  speeches,  after  which  Mr.  Campbell  was  requested 
to  deliver  a  continuous  argument  on  the  subject  of 
miracles  before  the  citizens,  Dr.  Underbill  being  al- 
lowed to  offer  a  reply.  When  the  time  for  delivering 
this  discourse  arrived,  a  very  large  concourse  was  pres- 
ent, and  Mr.  Campbell  presented  a  very  powerful  and 
overwhelmincr  defence  of  miracles,  dwellin<T  in  conclu- 
sion  upon  prophecy  as  a  miracle  to  those  who  witnessed 
its  fulfillment,  and  pointing  out  the  dispersion  and  pres- 
ent state  of  the  Jews,  and  the  rise  of  the  Man  of  Sin  in 
the  Christian  Church,  as  matters  thus  clearly  foretold 
and  fully  verified  before  the  eyes  of  the  present  genera- 
tion. When  Dr.  Underbill  rose  to  respond,  the  con- 
gregation seemed  disposed  to  adjourn,  upon  which  the 
doctor  appointed  a  meeting  for  the  next  morning,  when 
but  few  attended,  and  he  made  but  a  feeble  reply.  Mr. 
Campbell  then  recapitulated  the  points  made  during  the 
discussion,  and  contrasted  the  prospects  and  ultimate 
termination  proposed  in  the  two  systems  of  Christian- 
ity and  of  infidelity  with  commanding  eloquence  and 
power.    After  a  friendly  exhortation  to  his  antagonists^ 


TOUR  TO  THE  EAST. 


411 


he  then  closed  the  discussion,  during  which  the  greatest 
courtesy  and  good  feeling  had  been  preserved,  and  the 
effect  of  which  was  very  marked  in  checking  the  prog- 
ress of  infidelity  in  that  quarter. 

It  is  unnecessary  to  pursue  minutely  the  incidents  of 
this  laborious  trip,  undertaken  in  the  midst  of  oppressive 
summer  heats  and  the  still  more  depressing  evidences 
of  the  deep  and  unfounded  religious  prejudices  with 
which  the  minds  of  the  communities  which  he  now, 
for  the  first  time,  visited,  had  been  imbued  by  misrepre- 
sentation and  bigotry,  and  which  led  the  religious  parties 
to  deny  to  him  everywhere  the  use  of  their  houses. 
Some  of  his  private  letters  written  on  his  way  may  here 
furnish  sufficient  detail,  while  they  will  afford  a  more 
grateful  view  of  the  feelings  and  affections  governing 
his  inner  life.  That  love  for  man  as  man^  which  in- 
duced him  to  undergo  so  many  toils  and  sacrifices  to 
dispense  the  blessings  of  the  gospel,  manifested  itself 
even  in  the  minutest  matters.  It  led  him  habitually  to 
send  his  salutations  and  kind  wishes  by  name  even  to 
his  domestics  and  to  the  hired  blacks  and  the  humblest 
Roman  Catholic  laborers  on  his  farm.  Nor  is  the  ele- 
vated character  of  his  aspirations  less  evident  in  the 
tender  solicitude  which  he  ever  manifested  for  the 
Christian  progress  and  perfection  of  the  various  mem- 
bers of  his  own  immediate  family  and  for  the  happiness 
of  his  intimate  friends  : 

"Lake  Erie,  June  11,  1836. 
"My  dear  Selina:  The  lake  at  this  moment  rolls  in 
waves  under  a  very  strong  wind,  about  as  fierce  as  when  my- 
self and  Eliza  sailed  up  the  Chesapeake  Bay.  We  are  now 
about  sixty  miles  above  Buffalo,  and  hope  to  be  there  to-night. 
The  table  rolls  so  that  I  can  hardly  sit  up  straight.  But  how 
pleasing  the  thought  that  we  are  alw.iys  in  the  hand  of  out 


412        MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 

Father  in  heaven,  who  is  at  all  times  equally  able  to  save  us 
from  danger  the  most  imminent  as  well  as  when  no  harm  is 
visible  1  ...  1  have  spoken  in  Cleveland  now  for  the  space 
of  six  days  in  defence  of  the  gospel.  I  trust  much  good  will 
result  from  the  discussions  we  have  had  with  the  skeptics  of 
that  place. 

"Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hawley  and  their  amiable  daughters  have 
much  aflection  for  you,  because  Brother  Hawley  used  to  live 
in  Shrewsbury,  and  was  well  acquainted  with  your  mother 
before  she  was  married.  Add  to  this  his  great  regard  for  the 
truth  and  for  those  who  know  and  obey  it. 

I  trust  you  are  all  attention,  my  dear,  to  your  health,  and, 
next  to  your  health,  the  education  and  improvement  of  our 
dear  children.  Remember,  this  is  the  great  business  of  life: 
to  transmit  to  those,  and  through  those  to  whom  you  have 
given  birth,  the  knowledge  of  God  and  of  his  Anointed  for 
their  sakes  and  for  the  good  of  others  yet  unborn.  In  this 
way  alone  you  can  pay  your  debts.  Remember  me  most 
affectionately  to  all  my  dear  children.  The  elder  branches 
of  my  family  are.  I  trust,  daily  improving  in  useful  knowledge 
and  growing  up  in  the  study  and  practice  of  all  that  is  lovely 
and  excellent. 

'*My  father  left  me  in  good  health  yesterday  morning,  and 
will  spend  the  summer  in  the  Lake  country.  My  kindest  re- 
membrance to  all  my  household  ;  and  for  yourself,  accept  the 
repetition  of  my  conjugal  and  Christian  love.   Your  husband, 

*'A.  Campbell." 

*'  Lewistown,  N.  Y.  (opposite  to  Queenstown  Heights  and  General 
Brocks'  monument  in  Upper  Canada,  famous  for  the  Battle 
of  1814,  Niagara  River),  June  18,  1836. 

"My  beloved  Wife  and  Daughters  Eliza,  Lavinia 
AND  Clarinda  Campbell,  ^ree//«^;  Health  and  sahvation 
through  our  God  and  Father  and  our  Lord  and  Saviour  Jesus 
Christ ! 

^''Dearly  Beloved :  Next  to  my  own  personal  and  eternal 
salvation  through  mv  Lord  and  Saviour,  there  is  nothing  on 
earth  dearer  to  me  than  your  present,  spiritual  and  eternal 


DOMESTIC  AFFECTION, 


good.  I  wish  you  to  be  intelligent,  pure  and  influential  on 
earth,  loving  and  beloved  as  far  as  mortals  like  you  can  be ; 
to  be  ornaments  in  the  kingdom  of  Jesus  Christ,  respectful 
and  respected,  honorable  and  honored,  good  and  happy  as  my 
wife  and  daughters  ought  to  be.  On  you  all  God  has  be- 
stowed good  mental  capacities,  powers  of  acquiring  and  com- 
municating knowledge,  fine  feeling  and  many  excellences 
capable  of  much  improvement  and  of  rendering  you  very 
useful  in  society.  Now  let  me  say  to  you  that  you  are  thereby 
under  great  responsibilities,  and  let  me  remind  you  that  you 
all  seek  to  be  more  intelligent,  more  amiable  and  more  ex- 
emplary every  day.  I  do  not  say  this  as  though  I  did  not 
think  you  are  as  much  so  now  as  any  of  my  wide  and  ex- 
tended acquaintances,  but  because  I  wish  you  to  be  of  un- 
rivaled excellence. 

"  I  am  just  accidentally  spending  the  night  at  the  stage- 
office,  waiting  to  start  in  the  morning  at  three  o'clock  for  the 
canal  at  Lockport.  We  have  spent  three  days  at  the  Falls 
of  Niagara  on  the  American  and  Canada  sides,  an  account 
of  which  we  will  send  you  in  a  few  days.  I  have  not  had 
such  a  feast  in  many  years  as  I  have  enjoyed  for  three  days. 
The  scenes  here  beg'gar  all  description.  This  place  is  visited 
by  men  of  all  nations.  One  hundred  gentlemen  and  ladies 
have  been  at  our  hotel  for  the  last  three  days — from  Boston, 
Paris  and  various  American  cities.  I  only  spoke  once  since 
my  arrival,  and  am  rather  here  incognito  for  recreation. 
There  are  many  very  elegant  ladies,  highly  cultivated  and 
refined,  from  Boston  and  New  York,  as  well  as  from  other 
places,  but  none  for  whom  God  has  done  mor^  intellectually, 
morally,  and,  indeed,  in  every  way,  than  for  my  excellent 
wife  and  amiable  daughters.  And,  therefore,  it  is  my  wish 
that  you  should  all  know  how  much  God  has  done  for  you, 
that  you  may  love,  admire  and  serve  him  more  and  more. 

"  Take  care  of  your  health,  your  mind,  your  time,  and  keep 
your  hearts  from  forgetting  the  Chief  among  the  ten  thou- 
sands— the  Lord  who  has  redeemed  us.  I  cannot  describe  to 
you  my  feelings  or  regrets  when  I  see  so  many  of  the  fine 

36  * 


414       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL 


ladies  of  the  country,  and  from  the  first  circles,  alieiii,  from 
God  and  Christ — those  who  from  their  commandino:  emi- 
nence  in  society  could  influence  many,  themselves  without 
religious  feelings  and  without  the  proper  knowledge  of  God. 
Seeing  those  of  the  first  class  so  unapproachable  and  so 
dead  to  the  matters  of  religion  stirs  up  my  soul  for  you  and 
for  many  others.  Seek  to  shine  in  all  moral  excellence  and 
to  be  valiant  for  the  truth. 

Remember  me  to  Maria  with  all  aflTection.  I  have  for 
her  the  highest  esteem  and  aflTection.  My  younger  children 
are  not  yet  capable  of  entering  into  these  matters.  God 
knows  that  I  desire  that  they  may  be  his  children  as  they  are 
mine,  and  that  they  will  be  brought  up  for  him.  May  he 
bless  them  with  all  grace  as  he  has  blessed  you  all.  Remem- 
ber me  most  affectionately  to  Edwin  and  his  Julia,  to  William 
and  his  Selina,  to  my  son  Robert  and  his  household,  to  Mother 
Bakewell,  to  Theron  especially,  and  particularly  to  my  cousin 
Enos,  to  Betsy,  to  Susanna,  to  Charles  and  to  James,  and  to 
Hugh  McNally. 

Present  my  kindest  regards  to  Sister  and  Brother  Richard- 
son, and  may  the  Lord  God  that  has  preserved  me  from  a 
thousand  dangers,  preserve  you  all,  to  his'everlasting  kingdom 
is  the  prayer  of  your  most  affectionate  husband  and  father, 

A.  Campbell." 

"Near  Rochester,  June  21,  1836. 
**Dear  Brother  Richardson  :  I  rejoice  with  you  in  the 
pleasing  intelligence  that  your  Brother  John  has  become  to 
you  dear  in  the  Lord  as  well  as  in  the  flesh.  Of  all  the  joys 
that  mortals  taste  in  this  vale  of  tears,  those  are  the  purest 
which  spring  from  the  approbation  of  our  heavenly  Father, 
and  from  the  sight  of  our  fellow-mortals  turning  with  all  their 
hearts  to  the  Lord.  They  only  who  have  felt  the  pardon- 
ing mercy  of  God  in  their  own  case  can  rightly  appreciate 
the  benefits  that  accrue  to  others  from  their  submission  to  the 
Saviour,  and  therefore  it  is  for  them  to  rejoice  in  company 
with  the  angels  of  heaven  over  sinners  returning  to  God. 
We  are  often  solaced  with  those  joys  in  the  blessed  work  of 


LABORS  IN  THE  GOSPEL. 


proclaiming  the  Word.  For  a  week  past,  however,  we  have 
not,  owing  to  the  most  unpropitious  circumstances — of  con- 
tinual rains  and  mud  opposition — had  one  such  occasion  of 
rejoicing.  The  towns  on  the  canal  are  either  wholly  devoted 
to  mammon  and  infidelitv  or  to  mammon  and  sectarianism, 
so  far  as  we  have  found  on  an  acquaintance  of  the  last  few 
days. 

I  commence  to-day,  June  24,  a  series  of  lectures  in  Roches- 
ter, in  the  midst  of  a  population  of  18,000.  In  the  court- 
house, too !  Indications  here  are  not  favorable.  The  cause 
has  been  crucified  here  by  one  prominent  individual.  But  I 
am  not  discouraged.  We  shall  try.  Yours  truly  and  affec- 
tionately, A.  Campbell." 

"Syracuse,  New  York,  July  8,  1836. 

"  Beloved  Selina  :  I  have  never  been  more  busily  en- 
gaged in  all  my  life  than  on  the  present  tour.  I  am  like  one 
settling  in  a  new  country,  where  everything  is  to  do.  I  have 
labored  incessantly  since  I  came  into  this  State,  disabusing 
the  public  mind  and  teaching  the  disciples.  There  is  a 
powerful  opposition  consolidated  against  the  truth.  I  have 
spoken  some  thirty-seven  times  since  I  left  home.  I  am  now 
at  the  residence  of  our  Sister  Lathrop,  who  resides  with  her 
mother.  She  is  one  of  the  most  amiable,  intelligent  and  ac- 
complished ladies  in  the  city,  and  because  of  her  piety  and 
great  talents  exercises  great  influence  here. 

"  I  am  really  very  tired  and  willing  to  seek  repose,  and 
could  wish  that  my  journey  and  my  furlough  were  completed, 
but  I  must  patiently  bear  the  toil  and  endure  the  pain  in  hope 
of  the  reward.  I  have  the  great  pleasure  of  enlightening 
many,  of  relieving  the  distressed  and  broken  in  spirit,  and  of 
making  some  rich  in  the  faith  and  hope  of  Christ.  I  have 
left  a  good  odor  for  Christ  in  every  place.  Yesterday  there 
followed  me  nine  miles  a  Presbyterian  lady  from  Cicero— 
where  some  persons  had  been  immersed — with  many  tears, 
desiring  to  obey  the  Lord.  All  the  country  behind  me  desire 
my  return.  But,  unfortunately,  I  have  to  leave  every  place 
just  when  I  get  the  prejudices  broken  down  a  little.  Thift 


41 6       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL, 


is  a  hard,  worldly,  skeptical  place.  To-night  I  speak  to  tL« 
infidels. 

The  New  Yorkers  are  intelligent  and  shrewd.  Generally 
the  ladies  are  well  accomplished  ;  some  very  refined,  but  not 
superior  to  the  Virginia  ladies.  They  read  much,  work 
little,  but  are  great  economists. 

"A  company  have  just  this  moment  called  in.  I  am  called 
on.  My  ardent  afliection  for  all  my  children  and  for  your- 
self. 

"  I  need  not  say  that  on  this  earth  there  is  to  me  none  so  deal 
as  the  wife  of  A.  Campbell. 

"  The  Lord  bless  you,  my  dear,  and  all  my  children.  Give 
my  love  by  name  to  all  of  them,  and  remember  me  affection 
ately  to  all  my  household. 

Farewell  once  more.  A.  C." 

"  Saratoga  Springs,  July  23,  1836. 

"  My  dear  Selina  :  Through  the  kindness  and  constant 
care  of  our  heavenly  Father  I  have  safely  arrived  at  this  place. 
It  is  now  fifty-four  days  since  I  bade  you,  my  dear  Selina, 
and  my  dear  children,  adieu,  and  during  that  time  I  have  de- 
livered fifty-nine  public  discourses  and  traveled  more  than 
eight  hundred  miles.  I  came  here  on  Wednesday,  the  20th 
inst.,  very  much  exhausted,  and  have  in  company  with  Father 
Carman  and  Brother  Taffe  taken  lodging  for  one  week  at  a 
private  boarding-house,  and  am  now  quite  comfortable.  We 
drink  of  these  healing  waters  and  bathe  in  them  every  day. 
I  have  a  shower  bath  every  morning  and  a  warm  bath  of  the 
mineral  wateis  every  evening,  and  have  got  my  companions 
all  persuaded  to  follow  my  example  ;  so  that  we  eat,  drink, 
bathe  and  recruit  ourselves  here  in  good  earnest  in  the  midst 
of  all  the  gayety,  splendor,  equipage  and  show  of  this  rich 
and  proud  nation.  ... 

"  Here  they  are  from  all  States  and  countries,  and  from 
Europe.  The  lame,  the  halt,  the  feeble  are  here  drinking  the 
healing  streams.  But  there  are  more,  many  more,  here  who 
come  to  show  themselves  and  to  be  seen  rather  than  for  health 
—many  ladies  to  look  for  husbands  and  many  men  for  wives. 


SACRIFICES  AND  TOILS, 


So  that  we  have  beauty  and  fashion,  pride  and  pomp  in  full 
style  and  glory.  .  *,  . 

"  We  shall  leave  here  on  Wednesday,  the  27th,  and  pro- 
ceed to  Vermont,  where  I  expect  to  preach  on  the  28th.  Then 
we  shall  pass  on  through  New  Hampshire  into  Massachusetts, 
and  proceed  to  the  capital  of  the  State.  I  expect  to  spend  the 
first  week  of  August  at  Boston,  and  then  to  pass  into  Rhode 
Island  and  Connecticut,  and  so  on  to  New  York  city,  thence 
to  Philadelphia,  thence  to  Baltimore,  thence  to  Bethany  some 
time  in  September.  I  have  no  doubt  my  tour  will  be  useful 
to  many,  and  I  think  the  cause  of  truth  will  be  much  sub- 
served by  it ;  but  really  it  is  a  very  great  toil  personal,  and  a 
great  sacrifice  of  domestic  comfort. 

"  To  one  who  so  much  loves  his  wife  and  children  and  the 
whole  family  circle,  and  delights  in  making  them  happy,  it 
is  not  an  easy  task  to  forsake  them  all  for  so  long  a  time,  but 
when  I  think  of  Him  who  forsook  the  Palace  of  the  Universe 
and  the  glory  of  his  Father's  court,  and  condescended  to  be 
borr  of  a  woman  and  to  live  in  an  unfriendly  world,  and  to 
be  ticated  a  thousand  times  worse  than  I  have  ever  been,  to 
save  us  from  our  sins,  I  think  but  little  of  all  I  have  done  or 
can  do  to  republish  his  salvation  and  to  call  sinners  to  refor- 
mation and  to  build  up  the  cause  of  life,  of  ancient  Chris- 
tianity. My  success  in  pleading  the  cause  has  been  propor- 
tioned to  the  means  used  and  the  interest  felt  by  those  who 
co-operate  in  it,  and  I  have  no  doubt  but  so  it  will  con- 
tinue to  be. 

'*  My  dearly  beloved,  take  care  of  your  health  and  that  of 
our  dear  children,  and  see  that  the  minds  of  the  young  are 
not  under  some  evil  influence.  Watch  over  our  son,  and  re- 
member he  is  a  precious  deposit  committed  to  your  and  to 
my  care.  I  have  not  received  one  letter  from  you  since  I  left 
home — only  a  few  lines  at  the  foot  of  one.  I  cannot  now 
say  where  I  could  hear  from  you  unless  you  would  write  forth- 
with to  New  York  city,  if  you  receive  this  eight  days  after 
date.    If  longer,  write  me  at  Philadelphia. 

"  I  need  not  mention  by  name  any  of  my  children  or  any 
VOL.  II. — 2  B 


4l8        MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


brethren  and  sisters  at  Bethany,  for  them  all  I  entertain  the 
esteem  and  aHection  due  to  them,  of  which  you  may  remind 
them  ;  while  I  remain  your  sovereign  husband,  liege  lord,  till 
God  himself  dissolves  the  covenant  by  taking  one  of  us  to 
himself.  In  which  hope  of  being  taken  to  the  Lord  I  remain 
truly  and  affectionately  yours,  as  you  are  mine  till  that  day, 

A.  Campbell." 

After  spending  a  week  at  Saratoga,  where  he  de- 
livered two  addresses,  he  visited  several  points  in  Ver- 
mont, and  after  meeting  with  a  church  of  disciples  at 
Pawlet,  took  passage  for  Boston,  where  he  was  kindly 
received  by  Brother  Himes.  eider  of  the  Christian 
church  there,  to  which  he  delivered  several  discourses 
during  his  stay^ 

He  was  much  impressed  by  what  he  observed  in  the 
New  England  States,  and  in  his  journal  pays  to  them 
the  following  just  tribute  : 

For  general  intelligence,  morality  and  good  order  I  need 
not  say  that  in  the  New  World  no  city  surpasses — 1  say  more, 
no  city  equals — the  capital  of  New  England.  Puritanism, 
with  all  its  faults  and  foibles,  has  stamped  a  virtuous  cha- 
racter on  the  whole  nation  of  New  England,  which  centuries 
have  not  effaced  and  which  centuries  to  come  cannot  obliter- 
ate. The  severe  discipline,  stern  morality  and  untemporiz- 
ing  conscientiousness  of  the  Pilgrim  Fathers  demonstrate 
their  excellency  in  the  vigor,  health,  and  prosperity  of  their 
sons.  And  if  the  fruit  of  every  tree  is  to  test  its  character, 
assured  I  am  that  no  system  of  education  hitherto  adopted 
has  more  to  recommend  it,  as  a  whole,  than  that  experimented 
by  those  godly  Protestants,  founders  of  our  free  institutions, 
which  has  given  to  the  world  so  virtuous  a  race  as  that  which 
yet  occupies  the  soil  on  which  the  pious  Fathers  first  offered 
the  unbloody  sacrifice  of  Christian  gratitude  in  the  savage 
tents  of  Shem.  I  could  not,  on  surveying  the  whole  pre- 
mises— the  industry,  economy,  prosperity,  wealth,  morality 
and  religious  regard  for  the  Bible  generally  apparent  in  those 


SUNRISE  AT  SEA. 


old  States — I  say,  I  could  not  but  congratulate  myself  and 
my  fellow-citizens  of  the  West  that  we  have  so  pure  a  cradle, 
so  healthful  a  nursery,  from  which  to  replenish  the  new  States 
with  sons  and  daughters,  who  will  transmit  to  future  times 
the  good  habits  of  the  most  virtuous  and  prosperous  people 
in  the  world." 

Visiting  Lynn  and  Salem,  he  was  much  pleased  with 
his  interviews  with  many  of  the  Christians"  of  New 
England,  whom  he  found  candid  and  intelligent,  and 
willing  to  be  taught  the  way  of  the  Lord  more  per- 
fectly. Remaining  in  Massachusetts  about  two  weeks, 
he  passed  by  way  of  Providence  to  New  York.  While 
on  the  steamboat  on  the  Sound  he  greatly  admired  a 
sunrise  which  he  witnessed  and  described.  As  an  illus- 
tration of  his  skill  in  what  is  termed  "word-painting,** 
his  account  of  it  is  here  given : 

I  awoke  with  the  morning  star,  and  going  out  on  deck, 
from  the  brilliant  and  mild  appearance  of  the  heavens  I 
anticipated  the  glories  of  a  sun-rising  at  sea,  and  accord- 
ingly hastened  to  awake  my  companions  to  enjoy  with  me 
the  richest  of  Nature's  feasts.  Soon  as  we  were  all  seated  on 
the  upper  deck  at  the  stern,  with  our  faces  to  the  east,  and 
while  yet  the  morning  star  beamed  in  a  cloudless  sky,  we 
began  each  to  designate  that  point  from  which  we  expected 
the  sun  to  lift  upon  us  his  effulgent  countenance.  As  we 
gazed  upon  the  pacific  and  silvery  brow  of  the  tranquil  sea, 
which,  as  a  splendid  mirror,  seemed  to  reflect  the  glories 
of  the  heavens  fresh  upon  us  with  every  tremulous  swell 
which  urged  us  to  the  desired  haven,  we  saw  a  brightness  in 
the  orient  which  indicated  to  us  the  near  approach  of  the 
joyful  monarch  of  the  day.  The  crepuscular  glimmerings 
gradually  spread  over  all  the  east,  and  as  they  swept  a 
loftier  arch  toward  the  empyrean,  they  assumed  the  bright- 
ness of  liquid  brass ;  while  deeply  bedded  in  the  far  distant 
horizon,  two  pyramidal  columns  began  to  rise,  as  if  the 
clouds  from  the  Atlantic  had  suddenly  formed  themselves 


420       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL 


into  pillars  for  the  gates  of  the  morning,  erecting  a  sublime 
port  for  the  entrance  of  Nature's  luminary.  Instantly  the 
empyreal  sovereign  streaked  with  gold  the  inner  side  of 
these  two  colossal  pillars,  from  between  which  he  seemed 
resolved  to  enter  upon  the  race  of  a  summer  day.  Deeper 
and  broader  he  laid  on  the  molten  gold  till  these  two  col- 
umns, capped  with  rubies,  stood  gilded  from  top  to  bottom. 
The  curtain  of  night,  which  seemed  to  encircle  this  glorious 
arch,  culminated  over  the  spot  where  the  eyelids  of  the  morn- 
ing began  to  open ;  but  before  we  could  take  the  dimensions 
of  this  new  portico  of  day,  the  sun  himself  in  all  the  gorge- 
ousness  of  his  own  peerless  glory,  gently  raised  himself  to 
peep  over  the  silvery  deep  from  which  he  was  about  to 
emerge.  After  a  single  glance,  which  dazzled  on  the  back 
of  every  gentle  curl  on  the  surface  around  him,  he  suddenly, 
at  a  single  bound,  stood  upon  the  sea,  and  by  another  effort 
drew  after  him  from  the  briny  deep  a  golden  pedestal  as  if 
from  a  surface  of  liquid  fire,  on  which  he  seemed  for  a 
moment  to  sit,  while  from  his  dazzling  locks  floods  of  light 
and  splendor  began  to  flow.  His  yellow  hairs,  as  if  bap- 
tized in  a  sea  of  glory,  dropped  light  and  joy  upon  a  world 
starting  into  life,  while  the  gradual  expanding  of  his  wings 
proclaimed  him  about  to  fly  the  circuit  of  the  universe. 
Bidding  farewell  to  sea  and  land,  he  began  his  flight  to  hea- 
ven ;  and  as  he  onward  and  upward  bent  his  way,  I  was 
reminded  of  Jesse's  son,  who  while  a  shepherd-boy  used  to 
sing :  '  The  heavens  declare  the  glory  of  God,  and  the  firma- 
ment showeth  his  handiwork.  Day  unto  day  uttereth  speech, 
and  night  unto  night  showeth  knowledge.  No  speech  nor 
language  is  there  where  their  voice  is  not  heard.  Their  line 
is  gone  out  through  all  the  earth,  and  their  words  to  the  end 
of  the  world.  In  them  he  has  set  a  tabernacle  for  the  sun, 
who  is  as  a  bridegroom  coming  out  of  his  chamber  and  re- 
joiceth  as  a  strong  man  to  run  a  race.  His  going  forth  is 
from  the  end  of  heaven,  and  his  circuit  to  the  end  of  it,  and 
there  is  nothing  hid  from  the  heat  thereof* " 

After  speaking  several  times  in  Philadelphia  and 


RETURN  TO  BETHANT.  421 

Baltimore,  he  set  out  on  the  30th  of  August  (1836),  and 
reached  home  safely,  having  been  absent  ninety-foui 
days,  during  which  he  traveled  two  thousand  miles  and 
delivered  ninety-three  discourses,  averaging  one  hour 
and  twenty  minutes  each.  During  the  trip  about 
seventy  persons  in  all  had  been  immersed  and  united 
with  the  churche* 


College  of  Teachers— Roman  Catholic  debate— Discussion  with  Mr.  Skinnei 
— S.  W.  Lynd — Christians  among  the  sects — Mr.  Styles. 

IN  a  few  weeks  after  his  return  from  his  Northern 
tour,  Mr.  Campbell  visited  Cincinnati,  where  he  had 
agreed  to  deliver  a  lecture  before  the  College  of 
Teachers.  This  association  consisted  of  those  who 
were  or  had  been  teachers,  and  its  sessions  were  devoted 
to  public  lectures  on  education  and  to  discussions  upon 
the  various  important  questions  connected  with  that  sub- 
ject. When  the  college  met,  3d  of  October,  Dr.  Joshua 
L.  Wilson  gave  the  introductory  lecture,  in  which  he 
recommended  the  Bible  as  a  universal  school-book.  To 
this  objection  was  made  in  the  subsequent  discussion  by- 
Bishop  Purcell,  who  had  formerly  been  in  charge  of  the 
Catholic  seminary,  "  Mount  St.  Mary's  College,"  at 
Emmittsburg,  Maryland.  Mr.  Campbell,  surprised  at 
the  bold  manner  in  which  the  exclusion  of  the  Bible 
from  the  public  schools  was  advocated,  was  still  more 
so  when,  after  the  delivery  of  his  own  lecture  on  ''Moral 
Culture,"  in  which  he  had  connected  the  rapid  march 
of  modern  improvement  with  the  spirit  of  inquiry  pro- 
duced by  the  Protestant  Reformation,  Bishop  Purcell 
took  strong  exception  to  this  doctrine,  openly  affirming 
that  "  the  Protestant  Reformation  had  been  the  cause  of 
all  the  contention  and  infidelity  in  the  world."  As  this 
proposition  was  quite  foreign  to  the  business  of  the  con 

422 


ANTECEDENTS  OF  DEBATE.  423 

mention,  where  religious  discussions  were  not  allowed, 
Mr.  Campbell  informed  the  bishop  that,  if  he  wished  a 
discussion  on  that  subject,  he  was  prepared  for  it,  and 
would  attend  to  it  when  convenient  to  him,  but  that  in 
the  College  he  could  only  defend  his  assertion  as  to  its 
bearings  on  education.  Bishop  Purcell,  in  reply,  de- 
clared himself  in  favor  of  free  discussion,  saying  that 
his  word  was  the  word  of  God,  commanding,  *'  Let  there 
be  light."  As  he  did  not,  however,  signify  his  accept- 
ance of  Mr.  Campbell's  proposition,  the  latter,  after  the 
meeting,  gave  public  notice  that  he  would  speak  upon 
the  subject  on  the  Monday  evening  following  in  the 
Sycamore  Street  meeting-house.  At  the  close  of  his 
address,  Bishop  Purcell,  who  was  present,  was  invited 
to  reply,  but  requested  an  adjournment  to  the  next 
evening,  when  he  spent  most  of  the  time  in  a  tirade  of 
abuse  against  Martin  Luther  and  the  Reformation,  and 
when  Mr.  Campbell  proposed  to  have  the  discussion 
subjected  to  moderators  and  to  proper  rules,  declined 
any  further  debate.  Mr.  Campbell  then,  on  the  follow- 
ing evening,  in  the  Wesley  chapel,  addressed  a  very 
crowded  assembly  upon  the  subjects  involved,  and  gave 
notice  at  the  close  that  he  designed  to  prosecute  the 
matter  no  farther,  summing  up  the  whole,  however,  in 
six  propositions,  which  he  declared  himself  at  any  time 
able  to  sustain.  Next  day  he  received  the  following 
note  : 

"  Cincinnati,  October  13,  1836. 
"  To  THE  Rev.  Mr.  Campbell  : 

"  Dear  Sir  ;  The  undersigned,  citizens  of  Cincinnati,  hav- 
ing listened  with  great  pleasure  to  your  exposure  and  illus- 
trations of  the  absurd  claims  and  usages  of  the  Roman  Catho- 
lic Church,  would  respectfully  and  earnestly  request  you  to 
proceed  immediately  to  establish  before  this  community  the 
six  propositions  announced  at  the  close  of  your  lecture  last 


424       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


evening.  This  request  is  made  under  the  conviction  that  the 
present  state  of  feeling  in  this  city,  and  the  critical  state  of  the 
country  with  reference  to  Romanism,  demand  this,  and  will 
fully  justify  such  a  course,  and  also  with  the  expectation  that 
it  may  result  in  much  good  to  the  cause  of  Protestantism  in 
the  West." 

This  letter  was  signed  by  a  large  number  of  the  most 
respectable  citizens,  and  the  following  P.  S.  was  added: 
**  One-half  of  the  city  could  be  obtained  would  time 
permit.  Fearing  your  hasty  departure  induces  the 
above  persons  to  hand  it  in  without  delay." 

Mr.  Campbell,  in  reply,  after  giving  a  brief  statement 
of  the  circumstances  which  had  led  to  the  introduction 
of  the  subject,  and  re-stating  his  propositions,  frankly 
consented  to  sustain  them  publicly  against  Bishop  Pur- 
cell  or  any  of  the  Catholic  priesthood,  stipulating  only 
that,  in  order  to  give  proper  publicity  to  the  matter  and 
to  afford  him  time  to  fulfill  his  existing  engagements, 
the  meeting  should  be  postponed  till  about  the  beginning 
of  the  new  year,  when  he  would,  either  in  a  discussion 
or  in  public  lectures,  endeavor  to  maintain  the  proposi- 
tions he  had  submitted.  Bishop  Purcell  having  subse- 
quently consented  to  meet  Mr.  Campbell,  the  propo- 
sitions were  arranged  as  follows  : 

I.  The  Roman  Catholic  institution,  sometimes  called  the 
Holy  Apostolic  Church,  is  not  now  nor  was  she  ever  catho- 
lic, apostolic  or  holy  ;  but  is  a  sect  in  the  fair  import  of  that 
word,  older  than  any  other  sect  now  existing  ;  not  the  *  mother 
and  mistress  of  all  churches,'  but  an  apostasy  from  the  only 
true,  apostolic  and  catholic  Church  of  Christ. 

"  2.  Her  notion  of  apostolic  succession  is  without  any 
foundation  in  the  Bible,  in  reason  or  in  fact ;  an  imposition 
of  the  most  injurious  consequences,  built  upon  unscriptural 
and  anti-scriptural  traditions,  resting  wholly  upon  the  opinions 
of  interested  and  fallible  men. 


RULES  OF  DISCUSSION. 


"  3.  She  is  not  uniform  in  her  faith  or  united  in  her  mem- 
bers, but  mutable  and  falHble  as  any  other  sect  of  philosophy 
or  religion — Jewish,  Turkish  or  Christian — a  confederation 
of  sects  under  a  politico-ecclesiastic  head. 

"4.  She  is  the  Babylon  of  John,  the  Man  of  Sin  of  Paul, 
and  the  Empire  of  the  Youngest  Horn  of  Daniel's  sea 
monster. 

"  5.  Her  notions  of  purgatory,  indulgences,  auricular  con- 
fession, remission  of  sins,  transubstantiation,  supererogation, 
etc.,  essential  elements  of  her  system,  are  immoral  in  their 
tendency  and  injurious  to  the  well-being  of  society,  religious 
and  political. 

"  6.  Notwithstanding  her  pretensions  to  have  given  us  the 
Bible  and  faith  in  it,  we  are  perfectly  independent  of  her  for 
our  knowledge  of  that  book  and  its  evidences  of  a  diyine 
original. 

"  7.  The  Roman  Catholic  religion,  if  infallible  and  unsus- 
ceptible of  reformation,  as  alleged,  is  essentially  anti-American, 
being  opposed  to  the  genius  of  all  free  institutions  and  posi- 
tively subversive  of  them,  opposing  the  general  reading  of 
the  Scriptures  and  the  diffusion  of  useful  knowledge  among 
the  whole  community,  so  essential  to  liberty  and  the  perma- 
nency of  good  government." 

The  following  were  the  rules  of  discussion  : 
"  I.  We  agree  that  the  copyright  of  the  discussion  shall  be 
sold  to  some  bookseller,  who  shall  have  it  taken  down  by 
stenographers,  and  that  all  the  avails  of  the  copyright  shall 
be  equally  divided  between  any  such  two  public .  char^tie^ 
as  Bishop  Purcell  and  Mr.  Campbell  shall  respectively 
designate. 

2.  That  the  discussion  shall  take  place  in  the  Sycamore 
Street  meeting-house,  and  shall  continue  seven  days,  exclusive 
of  Sunday,  commencing  this  morning,  from  half-past  9  o'clock, 
A.M.,  to  half-past  12,  and  from  3  to  5  P.M.,  each  day. 

"3.  Mr.  Campbell  shall  open  the  discussion  each  session, 
and  Bishop  Purcell  respond.  During  the  morning  session 
the  first  speech  of  each  shall  not  exceed  one  hour,  nor  the 

36  * 


4^6       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


second  half  an  hour.  In  the  afternoon  each  speaker  shall 
occupy  only  half  an  hour. 

"4.  The  discussion  shall  be  under  the  direction  of  a  board 
of  five  moderators,  of  whom  each  party  shall  choose  two, 
and  these  the  fifth  ;  any  three  of  which  shall  constitute  a 
quorum. 

5.  The  duties  of  the  moderators  shall  be  to  preserve 
order  in  the  assembly  and  to  keep  the  parties  to  the  question." 

The  moderators  appointed  were  John  C.  Rodgers, 
Mr.  Hite,  William  Disney,  Samuel  Lewis  and  Jacob 
W.  Piatt.  On  Friday,  January  13,  1837,  the  debate 
commenced,  and  was  conducted  with  the  utmost  order, 
harmony  and  good  feeling.  A  constantly  increasing 
interest  was  manifested  by  the  citizens  until  its  close. 

As  this  discussion  has  been  extensively  circulated  in 
print,  it  would  be  unnecessary  to  speak  particularly  of 
its  merits,  which  have  been  so  generally  acknowledged. 
Some  matters  connected  with  it,  however,  and  the  im- 
pressions made  upon  the  community  at  the  time,  may  be 
given.  Mr.  Campbell,  on  this  occasion,  had  to  contend 
against  several  unfavorable  circumstances.  On  the 
way  to  Cincinnati  he  had  contracted  a  violent  cold, 
which  rendered  him  feverish,  and  by  which  he  was 
much  oppressed  during  the  consideration  of  the  first 
three  propositions.  At  the  close  of  this  period,  upon 
taking  some  medicine,  he  obtained  relief,  and  a  marked 
difference  was  afterward  noticeable  in  the  clearness  of 
his  voice  and  the  vigor  of  his  replies.  His  next  speech 
of  an  hour  on  the  fourth  proposition  was  so  grand  and 
overwhelming  that  it  made  a  most  profound  impression, 
not  only  upon  the  audience,  but  apparently  upon  Bishop 
Purcell  himself,  who,  it  was  observed,  seemed  quite 
unable  to  recover  from  the  force  of  Mr.  Campbell's 
graphic  delineation  of  Romanism  and  its  identification 


PUBLIC  EXCITEMENT. 


With  •»  the  Babylon  of  John,  the  Man  of  Sin  of  Paul,  and 
the  Little  Horn  of  Daniel's  vision."  Meanwhile,  Mr. 
Charles  Hammond,  editor  of  the  "  Gazette,"  for  whose 
abilities  Mr.  Campbell  entertained  a  very  high  respect, 
had  taken  unexpectedly,  as  was  supposed  for  political 
and  personal  reasons,  the  side  of  the  Catholics,  and  en- 
deavored to  forestall  public  opinion  by  representing  the 
debate  as  a  war  upon  the  Catholics,  and  as  a  failure  in 
the  estimation  of  the  citizens  even  while  it  was  yet  in 
progress,  and  he  had  not  himself  heard  the  full  discus- 
sion of  a  single  proposition.  This  misrepresentation 
of  public  opinion  led  to  a  large  meeting  of  the  citizens 
at  the  close  of  the  di^scussion,  at  which  the  following 
resolutions  were  passed  : 

"  I.  Resolved^  That  it  is  the  unanimous  opinion  of  this 
meeting  that  the  cause  of  i^rotestantism  has  been  fully  sus- 
taiueii  tlirou<jh<)ut  this  discussion, 

2.  Resolved^  That  it  is  our  opinion  the  arguments  in 
favor  of  Protestantism,  ant!  the  objections  to  the  errors  of 
popery,  have  not  )et  been  met. 

3.  Resolved^  That  we  look  forward  to  the  publication  of 
this  discussion  as  a  powerful  antitlote  to  the  sophistry  and 
arroj^aiice  of  all  the  advocates  of  Romanism  ;  and  that  we 
have  the  fullest  cotifuience  in  submitting  it  to  the  impartial 
decision  of  tiie  American  people. 

4.  Rcsolvcdy  That  we  approve  of  the  spirit  and  temper, 
and  were  pleased  with  the  power  of  arjjument  and  the  authori- 
ties by  which  Mr.  Campbell  sustained  his  positions,  and  con- 
cur with  him  in  j>ossessiiio^  no  unkind  feeling  or  prejudices 
toward  imlividuals,  but  believe  the  principles  of  Romanism 
inconsistent  with  our  free  institutions." 

A  high  degree  of  excitement  prevailed  through  the 
city,  and  some  severe  animadversions  were  published 
in  the  papers  upon  the  course  which  Mr.  Hammond 
had  thought  proper  to  pursue.    A  sharp  correspondence 


428       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


upon  the  subject  also  took  place  between  him  and  Mr. 
Campbell,  and  distinguished  clergymen,  among  whom 
was  Asa  Shinn,  who  had  heard  the  debate,  felt  called 
upon  to  come  forward  and  give  their  testimony  as  to  its 
merits.  Among  various  notices,  highly  complimentary 
to  Mr.  Campbell,  the  following  appeared  in  the  "Philan- 
thropist" from  the  pen  of  its  editor,  Mr.  Birney,  a  dis- 
tinguished lawyer  and  a  gentleman  of  high  standing 
and  unblemished  character : 

"Although  we  attended  through  nearly  the  whole  of  the 
discussion,  we  do  not  intend  to  give  any  connected  summary 
of  the  arguments.  We  give  no  more  than  our  impressions. 
The  debate  is  in  course  of  preparation  to  be  published,  and 
we  can  confidently  say  it  will  be  found  not  only  interesting, 
but  instructive  to  its  readers  in  a  matter  about  which  we  are 
all  more  uninformed  and  supine  than  we  ought  to  be. 

"  We  found  no  reason  in  the  late  debate  for  altering  the 
opinion  we  expressed,  when  speaking  about  the  former  one, 
of  the  deficiency  of  Bishop  Purcell  in  argu7nentative  powers. 
He  is  evidently  a  well-read  man,  especially  in  the  history  of 
the  Roman  Church,  and  his  mind  is  handsomely  enriched 
with  the  current  literature  of  the  day.  His  mental  laboratory 
is  abundantly  replenished  with  facts.  They  seem,  however, 
rather  to  have  been  provided  for  its  garniture  than  for  any 
more  profitable  use.  In  the  employment  of  these  for  the  pur- 
poses of  manly  and  dignified  argument  he  seems,  in  our 
judgment,  exceedingly  unskilled  and  inexperienced.  This  de- 
ficiency arises,  we  apprehend,  not  so  much  from  any  feebleness 
in  any  natural  powers  as  from  erroneous  mental  training, 
which  receives  everything  that  is  Ro?nan  Catholic  as  true, 
and  everything  that  is  not  Roman  Catholic  as  folse.  The  de- 
bate of  the  first  day  satisfied  us  that  in  the  mere  struggle  be- 
tween the  disputants  there  could  be  but  little  of  interest. 
Their  strength  was  altogether  too  disproportioned  ;  and  had  it 
not  been  for  the  various  unworthy  appeals  made  by  the  bishop 
to  the  prejudices  of  the  audience  (for  these  attempts  continued 


REMARKS  OF  MR.  BIRNEY. 


throughout,  and  aggravated  as  the  end  drew  near)  to  win 
favor  by  casting  odium  on  Mr.  Campbell  personally,  we 
should  have  felt  for  him  the  same  kind  of  commiseration  that 
we  do  for  a  man  of  diminutive  bodily  size  and  feeble  powers, 
who,  although  he  is  the  aggressor,  is  receiving  from  his  over- 
grown, two-fisted  adversary  good-humored  though  long-con- 
tinued and  painful  castigation. 

"  111  as  we  thought  of  Romanism  before  on  many  grounds, 
but  chiefly  because  it  demands  of  the  great  body  of  its  rank 
and  Jile  to  surrender  to  the  'officers  and  staff'  the  most  pre- 
cious right  that  God  has  bestowed  on  them — the  right  of 
judging  for  themselves  on  their  most  important  concerns 
for  this  life  and for  that  which  is  to  come — and  because  its 
management  is  mysteriously  and  sedulously  concealed  from 
the  inspection  of  the  community,  our  opinion  of  it  is  now 
tenfold  more  unfavorable.  If  Bishop  Purcell  has  made  for  it 
the  best  defence  of  which  it  is  susceptible,  or  one  that  is  even 
respectable^  it  is  a  deeply-contrived  system  of  absurdities  in 
theory  and  abominations  in  practice,  and  calls  at  once  for  ex- 
amination, that  it  may  meet  with  the  abhorrence  of  every  re- 
publican and  Christian  who  has  any  proper  regard  for  per- 
sonal liberty  or  intellectual  independence. 

"  Every  one  present  at  the  debate  must  have  wondered  at 
the  strangeness  of  the  scene  in  this  country — a  well-informed 
man,  a  good  scholar,  a  learned  man,  and  on  other  matters  ap- 
parently in  his  right  mind,  insisting  substantially,  before  an 
American  audience,  that  it  was  incumbent  on  those  who  had 
not  already  done  so  to  assign  all  their  right  of  judging  and 
determining  for  themselves  in  religious  matters  to  a  church, 
some  fifty  or  more  of  whose  heads  (the  popes)  were  ac- 
knowledged to  be  now,  probably,  suffering  in  penal  fires  the 
just  recompense  of  lives  spent  in  iniquity  !  Yet  this  he  did, 
and  we  doubt  not  with  all  due  sincerity.  Nor  did  it  appear 
less  strange  to  hear  such  a  one  contending  that  the  bread 
and  wine  used  in  the  sacrament  of  the  Lord's  Supper  were 
converted  into  the  actual  and  bona  fde  flesh  and  blood  of  the 
Saviour. 


43^       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL, 


"  So  far  as  Mr.  Campbell  was  concerned,  we  can  speak 
witli  unalloyed  pleasure.  His  facts  were  judiciously  selected, 
his  historical  landmarks  well  chosen,  presenting,  without  the 
confusion  that  too  often  occurs  from  introducing  too  many 
things,  his  case  with  great  plainness  and  simplicity.  Every 
point  on  which  we  heard  him  fully,  we  thought  he  fully  sus- 
tained. And  then  it  was  all  done  with  such  unaftected  calm- 
ness, such  dispassionateness  and  an  evident  desire  to  arrive  at 
the  truth  for  the  truth's  sake  ;  with  such  Christian  forbearance 
in  the  midst  of  provoking  assaults  from  his  adversary 
(although  he  had  multiplied  opportunities  for  impaling  him), 
and  the  most  ungenerous  treatment  received  daily  from  a  part 
of  the  political  press  of  this  city,  that,  had  we  ever  before 
entertained  any  prejudices  against  Mr.  Campbell,  he  would, 
by  his  conduct,  amidst  so  many  and  such  long-continued  trials, 
have  well  nigh  dissipated  them. 

"  Toward  the  conclusion  of  the  debate,  the  bishop  increased 
in  excitement — so  much  so,  that  on  one  occasion  during  the 
afternoon  of  the  day  previous  to  its  termination,  when  he 
supposed  Mr.  Campbell  had  quoted  inaccurately  from  a 
Roman  Catholic  author,  it  appeared  almost  unnatural. 

But  we  must  draw  our  remarks  to  a  conclusion,  with 
these  inferences  from  what  we  know  and  from  what  we  have 
heard  of  Romanism.  It  cannot  be  made  to  consist  with  free 
political  institutions  nor  with  mental  independence.  Like 
slavery,  it  demands  all — is  content  with  nothing  less.  Its 
mode  of  warfare  is  to  imprison,  to  cramp,  to  crush  the  mind, 
knowing  that  when  this  is  accomplished  every  other  triumph 
is  easily  won. 

"  Bad  as  is  our  opinion  of  it  in  theory  and  in  practice,  there 
is  but  one  way  of  putting  it  aside— free  and  fair  and  gert" 
erous  discussion.  Let  there  be  among  its  opposers  no  guile^ 
no  malice,  no  persecution,  but  give  tlie  truth  room,  and 
with  its  naked  and  unshorn  energies  it  will  put  tliis  and 
every  other  error,  however  formidable  and  securely  en- 
trenched, to  a  full  and  everlasting  flight." 

The  quotation  referred  to  by  Mr.  Birney  as  the  occa- 


MORAL  THEOLOGY  OF  LIGORL 


43» 


sion  of  Bishop  Purcell's  singular  excitement  was  from 
the  Moral  Theology  of  Alphonsus  de  Ligorio,  of  which 
a  synopsis  in  English  had  been  given  by  a  Mr.  Smith, 
of  New  York,  a  convert  from  Romanism.  The  pass- 
age read  thus : 

"  A  bishop,  however  poor  he  may  be,  cannot  appropriate 
to  himself  pecuniary  fines  without  the  license  of  the  Apostolic 
See.  But  he  ought  to  apply  them  to  pious  uses.  Much  less 
can  he  apply  those  fines  to  anytliing  else  than  religious  uses, 
which  the  Council  of  Trent  has  laid  upon  the  non-resident 
clergymen,  or  upon  those  clergymen  who  keep  concubines** 
Lig.  Ep.  Doc.  Mor.,  p.  444. 

Mr.  Campbell  had  introduced  this  passage  to  shovir 
that  amongst  the  Roman  clergy  marriage  was  a  greater 
sin  than  concubinage,  because  marriage  produced  in- 
stant excommunication,  while  concubinage  was  fined 
and  winked  at.  Bishop  Purcell  declared  that  no  such 
doctrine  was  ever  taught  by  Catholics,  and  that  no  such 
passage  was  ever  written  by  St.  Ligori. 

"  I  have  examined,"  said  he,  "  these  volumes,**  pointing  to 
the  nine  volumes  of  Ligori  on  the  stand,  "  from  cover  to  cover, 
and  in  none  of  tliem  can  so  much  as  a  sIkhIow  be  fouiul  for 
the  infamous  charges.  1  have  pleilged  myself  to  show  to 
every  man  of  honor  in  the  city  that  the  last  allegation  read 
by  the  gentleman,  purporting  to  be  from  the  works  of  Ligori, 
is  not  to  be  found  in  the  works  of  that  author." 

The  bishop  then  called  on  Professor  Biggs  to  ex- 
amine the  nine  volumes  of  Ligori  to  see  if  he  could  find 
the  passage  referred  to  by  Mr.  Smith.  But  the  prf)- 
fessor  finding  that  the  paging  did  not  accord  with  that 
of  the  edition  used  by  Mr.  Smith,  declined  examining 
farther.  The  bishop  then  referred  the  case  to  Mr. 
Kinmont,  a  classical  teacher  in  the  city,  who,  after  hav- 


432       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


ing  had  a  day  to  examine,  was  brought  upon  the  stag«^ 
by  the  bishop  and  testified  that  he  had  not  been  able  ta 
find  the  passage.  Great  excitement  was  naturally  pro- 
duced by  the  directness  of  the  issue  thus  formed,  and 
the  vast  importance  which  the  bishop  seemed  to  attach 
to  it.  Mr.  Campbell  not  being  able  to  find  the  passage 
from  the  reference  in  Mr.  Smith's  synopsis,  promised  to 
investigate  the  matter,  and  F.  W.  Emmons,  who  was 
present,  having  at  his  request  despatched  a  note  to  Mr. 
Smith  upon  the  subject,  received  from  him  at  once  a 
reply,  stating  that  the  passage  in  question  was  on  page 
444  of  the  eighth  volume.  Upon  receiving  this  com- 
munication, Mr.  Campbell  asked  from  Bishop  Purcell 
the  loan  of  St.  Ligori's  works,  and  on  turning  to  page 
444,  volume  Qighth,  Jvund  every  word  in  the  bishop's 
own  editioji  just  as  had  been  quoted.  He  then  took  the 
original  Latin  and  the  synopsis  of  Mr.  Smith  to  Mr. 
Kinmont,  who  then  certified  that  the  version  of  Smith, 
as  quoted,  was  a  faithful  translation  of  the  passage. 
The  bishop's  emphatic  denial  of  the  existence  of  such  a 
doctrine  in  the  moral  theology  of  Rome,  had,  at  the 
time,  considerable  effect  in  creating  doubt  upon  the 
subject,  but  the  result  of  the  investigation  greatly  in- 
jured the  cause  he  defended  and  justly  served  to 
throw  discredit  upon  his  frequent  denials  and  denuncia- 
tions during  the  debate  in  regard  to  other  authorities 
and  evidences  which  Mr.  Campbell  adduced  in  support 
of  his  propositions.  The  people  could  hardly  impute  to 
ignorance  of  the  "  Moral  Theology"  of  his  own  Church 
or  of  the  writings  of  St.  Ligori,  his  positive  averments 
that  no  such  doctrine  as  the  one  in  question  was  held 
by  Roman  Catholics,  and  were  consequently  led  to  at- 
tribute his  bold  denials  to  motives  to  which  the  applica- 
tion of  the  epithet  ''^  moraV  was  as  inappropriate  as  it 


DISCUSSION  OF  UNIVERSALISM. 


433 


was  to  his  ' '  Theology"  itself,  but  certainly  quite  as 
much  needed  for  the  information  of  the  credulous. 

The  discussion  terminated  greatly  to  the  satisfaction 
of  the  Protestant  clergy  of  Cincinnati  and  vicinity, 
among  whom  was  the  celebrated  Lyman  Beecher,  and 
they  concurred  in  bestowing  upon  Mr.  Campbell  the 
warmest  commendations.  It  had  a  happy  effect  also 
in  disabusing  them  of  much  of  the  prejudice  they  enter- 
tained against  him,  and  of  gaining  for  his  plea  for  primi- 
tive Christianity  a  more  candid  hearing.  The  Roman 
Catholics,  on  the  other  hand,  continued  to  employ  as 
usual  every  means  in  their  power  to  throw  discredit 
upon  him  and  to  conceal  the  discomfiture  of  their 
champion.  The  debate,  when  published,  had  a  very 
extensive  sale,  and  a  powerful  effect  in  exposing  to  the 
community  at  large  the  false  pretensions  and  dangerous 
tendencies  of  the  Roman  hierarchy,  and  raised  Mr. 
Campbell  to  a  much  higher  position  than  he  had  yet 
attained  in  the  estimation  of  the  public.  His  share  of 
the  proceeds  arising  from  the  sale  of  the  book  he 
donated  to  the  "American  and  Foreign  Bible  Society" 
and  to  the  American  Bible  Society"  in  equal  portions. 
Early  in  1838,  eight  hundred  dollars  had  already  accrued 
from  the  copyright,  which  was  six  cents  per  copy. 

Prior  to  the  Catholic  debate,  Mr.  Campbell  had  re- 
ceived overtures  for  a  written  discussion  of  Universal- 
ism  with  a  Mr.  Skinner,  who  was  one  of  the  most 
prominent  of  its  defenders.  This  accordingly  com- 
menced immediately  afteirward,  and  was  continued  in 
the  '*  Harbinger"  for  more  than  two  years.  As  much 
of  it  consisted  in  mere  debates  about  words  and  critic- 
isms upon  translations  of  certain  words,  it  excited  but 
little  interest ;  and  though  Mr.  Campbell  clearly  con- 
futed the  Universalist  arguments,  and  proved  the  cer- 
voL.  II.— 2  c  37 


434       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


tainty  of  future  punishment  from  the  Scriptures,  Mr. 
Skinner's  quibbHng  and  abusive  course  in  the  dis- 
cussion led  him  to  employ  a  severit}^  distasteful  both 
to  himself  and  to  his  readers,  so  that  he  regretted 
having  agreed  to  allow  Mr.  Skinner  space  for  a  spe- 
cified number  of  essays,  and  that  he  could  not  promptly 
dismiss  his  captious  cavils  from  the  pages  of  the  Har- 
binger." Far  different  in  tone  and  character  was  the 
discussion  which  Mr.  Campbell  carried  on  during  a 
portion  of  the  same  period  with  S.  W.  Lynd,  a  talented 
Baptist  minister  of  Cincinnati,  upon  the  interminable 
subject  of  converting  power,  Mr.  Campbell  still  oppos- 
ing the  popular  doctrine  of  a  regeneration  before  faith, 
or  the  necessity  of  special  spiritual  operations  to  enable 
sinners  to  believe  the  gospel,  as  calculated  to  make  the 
word  of  God  of  none  effect,  and  as  a  modern  theologi- 
cal theory  without  any  scriptural  evidence  of  its  truth. 

"  But,"  said  he,  in  rejecting  these  speculative  traditions 
of  the  elders,  I  am  very  far  from  rejecting  the  Spirit  him- 
self as  necessary  to  our  sanctification  and  salvation.  God 
our  P'ather  gave  his  Son  for  us,  and  he  gives  his  Spirit  to  us. 
The  promise  of  his  Son  was  a  peculiar  glory  of  the  Old 
Testament,  while  the  promise  of  his  Spirit  is  the  distinguish- 
ing excellency  of  the  New.  By  the  sacrifice  of  his  Son  the 
guilt  of  sin  is  taken  from  us  ;  by  the  power  and  grace  of  his 
Holy  Spirit  the  power  of  sin  is  subdned  within  us. 

Nor  do  we  think  it  necessary  to  inquire  how  or  in  what 
manner  the  Spirit  operates  through  the  truth  on  our  spiritual 
nature  before  we  confidently  ask  for  his  presence,  power  and 
comfort.  It  is  enough  to  know  that  the  Hoiy  Spirit  has  been 
promised  and  that  we  are  commanded  to  ask  for  it.  In  no 
other  matter  wonld  a  person  wait  till  he  understood  how  a 
favor  was  to  be  bestowed  before  he  asked  for  it.  We  have  a 
command  to  ask,  to  seek,  to  knock,  and  promise  of  re- 
ceiving, finding  and  obtaining  all  that  we  ask  in  faith,  and 


CORRECTION  OF  EXTREMES,  435 


all  that  we  could  wish  on  the  subject.  Our  duty  is  plain, 
however  mysterious  our  philosophy ;  our  privileges  are  clear, 
however  dark  our  metaphysics  may  be." 

About  this  time  a  somewhat  protracted  discussion  was 
carried  on  in  the  Harbinger"  in  relation  to  the  posi- 
tion of  unimmersed  believers  to  the  Christian  Church. 
In  this  M.  S.  Clapp,  T.  M.  Henley,  M.  Winans  and 
others  took  part,  and  it  became  evident  that  a  wide- 
spread conviction  existed  that  the  term  Christian  could 
not,  in  its  scriptural,  legitimate  and  full  sense,  be  ap- 
plied to  any  except  those  who  had  been  baptized  into 
Christ  according  to  the  primitive  model.  Mr.  Camp- 
bell, admitting  this,  urged,  nevertheless,  that  the  term 
had  now  come  to  be  applied  to  the  character^  rather 
than,  as  in  the  beginning,  to  the  state  or  profession  of 
an  individual,  and  that  in  this  respect  it  might  be  em- 
ployed, or  that  they  who  manifested  the  character  of 
Christians,  even  though  mistaken  in  regard  to  baptism, 
might  be  called  at  least  disciples  of  Christy  as  this 
designation  was  used  in  Scripture  of  those  who  were  as 
yet  but  imperfectly  acquainted  with  the  nature  and  in- 
stitutions of  the  gospel.  Among  the  reasons  which  led 
Mr.  Campbell  to  give  place  to  the  discussion  of  this 
subject  at  the  time,  he  mentions  several,  such  as  that 
some  professed  Reformers  "  were  too  much  addicted  to 
denouncing  the  sects  and  representing  them  en  masse 
as  wholly  antichristian  and  corrupt."  .  .  . 

These  very  zealous  brethren,"  continued  he,  "  gave  coun- 
tenance to  the  popular  clamor  that  we  make  baptism  a  saviour 
or  a  passport  to  heaven,  disparaging  all  the  private  and  social 
virtues  of  the  professing  public."  He  gives  as  another  reason 
that  he  had  been  accused  of  "  aspiring  to  build  up  and  head 
a  party" — an  impression  which  he  desired  to  remove.  He 
showed  that  from  the  very  beginning  the  Reformation  had 


43^       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


called  upon  the  people  of  God  among  the  different  parties  to 
come  out  from  among  them  and  unite  upon  the  true  and  origi- 
nal foundation  upon  which  all  Christians  might  form  one  com- 
munion," and  that  in  the  Christian  Baptist"  and  the  Har- 
binger" he  had  often  expressed  similar  views.  He  regarded 
*' a  conciliatory,  meek  and  benevolent  attitude"  on  the  part 
of  the  Reformers  "  not  only  the  most  comely  and  Christian- 
like, but  the  most  successful  in  bringing  men  to  understand 
the  gospel."  Many  of  the  Protestant  teachers  and  their 
communities,"  said  he,  are  much  better  disposed  to  us  than 
formerly,  and  I  conclude  the  day  is  not  far  distant  when  many 
of  them  will  unite  with  us.  They  must  certainly  come  over 
to  us  whenever  they  come  to  the  Bible  alone." 

The  evidences  of  this  favorable  change  in  the  feel- 
ings of  most  of  the  religious  parties  was  indeed  con- 
stantly accumulating.  The  debate  with  Bishop  Purcell 
had  awakened  a  considerable  degree  of  sympathy 
among  Protestants,  who  had  been  somewhat  surprised 
to  see  one  whom  they  had  mistaken  for  a  foe  become 
the  defender  of  the  great  truths  and  doctrines  which 
they  cherished  in  common.  They  began  accordingly 
to  examine  more  dispassionately  Mr.  Campbell's  wri- 
tings, and  to  perceive  more  clearly  through  the  break- 
ing mists  of  prejudice  the  truly  catholic  character  of 
the  principles  which  he  advocated. 

On  the  24th  of  June  of- this  year  (1837)  another  son 
was  born  to  him,  to  whom,  from  his  unbounded  admir- 
ation for  the  great  English  Reformer,  he  gave  the  name 
of  Wickliffe.  In  the  fall  (Oct.),  he  attended  the  meet- 
ing of  the  College  of  Teachers  at  Cincinnati,  at  which, 
to  his  high  gratification,  a  resolution  was  passed  to  the 
effect,  "  That  in  the  judgment  of  the  College,  the  Bible 
should  be  introduced  into  every  school,  from  the  lowest 
to  the  highest,  as  a  school-book."  To  this  was  added, 
at  Mr.  Campbell's  instance,  an  amendment,  seconded 


DISCOMFITURE  OF  MR.  STTLES.  437 

by  Bishop  Purcell,  that  the  Bible  should  be  "without 
denominational  or  sectarian  comment."  From  Cincin- 
nati he  visited  Dayton  and  spoke  three  times,  and  from 
thence  proceeded  to  Versailles,  Kentucky,  where  he 
held  a  three  days'  meeting.  The  succeeding  day 
(Monday)  he  devoted  to  a  conference  with  a  Presby- 
terian preacher,  a  Mr.  Styles,  who  for  a  number  of 
months  had  been  loudly  inveighing  against  the  views 
which  he  imputed  to  the  Reformers,  and  had  vauntingly 
called  upon  them  to  bring  Mr.  Campbell  to  defend  them. 
At  the  conference,  however,  he  declined  to  attempt  to 
sustain  his  allegations,  for  which  he  apologized  by  im- 
puting them  to  his  peculiar  temperament,  and  agreed 
to  give  Mr.  Campbell  the  right  hand  of  fellowship  if  he 
would  concur  with  him  in  the  position  that  the  Spirit 
accompanied  the  Word  in  conversion.  Mr.  Campbell 
replied  that  *'  this  was  not  a  point  of  controversy  be- 
tween him  and  the  Presbyterians  ;  and  that  whether  true 
or  false,  this  doctrine  was  comparatively  innocent,  be- 
cause it  led  men  to  the  Bible  and  to  expect  no  saving 
light  or  health  but  through  the  written  Word.  But  the 
theovy  he  opposed  was  that  of  a  holy  principle  wrought 
in  the  heart  before  and  without  any  knowledge  of  the 
Word,  by  a  special  act  of  the  Spirit.  Hence  he  would 
debate  only  this  dogma  of  spiritual  influence  without 
the  Word,  because  this  certainly  made  the  word  of  God 
of  none  effect,  and  had  opened  the  door  for  all  the  en- 
thusiasm and  fanaticism  of  latter  times." 

Mr.  Styles  replied  that  he  did  not  believe  this  doc- 
trine, and  that  the  Presbyterians  did  not  teach  it,  and 
brought  forward  the  Confession  of  Faith  to  prove  his 
assertion.  Mr.  Campbell  took  the  same  Confession  and 
showed  that  it  did  teach  it,  but  said  he  would  settle  the 
matter  with  a  single  question,  viz.  ;  Did  he  not  believe 

37  » 


438       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


and  teach  that  infants,  even  elect  infants,  dying  in  in-' 
Jancy  must  be  regenerated  in  order  to  salvation?  Mr. 
Styles  declined  to  answer  this  question,  and  appeared 
so  entirely  disconcerted  and  unnerved  in  the  presence 
of  Mr.  Campbell  and  the  large  audience  assembled, 
that  he  could  not  be  induced  to  enter  upon  any  discus- 
sion whatever.  As  he  had  previously  attracted  a  good 
deal  of  attention  and  stood  high  as  a  man  of  abilities, 
his  discomfiture  under  the  circumstances  was  of  no 
small  detriment  to  the  cause  of  Presbyterianism  in  Ken- 
tucky. After  leaving  Versailles,  Mr.  Campbell,  on  his 
return,  spoke  at  Lexington  and  Georgetown,  and  taking 
a  boat  at  Cincinnati  along  with  Walter  Scott  and  P.  B. 
Pendleton  of  Virginia,  arrived  safely  at  Bethany  on 
the  24th  of  October. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 


Religious  society  modified — Estimate  of  labors — Dr.  1  hotnas — Tour  to  the 
South — Letters — Bereavements — Education — Bethany  College. 


HE  success  which  had  thus  far  attended  Mr.  Camp- 


J-  bell's  efforts  to  remodel  religious  society  had  been 
remarkable.  The  text  which  he  had  chosen  when  he 
delivered  his  first  discourse  at  the  organization  of  the 
little  Brush  Run  Church  in  the  secluded  valley  of 
Buffalo  had  been  literally  and  fully  verified  :  "  Though 
thy  beginning  be  small,  thy  latter  end  shall  greatly  in- 
crease." Already  numerous  flourishing  churches  in 
almost  all  the  States  of  the  Union,  as  well  as  in  Great 
Britain  and  Ireland  and  the  British  Provinces,  were 
keeping  the  ordinances  as  enjoined  by  the  apostles,  and 
holding  forth  the  Word  of  Life  in  its  primitive  simplicity 
and  power.  Already  had  large  and  respectable  relig- 
ious bodies  yielded  to  the  reformatory  principles,  and, 
abandoning  human  theories  and  traditions,  formed  a 
firm  and  happy  union  upon  the  Bible  alone.  Still  more 
had  the  divine  efficiency  of  the  original  gospel  been  dis- 
played in  the  conversion  of  thousands  of  the  most  intelli- 
gent portion  of  society,  and  in  its  steady  and  onward 
progress  amidst  the  hostile  ranks  of  sectarian  opposition. 
Nor  was  the  influence  of  the  truth  less  manifest  to  the 
thoughtful  and  observing  in  the  changes  and  modifica- 
tions enforced  upon  almost  all  the  Protestant  communi- 
ties, both  in  their  teaching  and  in  their  practice. 

439 


44°       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


These  changes,  indeed,  slowly  and  reluctantly  con- 
ceded by  the  spiritual  rulers  to  satisfy  the  awakened 
spirit  of  inquiry  and  to  secure  what  might  remain  of 
clerical  authority,  were  doubtfully  acknowledged  by 
some,  and  even  positively  denied  by  others  who  wished 
to  conceal  unpleasing  facts.  They  were,  however,  per- 
fectly obvious  to  all  who  had  watched  the  progress  of 
events,  or  who  chose  to  compare  the  existing  liberalized 
tone  of  religious  society  with  the  intense  bigotry  and  ac- 
tive divisive  spirit  which  formerly  prevailed.  The  idea 
of  the  possibility  of  a  universal  Christian  union  upon  the 
Bible  alone  had  insensibly  pervaded  a  large  portion  of 
the  religious  world,  and  human  standards  had  lost  much 
of  their  usurped  and  arbitrary  domination  over  the  con- 
sciences of  men.  Their  feeble  and  uncertain  light  had 
grown  pale  betore  the  bright  beams  of  divine  truth 
now  shed  forth  by  the  Bible  as  held  aloft  in  the  hands 
of  Mr.  Campbell,  and  whose  radiance  multitudes  every- 
where now^  began  to  enjoy  without  recognizing  immedi- 
ately the  source  from  which  it  emanated.  Hence,  when 
Mr.  Campbell's  opponents  in  those  communities  which 
had  been  thus  modified  by  his  influence  jeeringly  asked 
the  Reformers,  "Wherein  do  you  excel?"  "Is  this 
your  boasted  Reformation  ?"  he  justly  replied  : 

"  I  should  be  pleased  to  compare  notes  and  the  present  state 
and  history  of  the  Baptist  society  and  other  societies  around 
us,  with  their  state  and  standing  when  we  first  said  Reform  ! 
We  have  much  to  say  on  tliis  subject  whenever  our  brethren 
are  seriously  disposed  to  canvass  this  matter  with  that  sincerity 
and  gravity  which  it  demands.  Meanwhile,  though  it  may 
appear  invidious  were  I  to  institute  such  a  comparison,  I 
would  say,  as  I  said  to  the  Roman  Catholic  bishop  at  Cincin- 
nati, when  he  asked,  with  regard  to  Protestants,  where  they 
had  reformed  :  '  Sir,  said  I,  ^  when  I  wish  to  compare  Prot- 
estants and  Roman  Catholics  in  those  respects  of  which  you 


HUMBLENESS  OF  MIND. 


speak,  I  do  not  compare  Protestants  with  the  Romanists 
which  live  among  them,  and  have  been  in  part  enlightened  or 
reformed  by  them  ;  but  when  I  draw  the  invidious  comparison 
which  you  institute,  I  select  a  society  of  pure  and  unmixed 
Catholics  in  New  Spain  or  Old  Spain,  and  alongside  of  those 
I  place  a  congregation  of  American  Protestants.*  " 

Amidst  all  his  successes,  however,  and  though  con- 
sciously wielding  a  prodigious  influence  over  the  minds 
of  a  large  portion  of  the  religious  world,  Mr.  Campbell 
never  for  a  moment  entertained  the  thought  of  becoming 
the  head  of  a  party  or  of  allowing  himself  to  be  recog- 
nized as  the  founder  oi  a  religious  denomination.  Thus, 
when,  at  New  Orleans,  one  of  the  papers  so  represented 
him  in  announcing  his  appointments  there,  he  at  once 
addressed  to  the  editors  the  following  note  : 

"  To  THE  Editors  of  the  Commercial  Bulletin  : 

"  Gentlemen  :  Allow  me  to  thank  you  for  the  kind  and 
complimentary  notice  which  you  gave,  in  your  issue  of  the 
13th  inst.,  of  my  arrival  in  your  city. 

**  I  also  feel  very  grateful  to  the  ministers  and  members  of 
the  Methodist  Church  for  tendering  me  the  use  of  their  house 
of  worship  for  Lord's  day  evening,  and  regret  that  it  is  not  in 
my  power  to  accept  it. 

You  have  done  me,  gentlemen,  too  much  honor  in  saying 
that  I  am  the  '  founder*  of  the  denomination,  quite  numerous 
and  respectable  in  many  portions  of  the  West,  technically 
known  as  *  Christians,*  but  more  commonly  as  '  Campbellites.' 

1  have  always  repudiated  all  human  heads  and  hu7?tan 
names  for  the  people  of  the  Lord,  and  shall  feel  very  thankful 
if  you  will  correct  the  erroneous  impression  which  your  arti- 
cle may  have  made  in  thus  representing  me  as  the  founder  of 
a  religious  denomination. 

"  With  very  great  respect,  I  am  yours, 

"A.  Campbell. 

'*  New  Orleans,  March  14." 

Nor  was  he  at  any  time  unwilling  to  acknowledge  his 


.\d2       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


liability  to  err,  and  to  admit  that  in  the  various  trying 
circumstances  in  which  he  had  been  placed,  he  had 
committed,  unwittingly,  mistakes  and  uttered  unguarded 
expressions. 

It  is  not  for  us,"  said  he,  in  1838,  in  speaking  of  the 
events  of  1833-1S37,  to  form  a  proper  estimate  of  our  own 
labors  or  of  those  of  others  ;  we  are  not  good  judges  of  such 
matters,  and  therefore  I  presume  not  to  do  so.  I  leave  this 
matter  to  the  judgment-day.  .  .  . 

'*  It  is  a  common  cause  in  which  all  are  engaged,  and  much 
has  been  done  and  much  is  doing  by  many  distinguished 
brethren,  of  whom  I  am  persuaded  better  things  than  that 
they  labor  for  a  temporal  prize,  or  for  the  comparative  honors 
that  human  breath  can  bestow.  We  have  all  more  credit 
than  we  deserve  ;  for  we  ought  to  have  learned,  years  before 
we  did,  what  the  Christian  institution  is  in  all  its  parts  from 
such  competent  instruction  as  the  New  Testament  affords. 

**  I  will  say,  with  Father  Campbell,  to  whom,  under  God, 
the  friends  of  Reformation  (not  to  draw  an  invidious  com- 
parison) are  as  much  indebted  as  to  any  living  man,  if  the 
Lord  will  graciously  forgive  all  I  have  done  wrong  in  plead- 
ing his  cause,  I  shall  be  perfectly  content  with  the  humblest 
place  in  his  everlasting  kingdom,  and  to  unite  with  all  my 
brethren  in  landing  that  mysterious  and  overwhelming  grace 
which  condescended  to  save  our  sinful  persons  and  accept 
such  unworthy  services  at  our  hands.*' 

The  occasion  of  these  remarks  was  a  tendency  for  a 
time,  on  the  part  of  Walter  Scott,  to  exalt  beyond  mea- 
sure the  importance  of  the  practical  restoration  of  the 
design  of  baptism,  and  to  claim  that  this  was  in  reality 
the  restoration  of  the  gospel.  Mr.  Campbell  could  not, 
with  his  more  enlarged  views,  regard  this,  or  any  other 
particular  development  of  truth  in  the  progress  of  the 
Reformation,  as  the  restoration  of  the  gospel — an  honor 
which  he  urged  might,  with  even  more  propriety,  be 


JOHN  THOMAS. 


443 


claimed  for  the  restoration  of  the  primitive  confession 
of  faith  in  Christ.  He  accordingly  deprecated  any 
partial  views  of  this  nature,  and  any  unjust  comparisons 
which  were  calculated  to  create  rivalry  and  strife  among 
those  who  were  engaged  in  a  common  cause.  His 
humble  estimate  of  his  own  labors  and  his  frank  ad- 
mission of  imperfection  in  his  best  endeavors,  together 
with  his  well-timed  former  Letters  of  Epaphras,"  and 
the  replies  in  the  Harbinger,"  had  the  happiest  effect 
in  correcting  errors  and  eccentricities  which,  if  less 
kindly  and  prudently  treated,  might  have  resulted  in 
still  greater  evils,  and  compromised,  in  some  measure, 
the  success  of  the  Reformation  itself. 

It  was  also  his  remarkably  firm  adherence  to  the 
original  principles  and  primitive  spirit  of  the  Ref- 
ormation which  led  him  to  oppose  publicly  about  this 
period  certain  materialistic  speculations  broached  by 
one  who,  for  a  time,  had  promised  to  become  an  efficient 
coadjutor  in  the  cause.  This  was  a  young  Englishman 
of  the  name  of  John  T'homas,  a  physician,  who,  soon 
after  his  arrival  at  Cincinnati,  had  been  baptized  by 
Walter  Scott.  'After  paying  a  visit  to  Bethany,  where 
he  was  hospitably  entertained  by  Mr.  Campbell,  he 
went  to  Philadelphia,  where  he  remained  for  some 
time  in  connection  with  the  church  there,  and  where  he 
had  proposed  to  establish  a  periodical.  Hoping,  how- 
ever, to  find  a  better  field  in  Eastern  Virginia,  he  re- 
moved to  Richmond,  and  there  commenced  the  pub- 
lication of  the  "Apostolic  Advocate."  Ambitious  of 
distinction,  fluent  and  captivating  as  a  public  speaker, 
and  manifesting,  especially  in  his  writings,  a  bold  spirit 
of  independence,  he  soon  acquired  a  considerable  de- 
gree of  popularity.  Being  unfortunately,  however,  self- 
confident  in  his  disposition,  and  having  imperfectly  com- 


444        MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


prehended  the  principles  of  the  Reformation,  he  soon 
began  to  evince  a  spirit  of  dogmatism  and  of  opinionative- 
ness  wholly  inconsistent  with  them.  This  was  first 
shown  in  his  refusing  to  recognize  religiously  or  even 
pray  with  any  who  had  not  submitted  to  the  gospel  as 
he  understood  it,  and  in  his  bold  advocacy  of  the  doc- 
trine that  immersion,  as  practiced  by  the  Baptists,  was 
invalid.  By  his  specious  reasonings  several  who  had 
been  Baptists  became  unsettled  in  regard  to  their  bap- 
tism, and  Albert  Anderson  and  a  few  others  were  in- 
duced to  submit  to  reimmersion.  It  was  the  Baptists 
themselves,  indeed,  who,  some  time  before,  had  origi- 
nated the  practice  of  reimmersion,  having  required  it 
of  some  who  had  been  baptized  by  the  Reformers  and 
who  wished  afterward  to  unite  with  the  Baptist  Church. 
Mr.  Campbell  had,  however,  always  been  entirely  op- 
posed to  the  practice  of  reimmersion  upon  such  trivial 
grounds  as  were  alleged  in  favor  of  it,  believing  it  to 
be  in  all  cases  valid  where  there  was  a  sincere  belief  in 
Christ,  however  uninformed  the  baptized  person  might 
be  at  the  time  with  regard  to  the  nature  or  design  of  the 
institution.  Nothing,  he  justly  thought,  could  ever 
justify  reimmersion,  except  a  consciousness  on  the 
part  of  the  individual  that  at  his  first  baptism  he  was 
destitute  of  faith  in  Christ.  Dr.  Thomas,  however,  in 
his  zeal  against  sectarianism,  seemed  disposed  to  nullify 
all  the  proceedings  of  the  religious  parties  and  to  estab- 
lish his  own  opinions  and  decisions  in  the  chair  of  in- 
fallibility. His  positive  assertions  on  the  subject  of  re- 
baptism  were  well  calculated  to  disturb  weak  minds, 
and  several  individuals,  even,  who  had  been  baptized  by 
Reformers  and  for  the  remission  of  sins,  began  to  doubt 
their  former  obedience  and  to  solicit  reimmersion. 
Among  these  was  the  wife  of  Dr.  Thomas  himstlf, 


VAIN  THEORIES. 


445 


who  had  become  thus  disquieted  in  her  mind,  though 
formerly  baptized  on  a  profession  of  her  faith  by  D.  S. 
Burnet. 

From  his  personal  regard  for  Dr.  Thomas  and  un- 
willingness to  discuss  a  subject  so  unprofitable,  Mr. 
Campbell  long  forbore  to  notice,  publicly,  the  course 
pursued  by  him,  but  was  obliged  at  length  by  his  per- 
sistency to  express  in  the  "  Harbinger"  his  dissent  from 
such  views.  This  duty  he  performed  in  a  mild  spirit, 
hoping  that  Dr.  Thomas  would  be  induced  to  abandon 
his  course.  This  expectation,  however,  was  not  ful- 
filled, for  the  doctor  going  on  to  broach  various  mate- 
rialistic theories  in  regard  to  the  nature  of  the  human 
soul,  the  state  of  the  dead,  etc.,  and  evincing  a  deter- 
mination to  dwell  upon  these  untaught  questions,  Mr. 
Campbell  was  finally  reluctantly  compelled  to  reprove 
publicly  his  factious  course,  and  to  expose  in  an  Ex- 
tra published  December,  1837,  his  vain  and  idle  spec- 
ulations. 

In  this,  as  the  doctor  had  perverted  the  freedom  of 
discussion  and  of  opinion  allowed  in  the  Reformation 
into  license,  Mr.  Campbell  found  it  necessary  to  restate 
its  leading  principle,  that  "  opinions  upon  all  subjects 
not  revealed  were  to  be  private  property,  and  that  no 
citizen  of  Christ's  kingdom  had  a  right  either  to  demand 
or  propound  them  with  any  authority  whatever." 

"  Liberty  of  speech  and  of  the  press,"  said  he,  "  is  not  with 
me  licentious  extravagance  nor  disregard  for  the  opinions  of 
others;  nor  is  the  proper  use  of  our  rights  the  sustaining  of 
every  restless  demagogical  spirit  who  will  be  conspicuous  for 
something — for  anything.  On  all  Bible  facts,  precepts,  prom- 
ises and  dechirations,  on  all  its  various  documents,  ordinances 
and  statutes,  we  go  for  full  and  free  discussion  ;  but  we  say  it 
is  abhorrent  to  the  Reformation  for  which  we  plead  to  prop- 

38 


446       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


aj^ate  mere  opinions  and  speculations ;  and  that  it  is  entirely 
off  the  ground  we  occupy  to  favor  those  who  devote  their 
tongue  or  their  pens  to  build  up  any  theory,  ancient  or  modern^ 
original  or  borrowed." 

Leaving  then  the  doctor's  case  to  the  church  of  which 
he  was  a  member,  Mr.  Campbell  resolved  to  dismiss 
the  subject.  As  the  doctor  had  recently  removed  to 
Amelia  county,  a  small  congregation  there  under  his 
influence  undertook  to  justify  him,  but  the  church  at 
Richmond,  where  his  membership  still  remained,  at 
once  repudiated  both  him  and  his  speculations. 

Having  received  many  urgent  calls  from  the  South- 
ern States,  Mr.  Campbell,  in  the  fall  of  1838,  deter- 
mined to  make  them  a  visit.  Setting  out  accordingly 
on  the  8th  of  October,  accompanied  by  his  daughter 
Lavinia  and  Joseph  Henley,  he  proceeded,  by  way  of 
Baltimore,  to  Washington.  On  the  way  from  thence 
to  Fredericksburg,  he  was  accompanied  by  William 
Carman,  a  warm  friend  and  worthy  member  of  the 
church  in  Baltimore,  and  also  found  himself  seated  in 
the  stage  with  Bishop  Meade,  of  Virginia,  with  whom 
he  had  a  long  conversation,  and  with  whose  liberality, 
candor  and  good-nature  he  was  much  pleased.  At 
Fredericksbug  he  was  met  by  R.  L.  Coleman,  who,  he 
remarks  in  his  journal,  "continued  with  us  the  whole 
time  in  Virginia,  much  to  our  gratification  and  comfort." 

"  We  found,"  he  adds,  our  brethren,  Bagby,  of  Louisa, 
and  Henshall,  of  Richmond,  waiting  for  our  arrival  at  our  old 
friend  Woolfolk's,  of  Caroline.  The  former  was  with  us  at 
several  points,  and  the  latter  continued  in  our  company  till 
we  arrived  at  Richmond.  We  met  our  much  esteemed 
brethren,  Henley,  Du  Val  and  Pendleton,  with  many  others 
at  Antioch  ;  and  so  continued  to  meet  at  every  point  other 
brethren  of  note  among  the  disciples  till  we  arrived  at  Bro- 
ther Carter's,  in  the  environs  of  Richmond. 


QUADRANGULAR  ORTHODOXT.  447 


"At  Newton,  King-and-Queea  county,  we  had  a  very 
pleasing  interview  with  our  old  friend  Andrew  Broaddus. 
He  attended  our  meeting,  and  favored  us  wMth  a  little  friendly 
conversation  on  incidental  topics.  He  enjoys  good  health, 
but  like  most  men  in  the  environs  of  seventy,  is  evidently  de- 
scending the  hill  of  life.  It  would  be  a  consummation  de- 
voutly to  be  wished  could  he,  before  he  passes  the  Jordan  of 
Time,  induce  his  brethren  to  rescind  their  ''Orders  in  Coufi' 
cil^  and  to  open  their  ears  to  a  candid  consideration  of  the 
points  at  issue  between  them  and  us.  It  would  do  them  no 
harm  to  move  forward  a  few  paces  toward  the  primitive  sim- 
plicity of  the  gospel  and  to  the  practice  of  the  ancient  insti- 
tutions of  Christ.  They  would  not  have  to  give  up  any  truth 
in  admitting  all  we  contend  for,  as  many  of  them  now  con- 
cede. We  only  ask  for  a  renunciation  of  human  traditions ; 
and  wherever  they  are  found  they  ought  to  be  abandoned. 
The  word  of  the  Lord  shall  stand  for  ever,  but  the  counsels 
of  men  shall  come  to  nothing." 

Mr.  Campbell  had  resolved  not  to  pay  any  farther  at- 
tention to  the  speculative  errors  with  which  Dr.  Thomas 
and  some  of  his  adherents  were  disturbing  the  churches 
in  Virginia.  Finding,  however,  that  these  pernicious 
teachings  were  persisted  in  by  some  two  or  three  indi- 
viduals in  almost  every  church,  he  found  himself  com- 
pelled to  speak,  first  in  private  and  then  publicly, 
against  these  roots  of  discord.  Passing  on  from  Rich- 
mond to  Charlottesville,  he  spoke  there  four  times  and 
twice  in  Scottsville,  in  the  same  county.  The  students 
of  the  University  greatly  desired  to  have  him  deliver 
a  special  address  to  them,  but  failed  to  obtain  per- 
mission, owing  to  what  Mr.  Campbell  wittily  styled  the 
quadr angular  orthodoxy  of  the  establishment,  which 
required  the  chaplain  to  be  either  an  Episcopalian,  a 
Presbyterian,  a  Methodist,  or  a  Baptist.  After  visiting 
Monticello  and  the  grave  of  Jefferson,  he  passed  down 


448       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


into  Amelia  county,  and  sent  word  to  Dr.  Thomas  that 
he  would  be  at  Painesville  on  Monday,  and  would  there 
examine  publicly  the  views  which  the  doctor  had  pre- 
sented in  a  discussion  he  had  recently  held  with  Mr. 
Watt,  a  Presbyterian  preacher,  and  that  if  he  chose  to 
attend  he  should  have  liberty  to  reply.  To  this  ar- 
rangement the  doctor  agreed,  and  after  the  matters 
objected  to  by  Mr.  Campbell  had  been  discussed  for 
several  days  with  the  utmost  equanimity  and  good  feel- 
ing, but  without  any  prospect  of  coming  to  agreement 
in  opinion,  Dr.  Reuben  H.  Dejarnette,  during  recess, 
took  Mr.  Campbell  aside,  and  reminding  him  of  his 
expressed  desire  to  recover  Dr.  Thomas,  if  possible, 
from  his  errors,  and  not  to  push  the  discussion  so  far  as 
to  injure  him  or  drive  him  wholly  from  the  Reforma- 
tion, suggested  to  him  to  refer  the  matters  in  debate  to 
the  brethren  present,  as  he  was  convinced  that  the 
doctor's  speculations  were  sufficiently  exposed.  To 
this  proposition  Mr.  Campbell  assented,  reserving  the 
right  of  rejecting  the  action  of  the  referees  if  he  should 
find  it  necessary.  Dr.  Dejarnette  then  proposed  to  Dr. 
Thomas  to  refer  the  matter  to  the  brethren,  to  which  he 
agreed,  and  the  proposed  reference  was  then  publicly 
announced  and  the  discussion  terminated.  In  order  to 
avoid,  however,  an  abrupt  dismissal  of  the  audience,  it 
was  agreed  that  each  speaker  should  deliver  a  short 
address  on  some  general  topic  before  concluding.  Some 
twenty-three  of  the  principal  brethren  then  met,  and 
after  duly  considering  the  questions  of  difference,  framed 
the  following  resolution  : 

'-''Resolved^  That  whereas  certain  things  believed  and  prop>- 
agated  by  Dr.  Thomas,  in  relation  to  the  mortality  of  man, 
the  resurrection  of  the  dead  and  the  final  destiny  of  the 
wicked,  having  given  offence  to  many  brethren,  and  being 


OPINIONS  DISCOUNTENANCED,  449 


likely  to  produce  a  division  among  us  ;  and  believing  the  said 
views  to  be  of  no  practical  benefit,  we  recommend  to  Brother 
Thomas  to  discontinue  the  discussion  of  them,  unless  in  his 
defence  when  misrepresented,^^ 

Dr.  Thomas  having  consented  to  abide  by  the  re- 
quirements of  this  resolution,  the  matter  was  seemingly 
adjusted,  and  great  hopes  were  entertained  at  the  time 
that  he  would  devote  his  abilities  to  the  cause  of  Bible 
Christianity. 

*'  I  cannot  but  hope,"  said  Mr.  Campbell,  speaking 
of  the  interview  with  Dr.  Thomas,  "  that  the  discussion 
held  at  Painesville  will  fully  satisfy  all  that  where  the^ 
Bible  is  silent  we  ought  to  be  as  silent  as  the  grave ; 
and  when  it  speaks  often  and  clear,  we  ought  to  speak 
with  corresponding  clearness  and  frequency.  May  the 
Lord  bless  all  who  are  led  by  the  Bible  !"  The  hope, 
however,  it  may  be  here  stated,  that  Dr.  Thomas  would 
abandon  his  speculations,  proved  fallacious.  His  in- 
domitable self-esteem  would  not  suffer  him  to  keep  his 
covenant  with  the  brethren  and  allow  the  world  to  re- 
main ignorant  of  his  imagined  new  discoveries.  He, 
therefore,  soon  after,  while  on  a  visit  to  England,  en- 
deavored to  spread  his  materialism  there,  and  after  his 
return  commenced  in  Illinois  the  publication  of  a  paper 
called  the  "  Investigator,"  in  which  he  so  openly  dis- 
played his  apostasy  from  the  cause  he  had  at  first  es- 
poused that  Mr.  Campbell  was  compelled  to  denounce 
him  publicly  as  having  departed  from  the  Reformation 
ground  and  as  seeking  to  form  a  new  party.  In  this, 
however,  the  doctor's  success  was  extremely  small,  for, 
notwithstanding  the  most  persevering  and  unwearied 
efforts  on  his  part,  he  was  able  to  make  but  few  con- 
verts to  his  opinions,  and  soon  ceased  to  attract  atten- 
tion, being  utterly  discountenanced  by  the  churches. 

vol.  n.— 2D  38* 


450       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


Mr.  Campbell,  after  the  Painesville  discussion,  went 
on  to  Charleston,  South  Carolina,  which  had  recently 
suffered  by  a  terrible  fire  and  a  visitation  of  yellow 
fever.  After  making  in  his  journal  some  judicious  re- 
marks upon  the  frequent  misapplication  of  the  meaning 
of  providences,  he  thus  speaks  with  regard  to  slavery  : 

"We  conclude  that  slavery  has  proved  no  greater  blessing 
to  the  far  South  than  it  has  done  to  Virginia.  It  has  ex- 
hausted whatever  of  natural  fertility  had  been  originally  in 
the  soil ;  and  South  Carolina  seems  to  have  once  had  a  rea- 
sonable proportion  of  fruitful  territory.  It  has  superinduced 
the  worst  system  of  agriculture  which  one  could  easily 
imagine ;  and  it  has  imposed  on  the  whole  community 
views,  feelings  and  habits  exceedingly  inimical  to  the  resus- 
citation of  the  soil  and  the  agricultural  improvement  and 
advancement  of  the  State.  Tobacco,  rice  and  cotton  are 
profitable  crops  for  slave  labor,  but  exceedingly  unprofitable 
for  other  labor;  and  it  seems  they  are  predestined  to  live  to- 
gether; they  are  legally  married  in  the  South,  and  South 
Carolina  favors  no  sort  of  divorces,  literal  or  figurative,  ex- 
cept in  the  conjugal  affinities  of  States." 

Visiting  Dr.  Irwin  and  other  friends  in  Barnwell  dis- 
trict, who  had  gone  to  Charleston  in  hopes  of  meeting 
him  there,  but  were  disappointed,  he  went  on  thence  to 
Augusta,  Georgia,  wheie  he  met  with  E.  A.  Smith. 
The  Savannah  Baptist  Association  being  in  session,  it 
passed  a  resolution  advising  the  churches  to  refuse  him 
the  use  of  their  meeting-houses.  He  obtained,  how- 
ever, the  Methodist  and  Unitarian  houses  of  worship, 
in  which  he  spoke  for  several  days.  From  what  he 
saw  of  the  -state  of  society,  he  made  the  following  re- 
marks in  his  journal : 

I  am  convinced  that  more  than  half  the  white  population 
of  the  Carolinas  and  Georgia  are  an  age  behind  the  same 
class  in  the  North  and  West  of  our  national  patrimony.  And 


LABORS  IN  THE  SOUTH, 


45» 


still  worse,  I  am  of  opinion  that  their  condition  can  never  be 
improved  under  the  institutions  of  those  regions.  It  is  of  the 
essence  and  of  the  tendency  of  those  institutions  to  concentrate 
all  power,  wealth,  learning  and  respectability  in  the  hands  of 
an  elect  few,  peers  of  the  realm,  princes  and  nobles  of  the 
land,  '  lords  of  the  fowl  and  the  brute/  The  good  citizens 
at  the  South,  amongst  whom  are  many  good  and  choice 
spirits,  are  not  to  blame  for  these  institutions.  They  did  not 
create  them.  They  are  themselves  the  creatures,  not  the 
creators,  of  these  institutions.  They  are  born  and  educated 
under  them,  and  cannot  be  blamed  for  the  vices  of  a  domi- 
nant majority  when  they  do  not  countenance  them.  It  is  of 
the  essence  of  our  national  creed  that  the  minority  shall  sub- 
mit to  the  majority  in  all  things  temporal  and  political — things 
spiritual  and  eternal  are  always  excepted." 

After  speaking  at  various  points  in  South  Carolina 
and  Georgia,  and  enjoying  the  kind  hospitalities  and 
aid  of  many  warm  friends,  he  proceeded  to  Mont- 
gomery, Alabama,  w^here  he  was  met  by  the  amiable 
and  talented  James  A.  Butler,  one  of  the  most  active 
Reformation  preachers  in  the  State.  After  speaking  at 
various  points,  he  at  length  reached  Mobile,  where  he 
remained  three  or  four  days,  and  then  sailed  on  board 
the  "  Giraffe,"  by  way  of  the  Gulf  and  Lake  Pontchar- 
train,  for  New  Orleans.  His  general  impression  of 
the  state  of  things  in  the  regions  he  visited  may  per- 
haps be  best  learned  from  the  following  letters  written 
while  upon  his  tour  : 

"  Steamboat  '  Tapaloosa,'  Alabama  RrvER,  January  i6,  1839. 
*'My  dear  Brother  Richardson  :  I  have  been  daily  re- 
solving for  two  months  past  that  the  next  vacant  hour  would 
be  occupied  in  writing  a  few  words  to  Brother  Richardson. 
But  vacant  hours  are  with  me  rare  almost  as  angel  visits.  It 
has  been  with  me  a  sermon  of  tlnee  months*  continuance, 
interrupted  only  by  the  stages  of  a  journey  of  some  three 


452       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


thousand  miles.  My  public  addresses  have  been  in  Virginia 
thirty-four,  in  South  Carolina  twenty-three,  in  Georgia  twenty, 
in  South  Alabama  ten,  besides  some  hundred  fireside  ser- 
mons, almost  as  laborious  as  those  in  public  assemblies.  I 
am  a  wonder  to  myself  in  enduring  fatigue ;  often  almost 
done  out,  yet  as  fresh  in  the  morning  as  ever.  I  perform  daily 
ablutions,  either  sponging  or  rantizing  the  whole  person,  fol- 
lowed up  by  friction  sweats;  which  lustrations,  being  per- 
formed about  the  dawn  of  day,  greatly  invigorate  and  fortify 
against  colds  and  the  accidents  of  new  lodgings  and  a  very 
variable  climate. 

No  accident  worth  stating  has  yet  overtaken  us.  That 
Eye  that  slumbers  not  has  watched  our  down-sittings  and  up- 
risings, and  guarded,  as  well  as  guided,  all  our  paths.  No  shield 
like  that  of  Jacob's  God,  no  munition  like  the  Rock  of  Ages ! 
We  have  had  a  stream  of  consolation  following  us  all  the 
way,  as  well  as  a  bright  cloud  animating  our  onward  course. 
We  have  the  prayers  of  many  Christians  and  the  benediction 
of  them  that  love  the  city  of  our  God. 

*'My  present  tour  reminds  me  of  those  in  i823-*24-'25, 
when  I  was  widely  scattering  the  seeds  of  reformation  in  the 
West.  The  first  principles  of  things — the  objections  of  the 
captious,  the  scruples  of  the  conscientious,  the  problems  of 
the  curious  and  the  ambushes  of  the  enemies — all  require  and 
receive  a  degree  of  attention.  We  have  to  dispossess  demons 
and  exorcise  unclean  spirits,  as  well  as  to  proclaim  the  ac- 
ceptable year  of  the  Lord.  The  chief  priests,  the  scribes  and 
the  lulers  of  the  people  are  generally  in  league  against  us. 
But  tliere  are  some  more  noble  than  in  Thessalonica,  who  hear 
the  word  with  teachableness.  Upon  the  whole,  opposition  is 
strong,  well  disciplined  and  co-operative.  Still,  the  truth  is 
omnipotent  and  many  minds  are  leavened  by  its  power,  and 
though  but  a  few  have  yet  turned  out  courageously  to  avow 
their  purposes,  some  have,  and  many  more  will.  We  are 
getting  into  the  confidence  of  the  best  part  of  the  Baptist  com- 
munities, which  are  very  numerous  in  the  South. 

"  But  alas  for  the  South  !    None  are  more  enslaved  to  men 


UNPROPITIOUS  CONDITIONS. 


453 


than  slave-owners.  A  few  demagogues  in  religion  and  politics 
•first  make  the  people,  and  then  represent  them.  ...  In  religion, 
two  or  three  little  popes  govern  all  the  associations  and  con- 
ferences— they  think — and  the  people  pay  them  for  it. 

"  I  have  aimed  at  disabusing  the  public  ear  and  propitiating 
a  favorable  hearing  of  all  the  main  points  at  issue,  and  have 
generally  succeeded.  A  few  preachers  are  well  disposed  to 
examine  ;  one  or  two  have  boldly  asserted  their  independence, 
and  I  doubt  not  but  others  will  follow.  Upon  the  whole, 
things  are  as  hopeful  as  such  a  latitude  and  such  institutions 
and  manners  and  customs  will  permit.  But  alas  for  the 
South ! 

"  I  expect  to  be  in  New  Orleans  about  the  22d,  and  will 
leave  there  about  the  29th  for  Jackson,  Louisiana,  and  then 
peregrinate  Louisiana  and  Mississippi  up  to  Vicksburg,  thence 
to  Louisville,  through  Kentucky  by  land  to  Maysville,  thence 
to  Bethany,  Deo  volente,,  where  I  may  arrive  some  time  in 
March.  Lavinia  joins  me  in  kind  regards  to  yourself  and 
Sister  Richardson.  .  .  .  Affectionately,  as  ever,  your  brother 
in  the  hope  of  eternal  life,  A.  Campbell." 

"Mobile  Rfver,  January  17,  1839— Steamboat  'Tapaloosa.* 
"  Beloved  Brother  Coleman  :  Time  has  not  passed  so 
smoothly  since  I  saw  thee  last.  '  There  is  no  place  like  Vir- 
gjinia,'  says  Lavinia,  and  I  am  almost  of  the  same  opinion. 
Disciples  of  Christ  are  not  numerous  in  the  South.  .  .  .  We 
are  disabusing  the  public  mind  of  false  impressions  and  present- 
ing definite  views  of  first  principles.  The  Baptists  are  exceed- 
ingly opposed  through  the  decrees  of  their  Associations,  who 
have  forbid  the  opening  of  their  meeting-houses  to  me  and 
the  brethren.  Still  we  find  some  among  them  who  will  hear 
and  open  their  houses.  Favorable  impressions  have  been 
made  in  all  places,  and  a  few  converted.  But  our  population 
in  the  South  is  much  more  ignorant  than  in  Virginia.  We 
have  a  few  educated  intelligent  men,  as  we  have  a  few  rich 
and  powerful  ;  but  the  majority  are  poor,  ignorant  and  unedu- 
cated. .  .  .  Such  persons  are  not  interested  in  clear,  distinct 
perceptions ;  they  are  fond  of  mystic  doctrines,  man-worship 


454       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 

and  enthusiastic  feelings.  The  brethren  are  of  the  best  clas» 
of  citizens  and  of  very  respectable  attainments.  But  it  will 
require  many  sermons  and  labors,  or  much  reading,  to  achieve 
much  in  these  regions.  They  want  preachers,  they  want 
houses  and  they  want  a  more  concentrated  population  to  work 
upon.  Farms  are  large — from  one  thousand  to  ten  thousand 
acres — consequently  not  much  society.  Many  negroes,  every- 
thing dear,  traveling  very  high — twice  the  Virginia  rates,  .  . 
Still,  I  would  not  have  you  to  think  that  little  has  been  done, 
or  that  little  can  be  done,  in  this  benighted  region.  But  it 
will  require  much  efibrt.  Several  preachers  are  already  much 
prepossessed  ;  one  has  come  out  for  Reformation,  and  others, 
I  think,  are  on  the  way,  .  .  ,  I  sketch  this  in  a  crowd  in  the 
cabin  of  the  steamboat.  Since  you  parted  with  me  at  Peters- 
burg we  have  traveled  nearly  two  thousand  miles,  I  expect 
to  be  at  New  Orleans  on  tlie  22d,  and  then  to  commence  my 
tour  in  Louisiana  and  Mississippi.  I  expect  to  arrive  in 
Kentucky  in  March,  and  at  Bethany  about  the  beginning  of 
April,  when  I  shall  expect  to  hear  from  you  and  soon  to  see 
you. 

"  Lavinia  joins  with  me  in  her  kindest  and  most  Christian 
regards  to  yourself,  Brother  and  Sister  Goss,  Brother  Poin- 
dexter,  and  indeed  all  our  special  acquaintances  in  Charlottes- 
ville. May  the  love  of  God,  the  favor  of  Jesus  Christ  and  the 
communications  of  the  Holy  Spirit  be  with  your  spirit,  my 
dear  brother !    In  all  affection,  yours  in  the  Lord, 

A.  Campbell." 

"New  Orleans,  January  23,  1839. 
"  My  Dearly  Beloved  Selina  :  Through  the  unceasing 
kindness  of  our  Father  in  heaven  we  are  safely  arrived  in  this 
great  commercial  emporium  of  the  South  and  South-west. 
But  we  have  brought  a  poor  article  to  this  market;  few  bid- 
ders and  no  buyers  inquiring  for  drafts  on  the  Bank  of 
Heaven.  Bonds  drawn  on  the  richest  bank  in  the  universe 
and  at  the  cheapest  price  are  unacceptable  and  uninteresting 
to  this  community.  '  Buy  wine  and  milk  without  money 
and  witiiout  price.' 


TRUSTING  IN  GOD. 


455 


"  I  am  to  ofTer  my  wares  and  merchandise  this  evening  at 
the  Congregational  meeting-house  of  Mr.  Ciapp.  It  is  an- 
nounced in  all  the  city  papers.  This  city  appears  much  more 
orderly  and  decent  than  I  expected,  and  has  some  very  fine 
buildings.  But  the  population  is  of  all  castes  but  the  right 
one,  and  everything  is  more  in  demand  than  the  things  of 
heaven. 

"  O  Mammon  !  Mammon  !  Riches,  honor,  fame,  whatever 
thou  art  that  captivates  the  human  mind  from  God  and  Christ 
and  heaven,  thou  art  an  insidious,  murderous  foe !  A  de- 
lusion, false  and  cruel !  And  such  is  the  infatuation  of  sin 
that  men  will  hear  their  worst  enemy  rather  than  their  best 
friend.  How  much  need  for  the  petition,  *  Lord,  abandon  us 
not  to  temptation  !* 

"  We  are  all  homesick  enough,  but  as  much  as  I  de- 
sire to  see  my  dear  Selina  and  my  children  and  friends — and 
I  never  more  longed  to  see  them  all — I  must,  like  the  sol- 
dier enlisted  in  the  war  of  his  country  and  king,  faithfully 
<erve  my  term  and  get  an  honorable  discharge.  I  have  under- 
taken a  certain  mission  and  I  must  perform  it  all. 

"  We  had  a  very  pleasant  passage  from  Mobile  to  New 
Orleans.  We  unfortunately  lost  much  of  the  pleasure  of  the 
voyage  through  the  Gulf  of  Alexico,  having  passed  through 
the  most  of  it  during  the  night.  I  always  sleep  sound  by  land 
and  by  sea,  and  although  we  almost  ran  aground  on  a  shoal 
m  the  night,  and  had  a  good  deal  of  backing  out  and  noise,  I 
did  not  hear  anything  of  it,  but  slept  sweetly  for  seven  hours, 
from  nine  to  four. 

••'On  Monday  we  shall  leave  here  for  Jackson,  Louisiana, 
where  Brother  Shannon  and  the  University  of  this  State  are 
located.  I  know  not  what  stay  I  will  make  in  these  two 
States  of  Mississippi  and  Louisiana,  but  presume  I  cannot 
leave  before  the  end  of  February,  and  then  I  shall  pass  through 
Kentucky  from  Louisville  to  Maysville,  and  thence  to  Bethany, 
Virginia,  if  the  Lord  will. 

Our  times  are  in  His  hand  who  rides  upon  the  whirl- 
wind and  directs  the  storm.    The  will  of  the  Lord  alone  shall 


45 6       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


stand  for  ever.  May  we,  my  dear  wife,  all  be  submissive  to 
his  holy  and  righteous  will.  To  understand  and  practice  the 
Christian  religion  is  heaven  begun  and  anticipated  on  earth, 
and  to  make  others  happy  in  the  same  way  is  to  promote  our 
own  peace  and  joy  and  bliss  ;  for  while  the  sons  of  the  flesh  are 
hated  and  hating,  deluded  and  deluding,  sinned  against  and 
sinning,  the  Christian  is  beloved  and  loving,  enlightened  and 
enlightening,  blessed  and  blessing  in  all  his  Christian  eflforts 
to  do  good. 

"  I  am  announced  in  the  city  papers  as  about  to  deliver  an 
address  on  the  '  Christian  System'  this  evening,  and  shall 
arrange  my  thoughts  in  the  following  order: 

"  Preliminary  'Observations. — i.  If  the  Christian  relig- 
ion be  divine,  it  must  be  a  system.  For  God  works  systemati- 
cally, hence  nature  is  a  system  of  systems.  But  Christianity 
is  divine  because  it  is  good  and  true^  and  like  all  God's  sys- 
tems it  is  positive^  si7nple.  natural.,  authoritative  and  adapted 
to  the  happiness  of  its  subjects.  2.  Man  is  the  subject  of  the 
Christian  system — not  man  as  he  was.,  but  man  as  he  is, 
Man  may  be  contemplated  as  he  was.,  as  he  is  and  as  he  shall 
be.  The  Christian  religion,  while  it  alludes  to  man  as  he  was 
and  as  he  shall  be.,  treats  man  as  he  is.  3.  But  man  as  he  is 
is  the  subject  of  many  systems  and  sciences,  physical,  political, 
legal.  Christianity  treats  man  as  he  is  morally.,  or  in  his  re- 
lations to  an  intellectual  and  moral  system,  and  treats  with 
him  as  he  is.  that  it  may  make  him  what  he  ought  to  be. 

"'Then  we  shall  consider  the  Christian  System:  i.  The 
Author  it.  2.  The  subject  of  it.  3.  The  end  of  it.  4.  Its 
elements.  5.  The  acceptability  it  effects  for  man  with  God. 
Something  like  this  seems  to  press  upon  my  mind  this  evening. 

"  My  dear  Selina,  I  need  not  enjoin  upon  you  the  re- 
ligious and  moral  training  of  our  dear  children.  I  am  aware 
that  you  love  me,  and  love  them  on  my  account  as  well  as  or 
your  own.  They  are  dear  pledges  of  our  mutual  love  and 
esteem,  and  therefore  I  have  all  confidence  in  your  maternal 
as  well  as  conjugal  affection.  I  only  say  that  while  I  see  me 
sad  moral  evils  of  the  present  time  in  the  training  of  children. 


TRAVELS  AND  LABORS, 


^57 


and  the  sad  course  of  this  generation,  I  am,  like  Joshua,  more 
and  more  resolved  that  as  for  me  and  my  house  we  shall  serve 
the  Lord.  Remembei  me  affectionately  to  my  father,  to  all 
my  children,  to  all  my  brethren  who  ask  for  me,  and  to  all  my 
household.    Yours  ever,  A.  Campbell." 

At  New  Orleans,  Mr.  Campbell  received  many  polite 
attentions  from  Mr.  Clapp,  pastor  of  the  First  Congre- 
gational Church  there,  who  granted  him  freely  the  use 
of  his  meeting-house.  After  delivering  five  lectures, 
which  were  heard  with  great  interest  by  large  audi- 
ences, he  ascended  the  Mississippi  and  spoke  in  the 
Episcopal  church  at  St.  Francisville,  and  thence  pro- 
ceeded to  Jackson,  the  seat  of  one  of  the  State  colleges, 
whose  president  was  James  Shannon,  a  fine  scholar  and 
an  earnest  disciple,  who  had  already  established  a 
church  there.    From  this  point  he  thus  wrote : 

"Jackson,  Louisiana,  Februarys,  1839. 
My  Dear  Selina  :  I  am  now  safely  lodged  at  the  resi- 
dence of  our  good  brother  Shannon,  president  of  the  Louis- 
iana College.  We  have  been  bound  to  the  house  by  a  four 
days*  rain  and  snow.  Through  the  continual  goodness  of  our 
heavenly  Father  we  are  thus  far  preserved  from  all  evil. 

"  *  Oh  how  great  is  his  goodness  which  he  has  laid  up  for 
them  that  love  him,  for  them  that  trust  in  him  before  the  sons 
of  men  !  He  shall  hide  them  in  the  secret  of  his  presence 
from  the  pride  of  man.  He  shall  keep  them  secretly  in  a 
pavilion  from  the  strife  of  tongues.' 

"  We  are  now  about  one  hundred  and  fifty  miles  above  New 
Orleans,  and  had  expected,  but  for  the  rain,  to  have  been  to- 
night with  Mrs.  Johnson,  concerning  whom  you  heard  so 
good  a  report  from  Dr.  McCall.  We  met  with  many  ac- 
quaintances in  New  Orleans,  amongst  whom  were  Brother 
Hurlbut,  of  Pittsburg,  and  Sister  Nancy  Owen,  from  Ten- 
nessee, Mr.  Richard  Talbot,  and  others  of  equal  interest  and 
reputation.    I  found  and  left  them  all  well.    I  expect  to  be 

39 


45^       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


in  Natchez  in  about  a  week,  and  in  Vicksburg  in  some  two  or 
three  weeks.  ' 

I  have  spoken  here  to  very  large  and  attentive  audiences 
several  times,  and  expect  to  leave  to-morrow,  if  it  does  not 
rain,  for  Woodville,  Mississippi.  I  think  much  good  has  re- 
sulted from  my  labors  here,  as  well  as  in  other  places  that  I 
have  visited.  We  are  slaying  the  prejudices  of  the  people 
and  propitiating  the  ears  of  thousands  to  the  truth.  In  all 
places  we  have  disarmed  prejudice  and  awed  opposition  into 
silence,  or  made  it  do  homage  to  the  truth.  We  are,  how- 
ever, ratlier  grubbing  and  pioneering  than  planting,  and  sow- 
ing rather  than  reaping. 

I  only  want  the  consolations  of  your  presence,  my  dear  Se- 
lina,  to  till  up  the  measure  of  my  earthly  happiness,  and  to  see 
my  dear  family  partaking  with  me  in  the  good  things  of  the 
heavenly  religion  of  our  Saviour  and  benefactor.  Amidst  all 
the  company  which  I  have  around  me — and  it  is  most  accept- 
able antl  often  greatly  interesting — there  is  none  that  can  fill 
the  place  of  the  mother  of  my  dear  children  and  the  partner 
of  all  my  fortunes,  good  or  evil.  Strange  relation  !  Wonder- 
ful union!  Certainly  it  is  a  divine  institution!  God  said  it 
is  xxaX  good  for  man  to  be  alone.  Alone  in  tne  midst  of  society 
I  often  am,  merely  because  I  am  not  all  here.  For  the  man 
is  not  without  the  woman,  and  the  woman  is  not  without  the 
man  in  the  Lord  ! 

God  in  tlie  midst  of  a  deep  sleep — a  t}'pe  of  death — created 
out  of  man's  side  a  woman.  The  devil  in  the  disguise  of  a  ser- 
pent deceived  and  seduced  her.  The  woman's  son  and  Lord 
in  the  guise  and  covering  of  a  son  of  man  caught  the  enemy 
in  his  own  craftiness,  and  being  killed,  killed  him  ;  by  being 
capturetl,  captivated  captivity!  Well  now,  the  heavenly 
Father  thning  tiie  deep  sleep  of  the  second  Atlam  created 
out  of  his  opened  side,  whence  blood  to  atone  and  water  to 
cleanse  issued,  a  bride  for  his  son.  So  that  Jesus  is  the  }Ius- 
band  of  the  Church,  and  she,  the  bride,  is  bone  of  his  bone 
and  tiesh  of  his  flesh.  So  tliat  he  loved  her  and  gave  him- 
self for  her,  that  he  might  have  a  pure,  chaste,  virtuous  bride 


COMMUNINGS  OF  AFFECTION 


459 


as  his  companion  and  his  delight  for  ever.  May  we,  my 
dear  sister-wife,  bring  forth  meet  fruits,  that  when  he  appears 
we  may  appear  at  his  marriage  supper,  and  that  we  may  be 
in  full  dress,  without  speck  or  wrinkle  or  any  such  thing. 

"My  most  affectionate  reganls  to  all  at  Bethany,  as  if 
named  one  by  one ;  while  I  remain,  as  ever,  your  loving 
and  beloved  husband,  A.  Campbell. 

"  The  Lord  bless  you  all  T 

After  speaking  eight  times  at  Jackvson,  Mr.  Campbell 
visited  Woodville  and  Consolation,  and  then  went  on  to 
Natchez  and  other  points  in  Mississippi,  scattering  with 
a  liberal  hand  the  seeds  of  righteousness  and  piety 
everywhere  along  his  route.  From  Natchez  he  passed 
up  the  river  to  Louisville,  having  become  exceedingly 
desirous  to  reach  a<;ain  his  loved  ones  at  Bethanv,  from 
whom  he  had  been  now  absent  more  than  five  months. 
However  firm  his  will,  and  however  exactini^  bis  own 
sense  of  obligation  to  spread  abroad  the  knowledge  of 
the  truth,  no  one  felt  more  deeply  the  privations  of  ab- 
sence or  held  in  more  constant  or  affectionate  remem- 
brance those  who  were  dear  to  him.  Their  names 
seemed  to  be  ever  upon  his  heart,  and  the  special  inci- 
dents or  circumstances  which  were  associated  with  their 
memories  seemed  to  be  indissolubly  linked  witli  all  his 
private  musings.  He  forgot  no  family  anniversaries, 
he  omitted  no  opportunity  of  recurring  to  events  fitted 
to  deepen  family  afl'ection  or  enliven  social  intercourse. 
Hence  it  was  that,  upon  his  tours,  his  letters  to  his 
family  and  friends  were  numerous  and  often  of  con- 
siderable length.  From  his  remarkable  talent  for  the 
despatch  of  business  he  availed  himself  of  every  spare 
moment  for  such  communings,  on  steamboats,  in  hotels 
and  other  stopping-places,  while  at  the  same  time  he 
constantly  kept  up  his  regular  series  of  essays  and  com- 


460       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


munications  in  the  "  Harbinger,"  averaging,  with  its 
extras,  more  than  fifty  printed  pages  per  month.  Il 
was  thus,  in  harmony  with  his  constant  practice  and  his 
desire  to  impart  happiness  to  all  connected  with  him, 
that,  on  the  anniversar}'  of  his  first  marriage,  which 
occurred  while  he  was  in  Louisville,  he  addressed  the 
following  letter  to  Mrs.  Campbell : 

*•  Louisville,  March  12,  1839. 

*'  My  dear  Selina  :  This  day,  twenty-eight  years  ago,  I 
gave  my  hand,  and  my  heart  accompanied  it,  to  your  amiable 
and  excellent  predecessor  in  the  holy  bonds  of  matrimony. 
Heaven  lent  me  that  precious  gift  more  than  sixteen  years,  of 
the  value  of  which  I  never  did  form  an  over-estimate.  But 
more  than  eleven  years  since  He  called  her  to  himself  from 
this  land  of  cares  and  fears  and  griefs  and  woes  unnumbered, 
and  more  than  ten  years  ago  appointed  you  to  fill  her  place  in 
my  affections,  and  to  be  her  successor  in  all  the  endearments 
and  trials  of  the  conjugal  and  maternal  relations. 

"  I  have,  my  dear  Selina,  found  you  worthy  of  all  the  affec- 
tion and  esteem  which  were  due  to  her  who  desired  to  bless 
both  you  and  me  by  nominating  you  to  be  her  successor.  I 
have,  from  ten  years'  intimacy,  superadded  to  an  acquaintance 
of  ten  years  more,  found  you  to  be  in  understanding  and  in 
feeling,  in  piety  and  in  social  excellence,  all  that  is  desirable 
in  woman  ;  and,  permit  me  to  add,  though  I  have  seen  many 
an  amiable  and  excellent  woman  since  I  gave  you  my  heart 
and  my  hand  for  life,  I  have  never  thought  that  I  saw  one 
more  deserving  of  my  afl^ection  and  esteem  than  yourself. 

"  Now,  my  dear,  you  may  be  assured  that  if,  either  by  my 
long  absence  from  you  or  any  apparent  neglect  that  at  any 
time  I  may,  in  my  absent,  studious  hours  or  seasons,  have  ex- 
hibited toward  you,  it  would  seem  as  if  I  did  not  truly  and 
worthily  appreciate  your  society  and  your  excellences,  I 
would  have  you  know  that  it  was  the  offspring  of  the  frailties 
of  human  nature — which,  you  know,  in  its  best  estate,  is  always 
vanity — or  the  imperious  calls  of  duty,  to  which,  you  know,  I 


SUPERNATURAL  FACTS, 


461 


am  not  altogether  deaf  or  inattentive.  You  are  my  fellow- 
soldier,  my  true  yoke-fellow,  my  partner  in  all  my  labors  in 
the  cause  of  religion  and  humanity,  and  therefore,  as  yoa 
share  in  my  toils  and  self-denials,  I  pray  that  we  may  equally 
partake  in  the  eternal  rewards  and  enjoyments. 

I  do  not  intend  ever  to  leave  you  so  long  again,  as  I  do  not 
think  that  it  will  be  my  duty.  Meanwhile,  I  trust,  as  the  Lord 
has  kindly  borne  with  all  my  frailties — and  I  am  aware  they 
are  neither  few  nor  little — and  has  led  me  by  his  right  hand 
in  the  times  and  places  of  danger,  that  he  will  still  send  his 
angel  before  me  and  keep  me  in  all  my  ways,  and  restore  me 
to  your  bosom  and  that  of  my  beloved  family  in  due  time. 

"  Meanwhile,  my  beloved  Selina,  constantly,  as  I  know 
you  do,  pray  to  the  Lord  for  me  that  I  may  be  humble,  spirit- 
ually-minded, wholly  devoted  to  the  Lord,  and  that  my  labors 
may  be  accepted  by  him  and  blessed.  .  .  . 

"Farewell,  my  dear,  and  remember  me  affectionately  to  all. 
Yours  ever,  in  nature  and  in  the  Lord,       A.  Campbell." 

From  Louisville,  accompanied  by  William  Morton, 
he  went  on  to  Shelbyvfile,  w^here  he  spoke  three  times, 
and  was  happy  to  meet  again  with  J.  Taffe,  his  former 
agreeable  traveling  companion,  who,  along  with  a  Brother 
Gates,  of  Louisville,  highly  esteemed  by  Mr.  Campbell, 
accompanied  him  to  Frankfort,  where  he  was  met  by 
his  esteemed  fellow-laborer,  P.  S.  Fall,  whom  he  styles 
in  his  journal  the  first  Reformer  in  Kentucky."  Leav- 
ing Frankfort,  he  visited,  in  company  with  Messrs.  Taffe 
and  Gates,  many  other  points  between  that  city  and 
Maysville,  renewing  his  intercourse  with  many  warm 
friends.  Spending  in  all  fourteen  days  in  this  State, 
during  which  he  spoke  fifteen  times,  he  closed  with  an 
address,  on  March  25th,  to  the  Maysville  Lyceum  on 
*'  Supernatural  Facts,"  which  was  afterward  published 
at  the  request  of  the  society.  In  less  than  an  hour 
after  this  address  he  embarked  on  board  a  steamer  for 

39  * 


462       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


Wellsburg,  and  arrived  at  Bethany  on  the  28th  of  March, 
having  spent  about  six  months  on  this  tour,  speaking 
about  once  for  every  day  and  baptizing  some  forty 
persons. 

While  he  was  absent  his  sister  Alicia  died  of  con- 
sumption, January  16,  1839,  Matthew  McKeever's 
near  West  Middletown,  and  was  buried  near  her  mother 
in  the  cemetery  at  Bethany.  She  had  been  for  some 
years  the  wife  of  M.  S.  Clapp,  and  cheerfully  yielded 
her  gentle  spirit  into  the  hands  of  her  Redeemer.  In 
the  very  same  year,  on  the  9th  of  July,  Mr.  Campbell 
was  called  to  suffer  the  loss  of  his  second  daughter,  Eliza 
Ann,  who  had  been  some  time  before  married  to  Dr. 
John  C.  Campbell,  a  lawyer  and  a  gentleman  of  high 
intelligence  and  standing  in  Wellsburg.  She  had  be- 
come a  member  of  the  church  at  fourteen  years  of  age, 
and  met  the  approach  of  death  with  the  utmost  calmness 
and  resignation. 

In  concluding  the  notes  of  his  late  extended  tour,  Mr. 
Campbell  remarked  in  regard  to  the  general  condition 
of  society : 

"  On  a  survey  of  all  we  saw  and  heard  on  the  whole  sub- 
ject of  religion  and  morality — both  theory  and  practice — we 
must  say  that  much  is  wanting,  very  much  is  wanting,  in  order 
to  correct  and  scriptural  views  of  the  gospel  and  its  institu- 
tions ;  and  still  more,  in  oriler  to  moral  and  Christian  excel- 
lence of  character  before  God  and  man.  This  is  truly  a  de- 
generate age  as  respects  Christian  purity  and  Christian  enjoy- 
ment. There  is,  too,  everywhere  more  of  a  readiness  to  re- 
form the  creed  tlian  the  heart,  to  rectify  the  understanding 
rather  than  the  afl'ections,  and  to  exliibit  sound  tenets  ratlier 
than  godly  lives  ;  good  works  are  much  more  wanting  than 
good  notions  ;  devotion  to  God  more  than  suhmission  to  a 
party;  personal  and  family  relig^ion  more  than  plans  and  be- 
nevolent operations  on  paper  for  the  Asiatics  and  Africans. 


SCHEME  OF  EDUCATION. 


.  .  .  Millions  are  consumed  upon  the  lusts  of  men  for  thou- 
sands that  are  laid  up  on  deposit  in  the  Bank  of  Heaven.  But 
time  fails.  I  must  speak  of  this  hereafter.  'O  Lord,  revive 
thy  v^ork  in  the  midst  of  the  years,  in  the  midst  of  the  years 
make  know^n  ;  in  w^rath  remember  mercy  !*" 

These  reflections  v^^ere  connected  with  an  important 
purpose.  During  Mr.  Campbell's  entire  course  there  was 
no  subject  which  more  deeply  interested  him  than  that 
of  education.  But  at  no  former  period  of  his  life  had 
he  been  so  deeply  impressed  with  the  great  want  of  an 
educated  and  efficient  ministry  to  supply  the  demands 
of  the  Reformation,  now  so  widely  spread.  It  was  not 
possible,  however,  that  education  or  any  other  subject 
could  undergo  his  scrutiny  without  being  expanded  in 
harmony  with  the  massive  proportions  of  his  own  intel- 
lectual nature ;  and  having  for  some  time  longed  to  pre- 
sent to  the  public  the  result  of  his  reflections  upon  this 
topic,  he,  after  his  return,  began  to  develop  in  a  series 
of  essays  a  grand  system  of  education,  designed  to  em- 
brace all  ages  and  to  develop  man  in  all  the  attributes 
of  his  complex  being.  This  plan  was  to  begin  at  the 
nursery,  and  to  have  family,  school,  college  and  church 
education  adapted  to  the  entire  physical,  intellectual, 
moral  and  religious  constitution  of  man. 

He  proposed,  therefore,  ist,  a  Family  Institution 
for  the  purpose  of  furnishing  accommodations  for  those 
in  attendance  at  the  primary  school,  and  especially  for 
the  development  of  the  domestic  character,  as  well  as 
for  furnishing  a  model  of  family  government  and  econ- 
omy. This  was  to  be  under  the  control  of  two  persons, 
2i -patron  and  a  ma h'on,  and  to  be  a  home  for  lads  under 
fourteen,  where  these  could  be  subjected  to  a  system 
of  kind  parental  discipline,  carefully  instructed  in  the 
facts,  precepts  and  promises  of  the  Bible,  and  trained 


4^4        MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL, 

up  in  the  paths  of  morality  and  religion.  Knowing 
that  all  the  powers  of  human  nature  were  to  be 
strengthened  and  improved  by  exercise,  the  muscles, 
the  perceptive  and  the  reflective  powers,  the  moral  senti- 
ments, the  feelings  and  the  affections  were  to  be  every 
day  employed  and  exercised  on  objects  and  in  actions 
suitable  to  their  nature  and  functions.  For  these  ends 
he  contemplated  a  very  extensive  course  of  instruction 
adapted  to  children,  connected  in  a  good  measure  with 
their  amusements,  and  embracing  the  elements  of 
natural  history,  agriculture,  etc. 

In  the  second  place,  education  in  the  School  was  to 
be  conducted  on  the  same  general  principles,  and  to  em- 
brace a  complete  course  of  preparation  for  college,  it 
being  constantly  kept  in  view  that  the  formation  of 
moral  character^  the  culture  of  the  hearty  was  to  be 
made  the  supre^fie  end^  all  other  purposes  being  held 
subordinate. 

In  the  third  place,  in  the  College,  he  proposed  a 
liberal  course  of  studies,  giving  somewhat  more  promi- 
nence than  usual  to  the  physical  sciences,  and  contem- 
plating the  most  liberal  provisions  for  thorough  instruc- 
tion, so  as  to  prepare  young  men  to  enter  upon  the 
study  of  the  learned  professions.  In  this  department, 
however,  as  in  the  others,  moral  and  religious  training 
was  to  form  a  principal  feature  and  the  Bible  was  to 
be  made  one  of  the  regular  text-books,  so  that  no  one 
could  receive  the  honors  of  the  institution  without  being 
thoroughly  acquainted  with  the  Sacred  Oracles,  which 
were  to  be  taught  regularly  every  day — not  with  the  de- 
sign of  evolving  from  them  any  system  of  doctrines, 
but  for  the  purpose  of  familiarizing  the  mind  with  Bible 
facts  and  institutions. 

In  the  fourth  and  last  place,  the  Church  with  which. 


PLAN  OF  TALLEYRAND, 


465 


the  institution  was  to  be  connected,  embracing  all  who 
were  really  members,  would  present  to  the  entire  insti- 
tution and  to  the  world  a  practical  conformity  to  the 
requirements  of  religion,  and  thus  exemplify  the  truths 
and  excellences  of  the  gospel  of  Christ. 

This  grand  scheme  of  education  was  no  sooner  pre- 
sented than  it  was  hailed  with  delight  by  well-wishers 
to  humanity  and  by  eminent  educators  of  various  creeds, 
who  were  struck  with  its  completeness  and  its  novelty, 
and  who  had  learned  to  anticipate  the  success  of  every 
enterprise  undertaken  by  Mr.  Campbell.  History  could 
refer  to  the  genius  of  Prince  Talleyrand  alone  for  con- 
ceptions so  grand  and  a  scheme  so  exhaustive.  It  was 
at  the  period  of  the  French  Revolution,  and  on  the 
evening  of  the  day  when  the  destruction  of  the  Bastile 
had  filled  the  palace  with  terror  and  the  Assembly 
with  surprise,  that  Talleyrand  was  appointed  one  of 
eight  members  to  draft  a  constitution.  It  was  at  this 
singular  juncture  in  human  affairs,  when  popular 
frenzy,  as  it  were  with  vokanic  power,  upturned  the 
very  foundations  of  society,  and  amidst  frightful  deso- 
lations threw  up  from  the  depths  of  human  nature 
many  precious  gems  of  original  and  unrecognized  polit- 
ical and  social  truth,  that  the  Constituent  Assembly,  con- 
sidering that  the  best  means  of  giving  stability  to  its  re- 
forms was  to  cultivate  the  understanding  of  the  people, 
committed  to  Talleyrand  the  most  extraordinary  task 
ever  undertaken  by  an  individual,  in  charging  him  to 
produce  a  plan  of  public  instruction  which  should  pre- 
pare the  coming  generations  for  the  lofty  destiny  sup- 
posed to  await  them. 

The  report  which  he  presented  in  consequence  to  the 
Assembly  has  deservedly  attached  to  his  memory  the 
highest  renown.  Previously,  education  had  been  en- 
VOL.  II. — 2  E 


466       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL, 

tirely  in  the  hands  of  the  clergy,  but  the  author,  break- 
ing away  at  once  from  all  conventionalities,  established 
usages  and  narrow  systems,  proceeded  boldly  to  con- 
sider the  whole  subject  of  education  in  its  origin,  its  ob- 
ject, its  organization  and  its  methods.  The  subject 
was  thus  treated,  for  the  first  time,  with  an  immediate 
view  to  national  ends.  Education  was  contemplated 
as  required  not  only  for  all  ages,  but  as  addressed  to 
the  understanding,  the  powers  of  which  were  to  be  de- 
veloped ;  to  the  soul,  whose  moral  instincts  were  to  be 
awakened  ;  and  to  the  body,  whose  activities  and  strength 
were  to  be  improved.  For  these  purposes  he  proposed 
to  establish  primary  schools  in  every  canton  for  ele- 
mentary instruction.  From  these,  pupils  were  to  be 
transferred  to  secondary  schools  in  the  chief  towns  of 
every  district,  where  a  thorough  common  school  educa- 
tion was  to  be  imparted  to  fit  all  for  the  ordinary  busi- 
ness of  life.  Special  schools  were  then  projected  for 
each  department,  in  which  instruction  was  to  be  given  in 
the  useful  arts  and  professions.  Finally,  a  great  Na- 
tional Institute  was  to  be  established  in  the  capital  for 
the  purpose  of  the  most  profound  researches  in  science 
and  literature,  in  order  to  advance  human  knowledge 
and  to  centralize  the  national  mind  as  the  legislature 
centralized  the  national  will.  '  This  magnificent  scheme, 
which  embraced  the  development  of  man's  physical, 
intellectual  and  moral  nature,  and  which  even  gave  to 
moral  culture  a  special  prominence  with  a  view  to 
render  all  good  and  useful  citizens,  was,  nevertheless, 
strikingly  defective  in  assigning  to  moral  principle  na 
other  origin  than  the  understanding  and  no  other  sanc- 
tion than  mere  utility.  According  to  the  spirit  of  the 
times,  morality  w^as  based  entirely  on  temporal  motives, 
and  no  reference  to  any  religious  sentiment  was  ad- 


BASIS  OF  MORAL  CULTURE,  467 


mitted.  The  plan,  however,  was  not  carried  into  exe- 
cution, owing  to  the  convulsions  of  the  succeeding 
period,  and  remained  a  barren  project  until  revived  by 
Guizot,  to  some  extent,  after  the  Revolution  of  1830. 

The  system  projected  by  Mr.  Campbell,  who  de- 
pended entirely  upon  the  resources  of  his  own  capacious 
mind  and  enlarged  experience  and  observation,  pre- 
sented the  same  great  objects  and  the  same  compre- 
hensive classification,  but  it  differed  radically  from  all 
preceding  measures  in  making  the  Bible  the  basis  of  all 
moral  culture.  The  relations  of  the  great  principles 
taught  in  the  Bible  to  human  rights  and  political  and 
social  freedom  had  for  some  time  been  partially  recog- 
nized, but  no  one  had  assigned  to  it  its  proper  position 
in  respect  to  moral  science,  which  had,  as  yet,  found  no 
better  foundation  than  philosophy,  and  the  study  of 
which  even  was  postponed  to  the  latest  period.  Mr. 
Campbell  was  convinced  that  a  very  great  chasm  was 
suffered  to  exist  in  the  ordinary  course  of  education  be- 
tween the  primary  school  and  the  college.  The  almost 
total  neglect  of  moral  culture  during  this  period  left,  he 
thought,  pupils  quite  unprepared  to  engage  in  the 
studies  and  encounter  the  temptations  of  college  life. 
He  argued  that  there  could  not  be  any  proper  prepara- 
tions for  college  without  'such  a  development  of  the 
moral  faculties  and  such  instruction  as  would  enable 
students  to  take  correct  views  of  life  and  of  society,  and 
justly  to  recognize  the  obligations  and  responsibilities 
resting  upon  them.  This  preparation,  imparted  only  in 
exceptional  cases  in  home  education,  he  thought  should 
be  assiduously  communicated  to  all^  and  that  a  proper 
foundation  should  thus  be  laid  for  all  subsequent  attain- 
ments. This  moral  education,  in  his  view,  could  be 
derived  from  no  other  source  than  the  Bible,  whose 


4^8        MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


lessons  alone  furnished  the  proper  basis  for  such  an  at- 
tainment, which  he  did  not  conceive  to  consist  in  mere 
instruction  in  the  principles  or  in  the  philosophy  of 
morality,  but  in  the  formation  of  character.  This, 
which  had  heretofore  formed  no  part  of  the  purpose  for 
which  schools  were  established,  he  thought  should  be 
made  the  chief  object,  believing  it  quite  possible  to  form 
the  human  character  by  early  discipline  and  instruction, 
to  implant  proper  motives,  direct  the  feelings  in  a 
proper  course,  and  fix  in  the  mind  moral  and  religious 
principles.  His  conceptions,  indeed,  in  regard  to  these 
points,  corresponded  closely  with  those  of  the  eminent 
De  Fellenberg,  who  for  many  years  had  been  en- 
deavoring, under  many  difficulties,  to  put  his  ideas  into 
practice  at  Hotwyl,  but  of  whose  views  Mr.  Campbell 
does  not  appear  to  have  known  an3  thing  until  after  he 
had  published  his  own. 

Impressed  with  the  great  deficiency  of  competent 
teachers  for  schools  and  for  the  churches,  Mr.  Camp- 
bell had  many  years  before  conceived  the  plan  which 
he  now  submitted,  but  he  had  delayed  making  it  public, 
as  a  literary  institution  called  Bacon  College  had  been 
somewhat  unexpectedly  started  by  the  brethren  at 
Georgetown,  Kentucky,  and  he  did  not  wish  to  divert 
the  resources  of  the  friends  of  education  there  from  the 
enterprise  in  which  they  were  engaged,  until  its  success 
was  assured.  Bacon  College  being  at  length  removed 
to  Harrodsburg,  under  favorable  conditions,  and  his 
observations  during  his  late  extensive  tours  having 
awakened  him  more  fully  to  the  pressing  wants  of  the 
community  and  the  churches,  he  thought  the  time  had 
fully  arrived  for  the  execution  of  his  designs.  In  his 
earnest  desire,  therefore,  to  promote  the  highest  interests 
of  society,  and  to  appropriate  his  own  time  and  abilities 


ORGANIZATION  OF  BETH  ANT  COLLEGE.  469 


to  the  most  beneficent  ends,  he  resolved  to  consecrate 
much  o-f  what  remained  to  him  of  life  in  preparing  for 
the  coming  generation  better-instructed  teachers  than 
had  been  formed  by  the  old  methods. 

Having  now,"  said  he,  completed  fifty  years,  and  on  my 
way  to  sixty,  the  greater  part  of  which  time  I  have  been 
engaged  in  literary  labors  and  pursuits,  and  imagining  that  I 
possess  some  views  and  attainments  which  I  can  in  this  way 
render  permanently  useful  to  this  community  and  posterity,  I 
feel  in  duty  bound  to  offer  this  project  to  the  consideration  of 
all  the  friends  of  literature,  morality  and  unsectarian  Bible 
Christianity.  I  am  willing  to  bestow  much  personal  labor 
without  any  charge  in  getting  up  this  institution,  and  also  to 
invest  a  few  thousand  dollars  in  it ;  provided  only  our  breth- 
ren— the  rich  and  opulent  especially — and  those  who  have 
children  to  educate,  will  take  a  strong  hold  of  it,  and  deter- 
mine to  build  up  an  establishment  that  may  be  made  to  them- 
selves, their  children  and  many  others  a  lasting  and  a  com- 
prehensive blessing." 

During  the  winter  of  1840,  a  charter  having  been 
obtained  for  Bethany  College  through  the  attentions 
of  John  C.  Campbell,  Esq.,  who  had  formerly  been  a 
member  of  the  Legislature,  Mr.  Campbell  announced 
his  determination  to  proceed  at  once  with  the  arrange- 
ments necessary  for  the  institution,  and  invited  donations 
from  those  disposed  to  assist.  The  first  donation,  $1000, 
was  made  by  Philip  B.  Pendleton,  of  Virginia,  as  a 
legacy.  On  the  nth  of  May,  1840,  the  trustees  held 
their  first  meeting.  At  the  second  meeting,  September 
i8th,  Mr.  Campbell  was  elected  president  of  the  col- 
lege, and  requested  to  prepare  a  scheme  of  the  course 
of  education  to  be  adopted.  On  this  occasion  he  pre- 
sented to  the  Board  a  bond  for  a  deed  of  land  for  the 
use  of  the  institution,  and  the  trustees,  after  appointing 
a  building  committee,  and  making  some  other  arrange- 

40 


47^       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


ments,  adjourned  to  the  next  year.  Meanwhile,  Mr. 
Campbell,  with  his  usual  promptitude,  proceeded  on 
his  own  responsibility  to  erect  a  large  brick  building 
for  the  accommodation  of  students.  At  the  second 
annual  meeting  of  the  Board  of  Trustees,  May  lo, 
1841,  four  professors  were  appointed,  \\z.  :  W.  K. 
Pendleton,  who  had  married  Mr.  Campbell's  daughter, 
Lavinia,  during  the  previous  month  of  October,  An- 
drew F.  Ross,  Charles  Stewart  and  Robert  Richard- 
son. Notice  was  also  ordered  to  be  given  that  the  col- 
legiate department  would  be  open  for  the  reception  of 
students  on  the  21st  of  October  following. 


CHAPTER  XV. 


Reformation  in  South-west  Virginia — The  atonement — Bethany  College- 
Converting  influence — Church  organization — Tours. 

ON  the  13th  of  June,  1840,  Mr.  Campbell  attended 
an  interesting  general  meeting  held  at  Charlottes- 
ville, Virginia.  Fifty-six  churches  were  heard  from  or 
represented,  and  the  principal  preachers  of  Virginia 
were  present.  The  object  was  to  consider  the  state  of 
the  cause  and  the  means  of  spreading  the  gospel  and 
promoting  education.  During  the  meeting,  which  lasted 
seven  days,  there  was  much  good  preaching,  great  har- 
mony and  warm  Christian  feeling,  and  much  interest 
and  hospitality  were  shown  by  the  citizens  of  Char- 
lottesville. The  Baptists  too  were  particularly  friendly, 
and  several  of  their  preachers,  together  with  the  chap- 
lain of  the  University,  came  to  hear  Mr.  Campbell. 
While  there,  he  delivered  a  written  address  to  the 
**  Charlottesville  Lyceum  "  on  the  question,  "Is  moral 
philosophy  an  inductive  science?"  which  was  published 
by  the  "  Lyceum."  He  also,  by  request,  addressed  the 
** Jeffersonian  Society"  of  the  University. 

At  this  meeting  he  became  first  personally  acquainted 
with  Chester  Bullard,  who  among  the  mountains  of 
South-west  Virginia,  had  been  for  some  years  laboring 
in  the  cause  of  religious  reformation,  without  any  par- 
ticular knowledge  of  the  movement  conducted  by  Mr. 
Campbell.    His  parents  were  Baptists,  and  his  mother 

471 


472         MEMOIR  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 

a  remarkably  pious  woman.  His  early  childhood  was 
spent  in  Montgomery  county,  near  the  source  of  the 
Roanoke  river,  three  miles  from  Christiansburg.  Re- 
markable even  then  for  his  religious  and  devotional 
tendencies,  he  experienced  much  mental  distress  as  he 
grew  up  in  vain  endeavors  to  obtain  that  assurance  of 
acceptance  which  he  had  been  taught  to  look  for,  and 
which  he  supposed  himself  to  receive  at  length  at  a 
Islethodist  meeting  when  about  seventeen  years  of  age. 
The  Methodists  at  this  time  had  just  begun  to  make 
their  appearance  in  the  country,  which  w^as  filled  with 
irreligion,  there  being  then  in  Christiansburg  no  meet- 
ing-house, and  out  of  a  population  of  four  hundred  per- 
sons but  two  women  and  one  man  who  were  professors 
of  religion.  In  the  midst  of  this  society  it  was  to  con- 
stant family  prayer  and  reading  of  the  Scriptures  that 
young  BuUard  owed  the  maintenance  of  his  religious 
life,  for  preaching  was  very  seldom  heard  in  the  vi- 
cinity. After  his  supposed  conversion,  finding  himself 
unable  to  subscribe  to  the  doctrines  of  the  Methodist  dis- 
cipline, he  remained  disconnected  from  any  party. 
Deeply  anxious,  however,  on  the  subject  of  religion, 
devoted  to  the  Bible  and  possessing  much  independence 
of  mind,  he  learned  that  true  religion  consisted  in  the 
knowledcre  and  love  of  God,  and  that  after  faith  and 
repentance  baptism  was  required.  About  this  time  his 
eldest  brother  happened  to  be  traveling  in  Pennsylvania, 
and  after  supper,  at  a  public  house,  found,  upon  re- 
tiring early  to  his  room  tVom  the  ungenial  company  at 
the  inn,  a  number  of  the  "  Christian  Baptist"  lying  on 
the  table.  This  he  read  before  going  to  rest,  and  was 
so  much  pleased  that  he  advised  his  brother-in-law, 
upon  his  return  to  Montgomery  count}',  Virginia,  to 
subscribe  for  it,  telling  him  that  the  editor  was  a  half 


JOSEPH  THOMAS. 


473 


century  ahead  of  the  age.  This  was  done,  and  the 
last  volume  of  the  "  Christian  Baptist"  and  first  of  the 
**  Harbinger"  were  duly  received,  but  for  want  of  in- 
terest in  the  matters  treated,  most  of  the  numbers  were 
thrown  aside  unread. 

In  the  same  year  (1831),  Mr.  Bullard  concluded  to 
study  medicine  with  Dr.  D.  J.  Chapman,  near  the  Sul- 
phur Springs,  in  Giles  county.  Here,  amid  some  of 
the  most  picturesque  and  romantic  scenery  of  the  Amer- 
ican continent,  near  where  Sinking  Creek,  passing  four 
miles  under  Thomas'  Hill,  empties  itself  into  New  River, 
and  where  the  latter,  more  than  a  hundred  feet  deep, 
washes  the  lofty  and  magnificent  cliffs  of  "  Thomas' 
Hill,"  Mr.  Bullard  pursued  his  medical  studies,  whilst 
religious  thoughts  still  predominated.  Earnestly  de- 
siring baptism,  but  unable  to  obtain  it  at  the  hands  of 
the  Baptists,  as  he  did  not  sufficiently  approve  of  their 
tenets  to  unite  with  them,  he  felt  himself  quite  isolated. 
That  year,  Landon  Duncan,  the  assessor  of  the  county, 
a  man  of  grave  and  thoughtful  aspect,  nearly  six  feet  in 
height,  with  dark  complexion,  black  hair  and  eyes,  and 
a  firm,  decided  manner,  happened  to  call  in  the  dis- 
charge of  his  official  duties.  Falling  into  a  religious  con- 
versation with  him,  Mr.  Bullard  freely  communicated 
to  him  his  feelings  and  his  wishes,  and  though  he 
frankly  expressed  his  dissent  from  some  of  the  views 
held  by  Mr.  Duncan,  the  latter  agreed  to  baptize  him. 

Landon  Duncan  had,  when  young,  united  with  the 
Baptists,  and  was  ordained  x\ugust,  1813.  After  some 
time,  however,  he  adopted  the  sentiments  of  the  ''Chris- 
tian Connection,"  chiefly  through  the  influence  of  Joseph 
Thomas. 

This  Joseph  Thomas  was  a  somewhat  remarkable 
man,  born  in  North  Carolina,  from  whence  he  removed 

40  * 


474       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 

with  his  father  to  the  summit  of  the  lofty  hill  in  Giles 
county,  where  he  became  deeply  imbued  with  religious 
feeling,  and  began  while  yet  a  young  man  to  recommend 
religion  to  his  neighbors.  Associating  with  O'Kelly 
and  the  southern  branch  of  the  Association  in  North 
Carolina,  he  desired  to  be  immersed,  when  O'Kelly 
persuaded  him  that  pouring  was  more  scriptural,  to 
which  he  submitted  after  stipulating  that  a  tubful  of 
water  should  be  poured  upon  him.  Becoming  after- 
ward fully  satisfied  that  immersion  alone  was  baptism, 
he  was  immersed  by  Elder  Plumer  in  Philadelphia. 
This  brought  him  into  communication  with  Abner  Jones, 
Elias  Smith  and  others  of  the  Eastern  branch  of  the 
Christian  Connection.  He  now  devoted  himself  wholly 
to  preaching  and  became  noted  for  the  extent  of  his 
travels  through  the  United  States,  making  from  his 
home,  then  at  Winchester,  Virginia,  frequent  tours 
through  the  Northern,  all  the  Middle  and  most  of  the 
Southern  and  Western  States.  In  person  he  was  tall, 
straight  as  an  Indian,  with  fair  skin  and  gray  eyes, 
beautiful  nose  and  mouth,  a  lofty  forehead,  long  chest- 
nut locks  parted  over  the  middle  of  the  head  and  falling 
upon  his  shoulders.  He  often  traveled  on  foot  dressed 
in  a  long  white  robe,  from  whence  he  was  called  the 
**  White  Pilgrim,"  and  frequently,  in  imitation  of  Christ, 
retired  to  lonely  places  for  fasting  and  prayer.  San- 
guine and  ardent  in  his  temperament,  full  of  enthusiasm 
and  of  poetic  feeling,  he  made  a  strong  impression  upon 
the  people,  few  being  able  to  forget  the  wild  beauty 
and  sublimity  of  his  eloquence.  He  had  a  daughter 
married  to  John  O'Kane  of  Indiana,  formerly  men- 
tioned, and  was  not  ignorant  of  the  reformatory  views 
urged  by  Mr.  Campbell,  but  he  declined  to  adopt  them, 
being  greatly  absorbed  in  religious  frames  and  feelings, 


PROGRESS  OF  LIGHT. 


475 


and  continued  the  mourning-bench  system,  remaining 
in  connection  with  the  Eastern  branch  of  the  **  Chris- 
tian Connection,"  and  dying  finally  of  the  small-pox 
amidst  his  itinerant  labors  in  New  Jersey,  about  the 
year  1850. 

Chester  Bullard,  after  his  baptism  by  Landon  Dun- 
can, at  once  engaged  in  public  labors,  delivering  his 
first  discourse  on  the  evening  of  the  day  on  which  he 
was  baptized.  Avoiding  those  speculative  points  with 
which  Landon  Duncan  and  those  with  him  were  much 
occupied,  he  presented  simple  views  of  the  gospel  and 
the  freeness  of  Christ's  salvation,  and  showed  that  faith, 
came  by  hearing  the  word  of  God,  and  that  he  that 
believed  and  was  baptized  should  be  saved.  It  was  a 
considerable  time,  however,  before  he  succeeded  in 
making  enough  converts  to  form  a  church,  which  was 
finally  organized  near  the  source  of  the  Catawba  River 
in  1833.  By  degrees,  most  of  those  in  connection  with 
Landon  Duncan  gave  in  their  adhesion,  and  James 
Redpath  and  others  beginning  to  aid  in  the  public 
ministry,  a  number  of  churches  were  organized  in  that 
part  of  Virginia.  About  that  time  (1839)  Bullard 
happened  to  take  up  and  read  Mr.  Campbell's  Extra 
on  Remission,  which  he  met  with  at  the  house  of  his 
brother-in-law.  Surprised  and  delighted  with  the  new 
views  it  gave  of  the  gospel,  he  immediately  sought  out 
all  the  numbers  of  the  "  Christian  Baptist"  and  "  Har- 
binger," and  was  overjoyed  to  find  how  clear  and  con- 
sistent were  Mr.  Campbell's  views,  and  how  different 
from  the  slanderous  misrepresentations  which  had  been 
so  industriously,  circulated  throughout  the  country  from 
the  press  and  the  pulpit.  He  immediately  began  to 
circulate  his  writings,  preaching  with  great  success  the 
reformatory  principles,  and  happy  in  finding  himself 


47^       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL, 


unexpectedly  associated  with  a  host  of  fellow-laborers 
in  the  same  cause.  Hearing  that  Mr.  Campbell  was 
to  visit  Charlottesville,  he  determined  to  meet  him,  and 
after  his  happy  interview  with  him  there,  kept  up 
with  him  afterward  constant  Christian  fellowship  and 
communication,  pursuing  his  earnest  labors  most  suc- 
cessfully through  South-w^est  Virginia,  where  he  con- 
tinued to  be  the  chief  support  of  the  cause. 

In  closing  his  notice  of  the  meeting  at  Charlottesville, 
Mr.  Campbell  made  an  allusion  to  the  "Dover  Decrees," 
and  a  friendl}'  reference  to  Andrew  Broaddus,  which 
elicited  from  the  latter  a  kind  letter,  in  some  sense  justi- 
fying the  action  of  the  Association  as  seemingly  neces- 
sary at  the  time. 

"  This,  however,"  he  went  on  to  say,  "  furnishes  no  reason 
for  an  everlasting  separation.  If  we  have  erroneously  con- 
strued your  views,  and  in  our  zeal  for  the  great  truths  of  the 
gospel  have  wrongfully  put  you  under  the  '  ban  of  the  em- 
pire,' or  if  you  in  your  zeal  for  exploding  long- cherished 
errors  have  unconsciously  struck  at  important  truths,  or  if 
there  should  have  been  on  both  sides  something  erroneous — 
something  of  misconstruction  on  the  one  hand  and  rashness 
on  the  other — why,  for  aught  I  can  see,  there  might  yet  be 
hope  of  reconciliation  and  union  ;  and  a  union  on  a  firm 
scriptural  basis  none  would  greet  more  cordially  than  myself. 

"  Of  late  I  am  free  to  say  (I  mean  for  several  years  past) 
while  I  have  seen  in  the  '  Harbinger'  much  to  approve,  I  have 
met  with  nothing  for  which  my  fellowship  in  the  gospel 
would  be  forfeited.  I  cannot  say  the  same  for  some  things 
which  you  have  put  forth  in  former  times,  and  a  retraction  of 
such  things  would,  I  think,  be  proper  and  necessary.  I  re- 
gret, my  dear  sir,  that  you  should  be  separated  from  us,  and 
much  would  I  rejoice  in  seeing  your  talents  enlisted  in  the 
one  great  cause.  That  the  Church  needs  a  progressive  refoi- 
mation  I  have  no  doubt,  and  to  all  etlbrts  for  this  object  on  a 
scriptural  basis  I  would  say,  "  God  speed.' 


MISCONCEPTIONS, 


477 


"  Before  I  conclude  I  have  another  remark  to  offer.  There 
must  be  some  truths  which  are  vital  and  fundamental.  Among 
these  you  and  I  both  reckon  that  great  truth,  atonement  or 
expiation  by  the  blood  of  Christ,  Now,  I  find  in  your  dis- 
cussion with  a  venerable  correspondent  you  have  to  remind 
him  that  he  has  forgotten  to  state  this  among  the  designs  of 
Christ!  How  could  we  recognize  members,  not  to  say 
ministers^  who  leave  out  of  their  building  this  corner-stone? 
Verbum  sat.    Yours  in  the  blessed  hope, 

•  "  Andrew  Broaddus." 

To  this  Mr.  Campbell  replied  as  follows : 
"My  Dear  Sir  :  I  thankfully  and  cordially  reciprocate  every 
good  feeling  expressed  in  your  letter  before  me,  and  shall  en- 
deavor with  similar  frankness,  candor  and  courtesy  to  respond 
to  it.  Charged,  as  I  have  sometimes  been,  with  the  desire  of 
making  a  new  party,  I  am  glad,  on  every  retrospection  of 
my  course  and  of  the  opposition  offered  to  it,  that  neither 
friend  nor  foe  has  yet  been  able  to  adduce  a  single  fact  indi- 
cative of  such  a  wish  on  my  part.  On  the  contrary,  when 
the  history  of  this  effort  at  reformation  shall  have  been  faith- 
fully written,  it  will  appear,  we  think,  bright  as  the  sun,  that 
our  career  has  been  marked  with  a  spirit  of  forbearance,  mod- 
eration and  love  of  union,  with  an  unequivocal  desire  for  pre- 
serving the  integrity,  harmony  and  co-operation  of  all  who 
teach  one  faith,  one  Lord  and  one  immersion.  .  .  . 

But  our  views  and  objects  have  been  mistaken  by  many 
of  oin*  Baptist  brethren  and  friends;  and  among  the  melan- 
choly monuments  of  it  are  the  Dover  Decrees  and  similar 
acts  of  exclusion  from  other  quarters.  That  our  brethren 
have  been  to  blame  for  some  indiscretions,  as  well  as  some 
unguarded  expressions  in  giving  rise  to  these  acts  of  exclusion 
and  proscription,  I  am  frank  to  admit.  Indeed,  the  first  of 
these  anathemas,  the  Beaver  Decrees,  in  1S29,  I  have  always 
believed  were  occasioned  by  some  violent  movements  on  the 
part  of  our  brethren  in  the  Western  Reserve,  Ohio,  in  the 
height  of  a  great  excitement.  Extremes  beget  extremes,  and 
when  the  ball  of  ultraism  is  put  in  motion,  there  is  no  fore- 


478       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


telling  its  place  of  resting.  .  .  .  Our  views  and  aims  are  now 
fully  developed,  and  the  consequence  is,  that  the  Baptist  peo- 
ple and  others  wonder  at  themselves,  and  say  that  we  have 
changed  and  are  not  so  heterodox  as  formerly.  They  have 
heard  with  more  candor,  and,  like  the  passengers  approach- 
ing the  shore,  they  regard  us  as  nearing  their  prow  and  fast 
approximating  to  their  views.  Well,  this  gives  us  pleasure,  as 
it  proves  that  had  they  understood  us  at  first  as  at  last,  they 
would  not  have  given  us  to  the  enemy." 

He  then  adds :  That  the'  Baptist  society  needs  a  '  pro- 
gressive reformation,'  I  must,  with  you,  candidly  and  cordially 
avow  as  my  opinion,  and  that  we  all  ought  to  be  up  and 
doing,  I  as  firmly  believe.  As  to  our  views  of  reformation, 
wherein  they  are  founded  in  truth  your  people  cannot  resist 
them.  They  cannot  keep  them  out  of  their  churches.  They 
will  pervade  all  Christendom  in  this  age  of  reading  and  dis- 
cussion. If  any  of  our  views  of  reformation  are  not  founded 
in  truth,  we  wish  to  see  them  exploded,  refuted  and  put  down. 
In  no  supposable  event  have  we  anything  to  fear  from  inti- 
macy with  your  churches  or  pastors.  Our  errors  we  desire  to 
lose,  and  our  truth  no  man  will  take  from  us. 

"  Could  the  friends  of  truth  and  union  agree  to  meet  on  the 
Bible,  the  whole  Bible,  and  nothing  but  the  Bible,  acknow- 
ledge one  Lord,  one  faith,  one  baptism,  one  body  of  Christ 
and  one  Spirit — could  they  leave  the  conscience  free  where 
God  has  left  it  free,  and  not  bind  their  private  opinions  upon 
one  another,  and  could  they  open  their  pulpits,  their  ears  and 
their  hearts  to  a  free  intercommunion  of  preachers  and  peo- 
ple, and  occasionally  celebrate  the  Christian  festival  together, 
and  devote  themselves  more  to  the  study  of  the  Bible  and  to 
Christian  holiness  of  life — what  a  blissful  time  we  should 
soon  have  !  What  a  prelude  and  pledge  of  a  better  state  of 
things!  They  might  gladly  sufler  the  world  to  call  them 
Christians,  Disciples,  Baptists,  Reformers,  as  they  pleased ; 
they  would  have  the  peace,  the  joy,  the  feast  within,  and 
would  advance  on  the  bulwarks  of  Satan,  conquering  ^nd  to 
conquer." 


THE  ATONEMENT. 


479 


He  remarks  further  :  "Your  reference  to  vital  and  funda- 
mental principles  I  approve.  But  with  regard  to  that  '  ven- 
•  erable  correspondent'  we  must  not  judge  too  soon.  I  view  it 
as  an  oversight  rather  than  an  intentional  omission,  that  he 
left  out  the  expiatory  designs  of  the  Messiah's  death.  Men  long 
addicted  to  speculative  controversy  on  Trinitarian  and  Uni- 
tarian hypotheses  are  sometimes  scared  past  Mount  Zion, 
Mount  Calvary  and  the  Mount  of  Olives.  Some  good  men 
shudder  with  such  horror  at  the  idea  of  '  placating  an  offended 
Deity,'  or  '  satisfying  dishonored  justice,'  or  '  reconciling  an 
angry  God,'  that  they  are  afraid  to  use  the  words  '  expiation,' 
'  sin-offering,'  '  atonement,'  lest  they  should  resemble  the  chil- 
dren of  Ashdod.  For  my  part,  I  am  not  so  timid.  I  believe 
that  that  venerable  correspondent  will  come  out  with  a  full 
declaration  of  faith  that  Christ  died  for  our  sins,  according 
to  the  Scriptures,  and  that  '  wi-thout  the  shedding  of  his 
blood'  God  could  not,  in  honor  or  in  truth,  have  forgiven  one 
transgression.  But  let  him  have  his  own  time  and  his  own 
manner  of  communicating  his  conceptions." 

The  "  venerable  correspondent"  referred  to  here  was 
B.  W.  Stone,  with  whom  Mr.  Campbell  was  then  dis- 
cussing the  subject  of  the  atonement.  Mr.  Campbell 
had  proposed  to  him  to  furnish  four  pages  per  month 
for  the  "  Harbinger"  in  discussing,  in  a  friendly  way, 
the  terms  "sin,"  "  sin-offering,""  atonement,""  reconcil- 
iation," etc.  Anxious  to  promote  sound  scriptural  know- 
ledtje,  and  fearincr  that  in  the  minds  of  some  there  still 
lingered  speculative  and  defective  conceptions  upon 
these  subjects,  he  thought  benefit  would  result  from 
such  an  examination  scripturally  conducted. 

Without  entering  into  the  details  of  this  discussion, 
much  of  w^hich  is  devoted  to  sin-offering  under  the  law 
and  criticisms  upon  Hebrew  terms.,  it  may  be  remarked 
that  there  seemed  to  be  an  entire  agreement  as  to  the 
effect  of  the  atonement  upon  the  believing  sinner.  Elder 


480       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL, 


Stone,  after  expatiating  at  length  on  the  designs  of  the 
death  of  Christ,  says  : 

"  It  has  been  proved  that  his  blood  purges,  cleanses,  sane-  * 
tifies,  washes  and  purifies  from  sin — that  by  it  sin  is  put  away, 
borne  away — that  by  it  we  are  justified,  pardoned,  redeemed, 
ransomed,  bought,  purchased  from  sin — by  it  we  are  pro- 
pitiated or  saved  from  enmity,  and  at-one-ed  to  God.  By  it 
— I  need  not  repeat  all  I  have  written  in  this  and  the  former 
numbers — all  these  effects  are  the  work  of  God  in  and  for  u» 
by  the  means  of  the  sacrifice  of  Christ,  and  obedient  be- 
lievers alone  are  the  subjects  of  them." 

As  it  respects,  however,  the  eflects  of  the  atonement  upon 
God  in  relation  to  his  divine  justice  or  government.  Elder 
Stone  was  not  so  clear.  He  seemed  to  think  tiiere  was  a 
want  of  Scripture  evidence  for  much  that  was  affirmed  on 
that  subject.  "  I  do  not  wish  to  be  understood,"  said  he,  '*  to 
deny  that  such  efiects  are  produced  on  God,  his  law  and 
government  by  sin-oflering,  but  that  I  cannot  believe  them 
for  want  of  divine  evidence."    "  1  deny  not,"  said  he  again, 

that  something  might  have  been  done  to  protluce  this  ellect 
on  God,  as  just  mentioned,  yet  that  something  I  find  not  re- 
corded, and  I  dare  not  be  wise  above  what  is  written.  There 
has  been  and  yet  is  a  great  deal  of  conjecture  and  speculation 
afloat  on  this  unrevealed  something,  which  I  do  consider  re- 
pugnant to  the  plain  Scriptures  of  divine  inspiration.  Yet 
he  that  believes  the  declaration  of  God  from  his  mercy-seat 
Jesus  Christ,  that  he  can  be  just  in  justifying  the  ungodly 
that  believe  in  Jesus,  and  acts  according  to  divine  direction, 
that  person  will  not  be  condemned,  tliough  he  may  not  un- 
derstand how  God  can  be  just  when  he  justifies  the  believer." 

Freely  accepting  the  full  revelation  of  Scripture  upon 
the  effects  of  the  death  of  Christ  in  respect  to  man, 
Mr.  Stone  was  cautious  of  dogmatizing  in  reference  to 
its  efiects  upon  the  divine  government;  a  point  in  re- 
lation to  which  so  little  is  really  said  in  the  Jiible,  and 
which  is  involved  in  the  incomprehensible  mysteries  of 


REMEDIAL  SYSTEM. 


43l 


the  divine  nature.  He  seemed  afraid  to  make  any 
positive  advance  in  this  direction,  and  Mr.  Campbell 
accordingly  labored  at  considerable  length  to  show  that 
the  Scriptures  were  sufficiently  explicit  upon  that  part 
of  the  subject  also  if  examined  with  candor ;  and  after 
a  clear  presentation  of  it  in  various  aspects  he  thus 
sums  up  some  of  his  conclusions : 

"  The  death  of  Christ  was  for  the  redemption  of  trans- 
gressions, and  although  he  died  as  the  Lamb  of  God  to  take 
away  the  sin  of  the  world,  yet  only  that  portion  of  mankind 
who  have  faith  in  his  blood  do  actually  derive  pardon  and 
life  through  his  death.  But  it  was  as  much  for  the  redempn 
tion  of  transgression  passed  under  the  law  as  for  the  redemp- 
tion of  transgressions  under  the  gospel  that  Christ  died; 
consequently  there  was  no  real  pardon  of  any  real  sins  in  the 
Jewish  sacrificial  system.    'The  law  made  nothing  perfect.* 

The  redemption  that  is  through  the  death  and  blood  of 
Jesus  is  necessary — that  is,  it  is  of  right  demanded ;  for  to 
exact  death  unless  justice  demanded  it  would  be  to  do  un- 
justly. It  was  necessary  that  God  might  be  just  in  forgiving 
sin.  Thus  Paul  to  the  Romans  and  to  the  Hebrews  repre- 
sents redemption  from  sin  through  the  blood  or  death  of 
Christ.  This  redemption  or  deliverance  is  what  is  usually, 
though  improperly,  called  ^  the  merits^  or  'worth*  of  his 
death.  Certainly  it  is  the  efficacy  of  his  death  ;  for  on  this 
redemption  justice  rests  its  plea  while  consenting  with  mercy 
in  forgiving  sin.  God  has  then  set  forth  the  person  and 
blood  of  his  Son  as  the  mercy-seat,  that  he  might  be  truly 
just  and  appear  so  before  the  universe,  in  forgiving  sins  com- 
mitted against  him  as  the  Lawgiver  of  all  lawful  and  moral 
intelligences. 

"  If  I  am  tedious  here,  Brother  Stone,"  he  continues,  "  it 
is  because  I  delight  to  be  tedious  upon  this  basis  of  the  basis 
of  the  whole  remedial  system.  I  pretend  not  to  fathom  the 
ocean,  nor  do  I  aim  at  comprehending  the  wonderful  ways 
ot  the  infinite  Intelligence,  but  when  God  speaks  I  must 
VOL.  n.— 2  F  41 


4-2       MEMOIRS  or  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


listen,  and  when  he  explains  himself  ii  is  a  sin  not  to  en* 
deavor  to  understand  him.  He  has  spoicen  often  and  through 
various  persons  on  this  transcendent  theme.  If  it  be  ortho- 
doxy or  heterodox}',  I  care  not ;  but  I  believe  that  man  is 
fallen  ;  that  the  wages  of  sin  is  death;  that  death  has  passed 
through  all  generations  of  man  because  all  have  sinned  ;  that 
sacrifice  has  its  origin  here  ;  that  God  sent  man  out  of  Eden 
not  clothed  with  silk  or  cotton  or  in  the  bark  of  trees,  but  in 
the  skins  of  slain  beasts;  that  all  the  blood  of  all  slain  ani- 
mals never  took  away  the  deep  stain  of  the  least  human  sin 
against  God's  law  ;  that  the  Jewish  sacrifices  and  all  divinely- 
ordained  sacrifices  were  but  the  types  of  the  sin-ofiering  of 
my  Lord  and  King ;  that  the  new  covenant  has  in  it  a  real  re- 
mission of  all  sins,  because  mediated  by  Emmanuel  and  sealed 
by  his  own  blood  ;  that  God  as  King  cannot  now  be  just  in 
forgiving  sin,  having  as  Lawgiver  said.  The  soul  that  sinneth 
shall  die^  but  through  the  death  of  his  Son.  I  moreover  be- 
lieve that  the  blood  of  Jesus  Christ  cleanses  us  from  all  sin — 
not  our  tears  and  our  penitence,  but  his  blood  ;  and  that  blood 
must  be  seen,  believed  and  acquiesced  in  according  to  God's 
own  appointed  way.  Hence  the  command,  *  Believe,  repent, 
and  be  baptized  for  the  remission  of  sins.^ 

I  admire  your  scrupulosity  about  Bible  terms  and  Bible 
ideas.  I  venerate  the  man  that  venerates  the  word  of  God. 
God  himself  honors  with  special  tokens  of  his  love  the  man 
that  trembles  at  his  word.  You  know  I  have  never  been 
solicitous  of  reputation  at  the  hands  of  a  downy  and  stall-fed 
orthodox3\  I  never  have  courted  such  popular  applause. 
Well,  then.  I  am  not  to  be  suspected  of  any  leaning  that  way. 
But  after  placing  myself  in  every  attitude  favorable  to  an 
impartial  consideration  of  all  these  great  points,  I  do,  while 
deprecating  much  of  the  unauthorized  though  consecrated 
jargon  on  trinity,  unity,  atonement,  sacrifice,  etc.,  etc.,  and 
lamenting  the  fragmentary  caricatures,  rather  than  expositions 
of  the  true  doctrine  by  weak  and  conceited  expositors  of  that 
school ;  nevertheless,  the  true  and  proper  divinity  or  godhead 
of  my  Lord  Messiah  and  the  real  sin-expiating  value  and  etfi- 


DISCUSS /ON  BENEFICIAL. 


cacy  of  his  deatli,  and  of  his  death  alone,  based  upon  his  peer- 
less worth  and  divine  majesty,  are  the  rock  of  my  salvation — 
the  basis  of  all  my  hopes  of  immortality — the  very  anchor  of 
my  soul  amidst  the  shaking  of  the  earth,  the  upheaving  of  the 
ocean  and  all  the  tumults  and  debates  of  the  people. 

"A  religion  not  honoring  God  the  Father  of  all — not  rely- 
ing upon  the  person,  mission  and  death  of  the  Word  incar- 
nate— not  inspired,  cherished,  animated  and  inflamed  by  the 
Holy  Spirit  dwelling  in  my  soul,  is  a  cheat,  a  base  counter- 
feit, and  not  that  athletic,  strong  and  invincible  thing  which 
armed  the  martyr's  soul  against  all  the  terrors  that  earth  and 
hell  could  throw  around  the  Redeemer,  his  cause  and  people." 

The  article  to  which  the  above  passage  is  a  part  of 
the  reply  closed  the  discussion,  B.  W.  Stone  deeming 
it  unnecessary  to  continue  it.  Mr.  Campbell  greatly- 
desired  to  pursue  the  subject  farther,  hoping  to  bring 
Elder  Stone  to  a  more  clear  and  definite  statement  of 
views.    He  acquiesced,  however,  in  Elder  Stone's  wish 

to  close  the  discussion,  in  reference  to  which  he  remarks  : 

♦ 

"  I  am  persuaded  it  will  not  be  without  advantage  to  the 
cause  of  Reformation  that  so  much  has  been  written  on  the 
subject  in  the  way  of  discussion — with  one,  too,  who  has 
spent  so  many  years  in  debates  and  discussions  on  that  or 
some  kindred  branch  of  the  same  subject. 

''AH  admit  the  excellency  of  the  character  of  Elder  Stone, 
however  they  may  regard  him  as  muddy  and  confused  on 
some  aspects  of  that  all-important  question.  For  my  own 
part,  I  much  desired  that,  as  he  had  ceased  from  all  teaching 
and  preaching  of  his  former  speculations  on  this  and  other 
subjects,  for  which  the  commencement  of  his  career,  some 
forty  years  ago,  was  distinguished,  he  would  also  in  writing 
have  given  a  permanent  and  full  exposition  of  those  points 
more  in  harmony  with  the  developments  and  objects  of  the 
current  reformation.  Some  of  our  readers  have  thought  he 
has  done  so,  while  others  are  of  a  contrary  opinion.  For  my 
part,  I  can  and  do  make  great  allowance  for  early  and  long- 


484       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


established  habits  of  thinking  and  speaking  on  all  religious 
questions,  and  therefore  regard  Brother  Stone  as  confiding 
in  the  sacrifice  and  death  of  Christ  as  indispensable  to  salva- 
tion, and  though  by  no  means  acquiescing  in  some  of  his  inter- 
pretations of  the  meaning  and  designs  of  the  Messiah's  death, 
I  can  bear  with  a  difierence  of  opinion  on  a  subject  so  vital, 
which  many  would  regard  as  an  insuperable  obstacle  to 
Christian  communion. 

''Men  may  and  do  hold  the  Head^  Christ,  and  his  death 
and  mediation  indispensable  to  salvation,  who,  nevertheless, 
have  very  inadequate  conceptions  of  some  of  the  aspects  of 
these  transcendent  subjects.  And  as  we  are  not  saved  by  the 
strength  and  comprehension  of  our  views,  but  from  obeying 
from  the  heart  the  apostolic  mould  of  doctrine,  more  stress 
ought  to  be  laid  upon  moral  excellence  than  upon  abstract 
orthodoxy,  especially  when  all  the  facts  and  documents  of 
Christianity  are  cordially  believed  and  cherished.  Our  bond 
of  union  is  one  Lord,  one  faith,  one  baptism,  one  body,  one 
spirit,  one  hope,  one  God  and  Father  of  all.  And  as  many 
as  walk  by  this  rule,  peace  be  on  them  and  mercy,  and  upon 
the  whole  Israel  of  God  !" 

This  friendly  discussion  of  the  atonement  with  B. 
W.  Stone  proved,  as  Mr.  Campbell  expected,  highly 
beneficial,  and  served  to  clear  up  the  subject  in  the 
minds  of  many  who  had  belonged  to  the  "Christian 
Connection,"  some  of  whom  candidly  admitted  that 
they  had  never  before  so  fully  understood  it.  Scarcely 
had  the  discussion  closed  when  B.  W.  Stone  was  stricken 
with  paralysis.  From  this,  however,  he  afterward  to 
some  degree  recovered,  and,  maintaining  still  much  of 
his  mental  vigor,  continued  to  labor  on  with  his  usual 
earnestness  for  the  cause  of  the  Bible. 

On  the  1 2th  of  October,  1840,  another  addition  was 
made  to  Mr.  Campbell's  family,  and  as  this  was  the 
tenth  daughter  he  named  her  Decima.     At  the  stated 


OPENING  OF  BBTHANT  COLLEGE.  485 


time  Bethany  College  opened,  with  about  one  hundred 
students  in  attendance.  As  professors  and  students  of 
various  grades  in  all  the  departments  were  incommo- 
diouslv  crowded  togrelher  in  the  boardincr-house  called 
the  Steward's  Inn,"  the  only  building  yet  erected,  a 
good  deal  of  confusion  marked  the  early  period  of  the 
session.  The  circumstances,  indeed,  were  very  unpro- 
pitious  for  a  fair  experiment,  especially  as  the  students 
were  strangers  to  each  other  and  to  the  facult}',  and  had 
not  been  subjected  to  the  moral  training  and  discipline 
of  the  family  department  which,  according  to  Mr.  Camp- 
bell's scheme,  was  an  important  preparation  for  college. 
With  his  usual  activity  and  energy,  however,  he  ad- 
dressed himself  to  the  work  of  moulding  the  minds  of 
the  youths  present  in  conformity  with  the  great  princi- 
ples developed  in  the  Bible.  The  sacred  volume  was 
at  once  made  the  text-book  for  the  whole  college,  and 
he  proceeded  to  develop  every  morning  to  the  entire 
class,  as  he  alone  could  do  it,  the  great  facts  which  it 
presented.  His  wonderful  power  of  presenting  these 
facts  in  their  most  extended  relations,  his  simple  yet 
comprehensive  generalizations,  opening  up  new  fields  of 
thought  and  enlarging  the  horizon  of  knowledge,  en- 
chained the  attention  of  even  the  youngest  members  of 
the  class,  and  Sacred  Histor}-  became  at  once  the 
favorite  study.  Mr.  Campbell  taught  also  the  classes 
in  Intellectual  Philosophy,  Evidences  of  Christianity, 
Moral  Science  and  Political  Economy,  and  in  the 
church  upon  the  Lord's  day  all  had  the  opportunity  of 
hearing  those  grand  developments  of  the  Divine  teach- 
ings and  institutions  which  he  presented  and  of  witness- 
ing the  simple  tbrms  of  primitive  order  and  discipline. 
His  urbanity  and  kindness  and  his  genial  manner  gave 
him  great  personal  influence  with  the  students,  and,  with 

41  » 


4S6        MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


the  earnest  co-operation  of  the  faculty,  the  affairs  of  the 
college  prospered,  so  that  in  the  month  of  May  a  very 
favorable  report  was  made  of  a  growing  and  decided 
improvement  in  all  the  departments  of  the  institution. 

"A  good  moral  influence,"  said  he,  "seems  to  be  now  in 
the  ascendant,  and  a  general  determination  on  the  part  of  the 
students  to  maintain  a  high  standard  of  moral  excellence  and 
decorum  in  all  the  details  of  social  intercourse."  .  .  .  If 
there  be  any  one  point  in  the  science  of  morals  more  than  any 
other  universally  accredited  and  enforced,  it  is  that  the  fear 
and  reverence  of  the  Lord,  sometimes  called  piety,  constitute 
the  only  infallible  foundation  of  morality  and  good  manners." 

In  the  beginning  of  the  following  session  an  influx  of 
new  students,  unruly  and  untrained,  led  to  a  renewal 
of  disturbances.  The  prompt  exercise  of  discipline, 
however,  on  the  part  of  the  faculty  at  once  restored 
order,  and  from  this  time  forward  the  labors  of  the  insti- 
tution proceeded  most  successfully  in  the  new  college 
building  erected  during  the  summer. 

It  was  thought  expedient,  in  April  of  this  year  (1841), 
by  some  of  the  disciples  in  Kentucky  to  hold  a  public 
meeting  at  Lexington,  to  which  all  religious  parties 
were  invited  in  order  to  discuss  the  question  of  Christian 
union  :  ist.  As  to  its  desirability  ;  2d.  As  to  its  practica- 
bility. The  meeting,  at  which  Mr.  Campbell  was  pres- 
ent, was  largely  attended,  though  but  few  of  other  de- 
nominations were  there,  Dr.  Fishback  being  the  only 
Baptist  minister  who  took  an  active  part  in  the  meeting. 
The  discussion  of  the  important  subject  was  continued 
for  several  days,  and  the  following  resolution  was  at  last 
passed  unanimously  : 

"  Resolved^  That  the  Bible,  and  the  Bible  alone,  is  a  suffi- 
cient foundation  on  which  all  Christians  may  unite  and  build 


MEANS  OF  REGENERATION. 


487 


together,  and  that  we  most  affectionately  invite  all  the  relig- 
ious parties  to  an  investigation  of  this  truth." 

On  the  iith  of  September  of  this  year,  Mr.  Campbell 
was  bereaved  of  another  beloved  daughter,  Maria,  the 
wife  of  R.  Y.  Henley,  who  from  childhood  had  been 
noted  for  her  seriousness,  piety  and  amiability.  Inherit- 
ing a  delicate  constitution,  she  was  snatched  away  from 
her  affectionate  husband  and  several  small  children  in 
her  twenty^-sixth  year,  but  with  patient  resignation  and 
well-founded  trust  yielded  her  meek  spirit  into  the 
hands  of  her  Saviour. 

About  this  time  Mr.  Campbell  held  a  brief  corre- 
spondence with  Elder  J.  M.  Peck  on  the  subject  of  spirit- 
ual influence.  At  the  close  of  the  discussion  of  this  sub- 
ject with  S.  W.  Lynd,  he  had  expressed  his  willing- 
ness to  discuss  the  question  with  any  Baptist  doctor,  and 
publish  the  controversy  in  a  volume  of  one  hundred  and 
fifty  or  two  hundred  pages  for  general  circulation,  as  an 
end  of  the  matter.  This  proposition  was  accepted  by 
J.  M.  Peck  of  the  "  Baptist  Banner,"  but  after  a  few 
communications  the  disputants  seemed  to  come  unex- 
pectedly to  so  close  an  agreement  that  the  discussion 
was  closed.    Mr.  Campbell  had  said  : 

^'  The  truth  is  the  instrument,  the  vieans^  and  the  Spirit 
of  God  is  the  cause  or  agent  of  regeneration.  Such  are  my 
views  on  this  great  subject.  And,  my  dear  sir,  if  you  always 
make  the  word  the  instrument  of  regeneration,  you  may 
always  expect  me  to  concur  with  you  in  saying  that  it  is  but 
the  instrument,  and  not  the  first  cause  of  a  great  spiritual 
change." 

Mr.  Peck  expressed  his  high  gratification  with  these 
distinct  statements,  regretting  that  Mr.  Campbell  had 
been  so  long  misunderstood  on  this  topic  for  want  of 
such  a  declaration.    Mr.  Campbell  then  called  his  atten- 


488       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


tion  to  the  fact  that  the  proposition  which  he  had  from 
the  ver^"  beginning  labored  to  sustain  was  precisely 
what  he  had  now  expressed — viz.  :  that  '*in  conversion 
the  Holy  Spirit  operated  through  the  truth,  and  not 
without  it,"  as  the  Baptists  had  taught.  As  Elder  Peck 
declined  to  affirm  this  dogma  of  the  Baptists,  and  en- 
deavored to  show  that  Mr.  Campbell  had  misunder- 
stood them  on  this  subject,  there  appeared  to  be  no 
longer  any  question  in  dispute,  and  Mr.  Campbell  thus 
closed  his  last  letter  : 

"  I  believe  and  teach  now,  as  I  did  thirty  years  ago,  that  the 
Father,  the  Word  and  the  Holy  Spirit  are  three  divine  names, 
indicative  of  perfect  equality  in  all  'that  is  represented  by  the 
term  God  in  its  highest,  holiest  and  supreme  import,  and  that 
this  same  divine  nature  is  severally  and  personally  ascribed  to 
them  by  all  in  heaven  and  all  the  intelligent  on  earth,  in  all 
the  great  works  of  creation,  providence  and  redemption. 

Without  this  distinction  in  the  divine  nature,  without  the 
mystery  of  divinity  exhibited  in  the  personal  relations  of 
Father,  Son  and  Holy  Spirit,  the  mystery  of  redemption  had 
been  impossible  in  conception,  design  and  execution.  God 
tlie  Father  so  loved  the  world  as  to  give  his  only  begotten 
Son  for  its  ransom  ;  '  The  Son  so  loved  the  world  as  to  give 
himself  up  to  the  death  for  us  all  ;*  and  the  Spirit  has  so  loved 
us  as  to  make  his  abode  in  our  hearts  as  the  children  of  God ; 
and  thus  the  whole  '  Godhead''^  is  fully  revealed,  admired, 
adored  in  the  mystery  of  man's  redemption. 

"  With  regard  to  the  operation  of  the  Spirit  through  the 
Word  on  sinners  and  on  saints,  while  we  strongly  affirm  the 
fact  of  his  sanctifying,  reviving,  cheering  and  saving  efficacy 
through  the  word  of  prophets  and  apostles,  we  ought  to  teach 
no  new  terms,  phrases  or  dogmata — preach  good  news  to 
sinners  and  teach  holiness  to  the  converted — teach  the  Chris- 
tians to  pray  for  the  Spirit  in  all  its  holy  influences,  and  to 
lift  up  their  voices  to  the  Lord  for  all  his  promised  aids. 
Thus  the  love  of  God  will  be  poured  out  into  their  souls  by 


POWER  IN  THE  GOSPEL. 


489 


his  Holy  Spirit  that  dv^elleth  in  them,  and  they  will  learn  to 
love  his  children  and  to  rejoice  in  hope  of  the  coming  glory. 
To  learn  that  such  are  your  views,  designs  and  practices  will 
greatly  add  to  the  esteem  I  entertain  for  you,  and  will  greatly 
encourage  me  in  pleading  for  the  sincere  and  perfect  union 
of  our  Father's  dear  children  in  order  to  the  conversion  of 
the  world. 

"  Sincerely  and  affectionately  yours,       A.  Campbell." 

In  regard  to  this  vexed  subject  of  ' '  spiritual  influence" 
there  had  really  never  been  any  just  cause  of  contro- 
versy. The  dogmatic  popular  affirmation  that  the  Holy 
Spirit  was  "poured  out"  upon  unbelievers  to  work  in 
them  regeneration  and  faith,  which  in  Mr.  Campbell's 
view  rendered  the  word  of  God  of  no  effect,  had  led 
him  to  assert  the  claims  of  the  latter  as  God's  power  to 
salvation.  He  did  not  deny  that  *'  influences"  of  various 
kinds  might  accompany  that  word,  but  on  these  he 
declined  to  enlarge,  and  was  careful  to  distinguish 
them  from  converting  -power^  which  he  conceived  to 
reside  exclusively  in  the  word  or  gospel  itself,  just  as 
the  vegetative  power  or  life  resides  in  the  seed  sown  in 
the  earth,  and  not  in  any  of  the  circumstances,  such  as 
the  sowing,  the  heat  or  the  moisture,  which  attend  its 
development.  As  the  healing  fower  of  the  physician 
is  in  his  medicine,  so  Mr.  Campbell  regarded  God's 
healing  power  as  contained  in  the  gospel,  and  forbore 
to  confound  with  it  those  influences  by  which  sinners 
are  induced  to  receive  it,  just  as  he  distinguished  the 
healing  power  of  the  physican  from  any  of  the  influ- 
ences which  might  induce  the  patient  to  take  the  medi- 
cine he  prescribed.  He  believed  in  spiritual  ministries 
of  various  kinds,  and  that  invisible  beings,  as  he  had 
said  in  his  discussion  with  Mr.  Waterman,  '*by  an  ac- 
quaintance with  our  associations  of  ideas,  our  modes  of 


490       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


reasoning,  our  passions,  our  appetites,  our  propensi- 
ties and,  by  approaching  us  through  these  avenues, 
could  lead  us  backward  or  forward,  to  the  right  or  to 
the  left,  as  their  designs  might  require.  This  is  pos- 
sible and  compatible  with  our  views  of  spiritual  influ- 
ence. It  is  more  than  possible — it  is  probable.  I 
might  advance  farther  and  say  it  is  certain  ;  for  it  has 
been  done."  These  accompanying  influences,"  how- 
ever, of  whatever  nature  they  might  be,  material  or 
spiritual,  human  or  divine,  Mr.  Campbell  regarded  as 
no  part  of  the  gospel,  and  as  adding  to  it  no  power. 

It  was  shown  by  Dr.  Richardson  about  this  time, 
in  a  series  of  essays  upon  '*  Converting  Influence," 
signed  by  some  one  of  the  letters  of  the  word  Luke^ 
that  while  the  agencies  which  induced  men  to  receive 
the  gospel  added  no  power  to  it  absolutely^  they  cer- 
tainly did  so  in  a  relative  point  of  view,  so  that  prac- 
tically the  same  effect  was  produced.  He  argued  that 
there  were  many  different  obstacles  which  prevented 
the  gospel  from  reaching  the  heart  of  the  sinner,  such 
as  ignorance,  love  of  the  world,  etc.,  and  that  the  instru- 
mentality in  each  case  must  be  adapted  to  the  nature  of 
the  obstacle  to  be  removed.  Paul  said  (2  Cor.  iv.  3,4), 
"  If  our  gospel  be  hid,  it  is  hid  by  the  perishing  things 
by  which  the  god  of  this  world  hath  blinded  the  minds 
of  them  which  believe  not,  lest  the  light  of  the  glorious 
gospel  of  Christ,  who  is  the  image  of  God,  should  shine 
unto  them."  Adopting  the  apostle's  ffgure,  it  was  shown 
that  while  opening  the  shutters  and  thus  permitting  the 
sun  to  shine  upon  a  person  in  a  dark  room  certainly 
added  no  additional  power  to  the  sun's  rays,  it  had  prac- 
tically the  same  effect  as  if  these  had  become  so  in- 
creased in  power  as  to  penetrate  the  shutters.  There 
was  thus  no  need  of  supposing  any  absolute  increase 


LABORS  INCREASED. 


491 


of  power  to  be  imparted  to  the  gospel,  since  all  that  was 
required  for  the  proper  exercis-e  of  its  power  was,  that 
the  obstacles  which  hindered  it  should  be  removed.  In 
order  to  the  accomplishment  of  this,  there  was  abundant 
room  for  both  divine  and  human  agency,  as  well  as  for 
prayer  and  persevering  effort  in  behalf  of  the  uncon- 
verted. Ignorant  as  men  necessarily  are  of  the  mys- 
teries of  spiritual  being,  there  was  no  occasion  to  ques- 
tion that  spiritual  ministries  of  various  kinds  might  be 
employed  in  guiding  men's  minds  to  a  saving  appre- 
ciation of  the  gospel,  and  that  such  ministries,  though 
superhuman ^  might  not  be  necessarily  supernatural  or 
miraculous,  but,  on  the  contrary,  perfectly  in  accord- 
ance with  the  nature  of  the  spiritual  agent,  as  well  as 
with  that  of  the  mind  itself.  As  these  varied  instru- 
mentalities, however,  added  absolutely  no  new  power  to 
the  gospel  itself,  Mr.  Campbell  was  evidently  correct  in 
continuing  to  affirm,  with  Paul,  that  the  gospel  was 
"  the  power  of  God  unto  salvation  to  every  one  that  be- 
lieveth."  It  was  also  evident  that  he  acted  wisely  and  in 
harmony  with  the  reformatory  principles  in  declining 
to  discuss  the  nature  of  the  influences  which  might  ac- 
company the  word,  as  this  evidently  belonged  to  the 
class  of  untaught  questions. 

The  establishment  of  the  college  had  greatly  increased 
Mr.  Campbell's  labors,  since,  in  addition  to  his  former 
engagements,  he  had  now  the  regular  instruction  of 
classes  to  attend  to,  as  well  as  the  affairs  of  many  of  the 
students,  who  were  constantly  applying  for  counsel  and 
assistance.  His  promptitude,  however,  and  wonderfully 
active  temperament,  seemed  to  render  everything  easy 
to  him,  and  he  never  appeared  to  lose  his  buoyancy  of 
spirits  or  to  be  unable  to  render  his  usual  hospitable  and 
personal  attentions  to  his  numerous  friends  and  visitors. 


192       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


His  hope,  however,  of  being  released  from  the  pain  of 
protracted  absences  from  home,  and  of  being  allowed  to 
devote  his  remaining  years  to  a  constant  supervision  of 
the  college,  was  not  destined  to  be  realized.  The  need 
of  means  to  erect  the  necessary  buildings  and  to  estab- 
lish the  institution  permanently,  demanded  the  active 
services  of  a  soliciting  agent,  and  such  was  the  desire 
of  the  churches  and  the  public  abroad  to  see  and  hear 
Mr.  Campbell  that  they  soon  learned  to  make  it  a  con- 
dition of  their  donations  that  he  would  visit  them  in 
person. 

During  one  of  these  trips  in  the  summer  of  1842  he 
again  visited  Kentucky  and  a  portion  of  Ohio.  At 
Lexington  he  found  the  church  erecting  the  largest 
meeting-house  in  the  State,  and  in  a  very  prosperous 
condition  under  the  care  of  Dr.  L.  L.  Pinkerton.  He 
found,  also,  that  Dr.  Fishback,  who  had  previously 
been  but  partially  connected  with  the  cause  of  the  Ref- 
ormation, had  now  given  himself  and  his  influence 
wholly  to  it. 

"  The  anxiet)^  to  hear,"  said  Mr.  Campbell  in  his  notes  of 
the  tour,  and  the  interest  taken  in  the  cause  of  Reformation, 
never  were  greater  than  at  present.  The  crowds  that  in  all 
places  overfilled  the  most  spacious  buildings,  and  the  pro- 
found attention  shown  in  the  city  and  in  the  country  amongst 
all  ranks  and  classes  of  society,  show  that  the  cause  of  Ref- 
ormation has  not  been  preached  or  heard  in  vain  amongst 
this  intelligent  and  magnanimous  community.  Within  forty 
miles  of  Lexington,  during  two  months  immediately  pre- 
ceding my  arrival,  not  less  than  one  thousand  persons  had 
been  immersed.  In  Madison,  Lincoln  and  Garrard,  they 
were  obeying  the  gospel  by  hundreds.  Even  in  Danville,  the 
metropolis  of  Presbyterian  influence,  while  I  was  laboring  in 
Woodford  and  Fayette  a  few  days,  some  forty  or  fifty  persons 
obeyed  the  Lord.    In  the  Green  River  country,  too,  the  march 


SPIRIT  OF  INVESTIGATION. 


493 


of  the  gospel  is  onward.  One  brother  informed  me  that  he 
has  within  a  few  months,  in  the  south-western  portion  of 
that  district,  immersed  some  three  hundred  and  fifty.  The 
success  of  Brothers  Johnson,  Rice  and  Elley  in  another  por- 
tion of  that  district  is,  as  usual,  rapid  and  irresistible.  People 
of  all  creeds  and  no  creeds,  of  all  manner  of  prejudices  and 
antipathies,  fraternize  and  amalgamate  under  the  broad  banner 
of  apostolic  Christianit}'." 

Deeply  impressed,  however,  with  the  importance  of  a  full 
exhibition  of  a  Christian  character,  he  adds :  But  ah  !  how 
much  is  wanting  to  bring  the  churches  up  to  the  standard  of 
Christian  piety  and  morality  !  In  personal,  domestic  and  con- 
gregational piety,  in  the  discharge  of  all  the  relative  duties  in 
the  practice  of  the  moral  and  social  excellences  of  our  re- 
ligion, how  far  yet  behind  the  models  which  the  apostolic 
records  deliver  to  us  !" 

The  rapid  increase  of  the  churches  generally,  but 
especially  in  Kentucky,  where  the  membership  was 
already  estimated  at  forty  thousand,  impressed  Mr. 
Campbell  more  and  more  with  the  responsibilities  of 
his  position,  and  with  the  vast  importance  of  a  clear 
understanding  on  the  part  of  the  churches  in  regard  to 
the  whole  subject  of  organization  and  co-operation. 
He  continued,  therefore,  his  able  series  of  essays  on 
this  topic,  in  which,  with  his  usual  freedom  of  thought 
and  earnest  desire  for  truth,  he  proposed  to  determine 
by  a  careful  induction  the  true  plan  of  scriptural  organ- 
ization. The  spirit  in  which  he  ever  sought  for  higher 
attainments  in  divine  knowledge  is  well  indicated  in 
the  following  passage  from  these  essays : 

"  It  is  always  more  or  less  detrimental  to  the  ascertainment 
of  truth  to  allow  our  previous  conclusions  to  assume  the  posi- 
tion of  fixed  and  fundamental  truths,  to  which  nothing  is  to 
be  at  any  time  added,  either  in  the  way  of  correction  or  en- 
largement.   On  the  contrary,  we  ought  rather  to  act  under 

42 


494       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL, 


the  conviction  that  we  may  be  wiser  to-day  than  yesterday,  and 
that  wliatever  is  true  can  sufier  no  hazard  from  a  careful  and 
canihd  consideration.  In  this  view  of  the  subject  I  am  accus- 
tomed to  examine  all  questions — literary,  moral  or  religious; 
because  I  am,  from  much  reflection  and  long  observation,  con- 
strained to  regard  it  as  the  only  safe  and  prudential  course." 

Candidly  admitting  the  many  evils  connected  with  a 
want  of  proper  government  on  the  part  of  the  churches, 
the  irresponsibility  of  preachers  to  the  Church  and  of 
churches  to  the  Christian  community  at  large,  he  en- 
deavored to  show  that  in  the  beginning  all  ministers 
were  called  either  by  the  Lord  in  person,  by  his  people 
or  by  his  providences,  and  that  it  was  essential  to  the 
dignity  and  efficiency  of  the  ministerial  office  that  those 
only  should  be  authorized  and  sent  out  by  the  churches 
who  had  given  full  proof  of  their  qualifications. 

While  these  essays  were  in  progress  of  publication, 
he  received  a  series  of  short,  courteous  and  extremely 
well-written  articles,  reviewing  them  and  insisting  upon 
the  importance  of  a  wise,  comprehensive  and  efficient 
church  organization.    These  articles  were  signed  A 

C  n,  and  proposed  that  the  field  from  which  the 

facts  required  for  a  just  induction  were  to  be  gathered, 
should  embrace  not  merely  the  statements  of  Scripture, 
but  tlie  well-attested  practice  of  the  age  immediately 
subsequent  to  the  apostolic.  It  was  urged  in  them  that' 
only  the  g'cnns  of  the  proper  organization  could  be 
found  in  the  Scripture,  and  that  this  alone  did  not 
furnish  sufficient  data  for  a  complete  system  of  church 
organization.  In  his  very  interesting  and  able  reply 
Mr.  Campbell  demands  the  authentic  documents  by 
which  tlie  assumed  deficiency  of  Scripture  is  to  be 
supplied  and  the  question  settled,  declaring  that  he 
had  searched  antiquity  in  vain  for  them. 


DIOCESAN  EPISCOPACY.  495 

"The  Bible  alone,"  said  he,  "  must  always  decide  every 3/^ 
question  involving  the  nature,  the  character  or  the  designs  of 
the  Christian  institution.  Outside  of  the  apostolic  canon, 
there  is  not,  as  it  appears  to  me,  one  solid  foot  of  terra  firma 
on  which  to  raise  the  superstructure  ecclesiastic.  The  foun- 
dation of  apostles  and  prophets  is  that  projected  and  ordained 
by  the  Lawgiver  of  the  universe.  On  this,  and  on  this  only, 
can  we  safely  found  the  Church  of  Jesus  Christ,  whether  we 
contemplate  its  doctrine,  its  discipline  or  its  government. 
Nothing  less  authoritative  and  divine  can  fully  satisfy  the 
conscientious  of  all  parties,  or  withstand  the  assaults  of  the 
adversaries  of  our  most  holy  faith.  Whenever  we  close  the 
apostohc  records  and  open  the  volumes  of  the  primitive 
Fathers,"  the  converts  and  successors  of  the  apostles,  as  they 
are  reverentially  designated,  we  find  ourselves  on  a  sea  of 
uncertainties,  without  a  single  haven  in  our  horizon  or  in  our 
chart." 

Mr.  Campbell's  view,  then,  was  that  the  "  germs"  of 
church  organization,  as  his  correspondent  termed  them, 
furnished  by  the  Scriptures  were  entirely  sufficient,  and 
that  the  facts  and  principles  developed  in  the  Scriptures 
needed  only  to  be  applied  according  to  the  exigencies 
of  time  and  circumstances.  He  thought,  therefore,  it 
would  be  best  to  stop  where  and  when  the  Bible  stops, 
and  to  regard  everything  beyond  its  teachings  as  mat- 
ters left  to  human  prudence  or  mere  questions  of  expe- 
diency. 

It  was  doubtless  the  benevolent  intention  of  Mr. 
Campbell's  correspondent  (who  was  readily  recognized 
as  one  of  the  most  pious  prelates  of  the  Episcopal 
Church  in  the  West),  in  laying  before  the  readers  of 
the  "  Harbinger"  the  claims  of  diocesan  episcopacy,  to 
win  over  to  his  system  of  church  organization  this  large 
and  rapidly-increasing  body  of  Reformers,  who,  as  they 
themselves  admitted,  were  suffering  from  many  of  the 


49^         MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL 


evils  connected  with  a  want  of  proper  systematic  ar- 
rangement and  co-operation.  Such  an  overture  could 
not  have  proceeded  more  appropriately  or  with  better 
prospect  of  success  from  any  other  individual  than  the 
amiable  prelate  referred  to,  for  whom  Mr.  Campbell 
had  himself  the  highest  personal  respect,  and  who  com- 
manded largely  the  sympathy  of  the  Reformers  from 
his  having  expressed  openly  his  conscientious  convic- 
tion that  immersion  alone  was  baptism,  and  who  was 
known  to  cherish  moreover  an  earnest  wish  for  a  Chris- 
tian union  of  all  parties,  which  he  seriously  thought 
could  be  most  happily  consummated  by  combining  the 
immersion  of  the  Baptists,  the  zeal  of  the  Methodists 
and  the  apostolic  succession  of  the  Church  of  England. 
Mr.  Campbell,  however,  preferring  to  this  fanciful  ec- 
clesiastic patchwork,  the  baptism,  the  zeal,  the  truth 
and  love  of  the  primitive  disciples  and  the  real  and  true 
apostles  of  Christ,  showed  clearly  that  in  the  nature  of 
the  case  the  latter  could  have  no  successors,  and  that  it 
was  long  after  the  apostolic  age  before  one  bishop  pre- 
sided over  more  than  one  church.  The  effect  of  this 
interesting  discussion  confirmed  the  view  previously 
held  by  the  Reformers,  that  bishops  and  deacons  were 
the  only  regular  officers  of  the  Christian  Church.  Mr. 
Campbell  admitted,  indeed,  that,  especially  where  the 
elders  were  numerous,  there  was  formerly,  and  should 
still  be,  one  who  acted  as  president  of  the  eldership — 
not,  indeed,  as  being  superior  in  rank,  but  merely  as 
-prwius  inter  pares. 

He,  at  this  period,  in  common  with  many  other  intel- 
ligent Reformers,  was  fearful  of  a  tendency  in  the 
Church  to  extreme  views  of  independency,  and  was 
much  alive  to  the  great  need  of  proper  co-operation. 

'*The  New  Testament,"  says  he,  "teaches  itself,  both  by 


BIBLE  SOCIETIES, 


497 


precept  and  example,  the  necessity  of  connected  and  concen- 
trated action  in  the  advancement  of  the  kingdom.  It  lays 
down  some  great  principles  and  applies  them  to  the  emergen- 
cies that  arose  in  the  primitive  times : 

"  I  St.  It  inculcates  the  necessity  of  co-operation,  and  speci- 
fies instances.  2d.  It  inculcates  the  necessity  of  two  distinct 
classes  of  officers  in  every  particular  community.  3d.  It  in- 
dicates the  necessity  of  a  third  class  of  public  functionaries, 
and  gives  examples  of  diverse  ministries.  4th.  It  exemplifies 
the  utility  and  the  need  for  special  deliberations  and  of  con- 
ventions in  peculiar  emergencies.  5th.  It  allows  not  persons 
to  send  themselves  or  to  ordain  themselves  to  office,  but 
everywhere  intimates  the  necessity  of  choice,  selection,  mis- 
sion and  ordination.  6th.  It  inculcates  a  general  superin- 
tendency  of  districts  and  cities  by  those  who  preside  over  the 
churches  in  those  districts ;  that  is,  it  makes  it  the  duty  of  a 
Christian  ministry,  by  whatever  name  it  may  be  called,  to  take 
care  of  the  common  interests  of  the  kingdom  in  those  places 
and  districts  in  which  it  is  located  and  resident.  7th.  It 
claims  for  every  functionary  the  concurrence  of  those  portions 
of  the  community  in  which  he  labors,  and  holds  him  respon- 
sible to  those  who  send,  appoint,  or  ordain  him  to  office." 

In  harmony  with  his  views  of  duty,  as  there  was  no 
organization  among  the  Reformers  for  the  circulation  of 
the  Bible,  Mr.  Campbell  had  contributed  to  both  of  the 
American  Bible  societies,  in  each  of  which  he  was  a 
member  and  life-director,  and  he  urged  the  churches  to 
send  liberal  contributions  to  William  Colgate  of  New 
York,  treasurer  of  the  American  and  Foreign  Bible 
Society,  which  had  now  undertaken  to  provide  pure 
versions  of  the  Scriptures  for  the  world. 

In  the  fall  of  1842,  Mr.  Campbell  visited  the  cities  of 
Richmond,  Baltimore,  Philadelphia  and  New  York  in 
the  interests  of  the  college,  and  obtained  important  ad- 
ditions to  its  philosophical  and  chemical  apparatus, 

VOL.  II.— 2  G  42  * 


49^       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


bought  a  thousand  volumes  for  its  librar}-  and  received 
donations  L:id  subscriptions  to  the  amount  of  $5000. 
Upon  this  tour  he  attended  the  annual  meeting  of  the 
churches  in  Lower  Virginia  at  Richmond  in  the  latter 
part  of  October,  and  that  of  the  upper  portion  at  Char- 
lottesville in  the  first  week  of  November.  He  found  the 
cause  of  the  Reformation  making  much  better  progress 
than  formerly,  owing  to  the  faithful  labors  of  the  evan- 
gelists and  elders  of  the  churches  and  the  good  influ- 
ence of  the  "  Christian  Publisher,"  conducted  at  a  con- 
siderable sacrifice  by  R.  L.  Coleman,  aided  by  the  elo- 
quent but  retiring  J.  W.  Goss.  A  number  of  additions 
were  made  at  these  meetings,  at  the  close  of  which  Mr. 
Campbell  traveled  eastward  with  R.  L.  Coleman,  w^ho 
agreed  to  accompany  him  as  far  as  Philadelphia.  So- 
journing with  the  intelligent  G.  Austin  and  his  amiable 
family  at  Baltimore,  he  delivered  several  addresses 
there,  and  was  much  pleased  wdth  the  earnestness, 
gravity  and  Christian  affection  which  were  manifested 
by  the  Church  in  the  worship  on  the  Lord's  day.  Mr. 
Coleman  remaining  for  a  few  days  at  the  request  of  the 
brethren  to  continue  the  meetings,  Mr.  Campbell  pro- 
ceeded to  his  appointment  at  Philadelphia,  where  he 
was  rejoined  by  Mr.  Coleman  on  the  following  Monday. 
Here  he  greatly  embarrassed  the  latter  by  announcing, 
at  the  close  of  his  discourse  in  the  evening,  that  Mr. 
Coleman  had  arrived  and  would  speak  alternately  with 
him  during  the  evenings  of  the  week.  Mr.  Coleman, 
accordingly,  spoke  the  next  evening,  but  having  a  very 
modest  estimate  of  his  own  ability,  and  feeling  that  the 
people  would  desire  to  hear  Mr.  Campbell,  he  took  the 
cars  for  home,  and  left  Mr.  Campbell,  as  he  said,  "to 
alternate  with  himself." 

In  Philadelphia  the  church,  now  numbering  about 


VERSIONS  OF  THE  BIBLE, 


499 


one  hundred  and  fifty,  was  meeting  in  a  comfortable 
house  at  the  corner  of  Fifth  and  Gaskill  streets.  An- 
other church  of  some  seventy  or  eighty  members  had 
also  been  organized  on  Race  street,  where  Mr.  Camp- 
bell delivered  one  discourse. 

At  New  York  he  spoke  twice  in  Washington  Hall, 
Broadway,  to  the  citizens,  and  once  to  the  brethren. 
He  spent  also  a  pleasant  evening  with  Mr.  Buchanan, 
the  British  Consul,  and  his  excellent  family.  Mr. 
Buchanan  was  noted  for  his  general  benevolence  and 
his  faithful  discharge  of  his  office,  which  he  was  about 
to  resign,  in  order  to  remove  to  Canada,  near  the  Falls 
of  Niagara.  He  was  much  attached  also  to  the  ancient 
order  of  things,  and,  though  somewhat  precise  in  some 
of  his  views,  remained  through  life  a  steadfast  friend  of 
religious  reformation.  While  in  New  York,  Mr.  Camp- 
bell called  at  the  Bible-rooms  to  visit  Elder  Babcock, 
and  took  great  delight  in  examining  the  various  versions 
of  the  Old  and  New  Testaments,  and  especially  the 
celebrated  version  of  the  whole  Bible  into  the  Burmese, 
made  by  the  eminent  missionary,  Elder  Judson.  Of 
this  he  says : 

What  a  mercy,  thought  I,  on  glancing  over  its  pic- 
turesque pages,  God  has  vouchsafed  to  these  fifteen  or  twenty 
millions  of  benighted  souls  in  whose  vernacular  the  \VORD 
OF  LIFE  is  sent  abroad  !  The  gospel  is  thus  preached,  being- 
read^  to  that  ancient  people.  How  many,  through  that  infinite 
future  yet  before  us,  may  have  reason  to  bless  God  that  Judson 
was  sent  to  their  shores  and  permitted  to  learn  their  lanjruage, 
that  he  might  make  known  to  them  the  ways  of  salvation  !'* 

On  his  return  from  New  York  he  spent  several  days 
at  Baltimore  and  Philadelphia,  and  then,  taking  the 
cars  to  Cumberland,  and  the  stage  from  thence  to 
Wheeling,  reached   home   in    safety,   and  continued 


500       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 

punctually  to  fulfill  his  college  duties  during  the  re- 
mainder of  the  session.  Near  its  close  (May  ii,  1843) 
his  family  was  increased  by  the  birth  of  another  son, 
named  William,  who  was  the  last  of  his  own  immediate 
family  of  fourteen  children,  of  whom  only  seven  were 
at  this  time  living. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 


Overtures  for  a  discussion  with  the  Presbyterians— N.  L.  Rice— Incidents  of 
the  debate-^lts  character  and  results — Mr.  Campbell's  labors. 

WHILE  on  his  visit  to  Kentucky  in  the  fall  of  1842, 
Mr.  Campbell  received  intimations  that  the  Pres- 
byterians there  had  become  quite  favorable  to  a  public 
discussion  of  the  points  of  difl'erence  between  them  and 
the  Reformers.  While  at  Richmond,  in  Madison  coun- 
ty, he  was  assured  by  the  Rev.  J.  H.  Brown  that  arrange- 
ments would  be  made  for  such  a  discussion,  and  in 
September,  after  his  return  home,  he  received  a  letter 
from  Mr.  Brown  informing  him  that  a  committee  would 
be  appointed  for  the  purpose  at  the  Synod  which  was  to 
convene  at  Maysville  on  the  13th  of  the  following  month. 
At  this  meeting,  accordingly,  John  C.  Young,  R.  J. 
Breckinridge,  N.  L.  Rice,  J.  F.  Price  and  J.  H.  Brown 
were  selected,  Messrs.  Brown  and  Rice  being  a  sub- 
committee of  arrangements.  Subsequently,  Rev.  J.  K. 
Burch,  who  had  been  Mr.  McCalla's  moderator  twenty 
years  before,  was  substituted  for  R.  J.  Breckinridge. 
Mr.  Campbell  chose  as  his  committee  President  James 
Shannon,  Dr.  J.  Fishback,  A.  Raines  and  John  Smith. 
A  long  correspondence  ensued  touching  the  affair,  and 
it  was  not  till  the  month  of  August  in  the  next  year 
(1843)  that  the  matter  was  finally  arranged.  Mr.  Camp- 
bell had  hoped  to  have  for  his  opponent  President 
Young,  of  Centre  College,  a  gentleman  distinguished 

501 


502 


MEMOIRS   OF  ALEXAXDER  CAMPBELL. 


for  his  urbanity  and  amiability,  as  well  as  lor  his  literary 
and  theological  attainments,  and  whose  position  would, 
he  thought,  give  more  weight  to  the  discussion.  Presi- 
dent Young's  health,  however,  having  tailed.  Mr.  Brown 
inlbrmed  Mr.  Campbell  in  July  that  Rev.  N.  L.  Rice, 
of  Paris,  in  Bourbon  county,  had  been  chosen  instead 
of  him.  This  selection  was  not  ver\'  agreeable  to 
Mr.  Campbell,  as  in  several  discussions  in  which  Mr. 
Rtce  had  already  engaged  with  the  Reformers  lie  had 
manifested  a  prejudiced  and  hostile  spirit,  which  Mr. 
Campbell  tliought  quite  unfavorable  to  a  calm,  Chris- 
tian-like and  satisfactory  investigation  of  the  questions 
at  issue.  As  he  was  chosen,  however,  on  the  part  of 
the  Presbyterians,  he  was  constrained  to  acquiesce. 
The  propositions  to  be  discussed  were  the  following  : 

1.  The  immersion  in  water  of  a  proper  subject  into  the 
name  of  the  Father,  the  Son  and  the  Holy  Spirit  is  the  one 
only  apostolic  or  Christian  baptism  :  Mr.  C.  ajfinns. — II.  The 
infant  of  a  beheving  parent  is  a  scriptural  subject  of  baptism  : 
Mr.  R.  affirms. — III.  Christian  baptism  is  for  the  remission 
of  past  sins:  Mr.  C.  affirms. — IV.  Baptism  is  to  be  adminis- 
tered only  by  a  bishop  or  ordained  presbyter  :  ^fr.  R.  affir???s. 
— V.  In  conversion  and  sanctification  the  Spirit  of  God  oper- 
ates on  persons  only  through  the  Word  of  truth  :  Mr.  C. 
affirms. — VI.  Human  creeds,  as  bonds  of  imion  and  com- 
munion, are  necessarily  heretical  and  schismatical :  Mr.  C. 
affirms.^^ 

The  debate  commenced  on  Wednesday,  the  15th  of 
November  (1843),  in  the  Reform  church  at  Lexington. 
Judge  Robertson  was  selected  by  Mr.  Rice  as  modera- 
tor— Colonel  Speed  Smith  by  Mr.  Campbell.  These 
selected  as  president  Honorable  H.  Clay,  who  kindly 
consented  to  act.  No  quesdon  was  to  be  discussed 
more  than  three  days  unless  by  agreement.    Each  de 


CHARACTER  OF  THE  DEBATE.  5 03 


bater  was  to  furnish  a  stenographer  and  to  have  the 
privilege  of  making  verbal  or  grammatical  changes  in 
his  report.  The  net  available  amount  resulting  from 
the  publication  of  the  debate,  it  was  agreed,  should  be 
equally  divided  between  the  two  Bible  societies. 

This  public  debate,  the  last  in  which  Mr.  Campbell 
was  ever  engaged,  continued  during  sixteen  days,  and 
excited  extraordinary  interest.  The  well-known  ability 
of  Mr.  Campbell,  the  reputation  which  Mr.  Rice  had 
already  acquired  for  readiness  in  debate,  and  the  fact 
that  both  disputants  seemed  to  have  the  endorsement  of 
the  religious  communities  to  which  thev  respectively 
belonged,  naturally  gave  to  the  discussion  a  high  de- 
gree of  importance.  At  first  it  was  contemplated  that 
several  on  each  side  should  take  part  in  it.  Mr.  Camp- 
bell, however,  preferring  single  combat,  it  was  simply 
stipulated  that  the  discussion  should  be  conducted  in 
the  presence  of  Dr.  Fishback,  President  Shannon,  John 
Smith  and  A.  Raines  on  the  part  of  the  Reformation ; 
and  President  Young,  J.  K.  Burch,  J.  F.  Price  and  J. 
H.  Brown  on  the  part  of  the  Presbyterians. 

It  would  be  out  of  place  to  attempt  to  furnish  here 
even  an  epitome  of  the  facts  and  arguments  adduced  in 
a  debate  which,  when  published  with  the  preliminary 
correspondence,  made  a  volume  of  nine  hundred  and 
twelve  closely-printed  octavo  pages.  Of  its  general 
character,  it  may  be  safely  affirmed  that  it  fully  met 
public  expectation,  presenting  avast  amount  of  interest- 
ing information,  and  as  clear  an  exposition  of  the  errors 
as  well  as  of  the  truths  involved  as  had  ever  been  pre- 
sented. The  difference  in  the  intellectual  character, 
and,  consequently,  in  the  method,  of  the  two  disputants 
became  quite  evident  from  the  very  beginning.  In  the 
discussion  of  the  very  first  proposition,  ^Ir.  Campbell's 


504       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL 


tendency  to  comprehensive  views,  and  his  skill  in  dis- 
engaging the  grand  fundamental  principles  of  things, 
became  manifest  in  his  endeavor  to  establish  the  gene- 
ral law  that  where  words  denote  sj>ecijic  actions  their 
derivatives  through  all  their  various  flexions  and  modi- 
fications retain  the  specific  meaning  of  the  root."  This 
law  he  then  applied  to  the  word  ^anzo)  {ba-pto)^  show- 
ing that  its  two  thousand  flexions  and  modifications  in 
retaining  the  radical  syllable  bap  retained  also  the  radi- 
cal idea  dip  connected  with  it. 

"  The  same,"  said  he,  holds  good  of  its  distant  neighbor 
paivu)  {raino)^  I  sprinkle.  It  has  as  many  flexions  and  nearly 
as  many  derivatives  as  bapto."  ..."  These  all  exhibit  the 
radical  syllable  rain  or  ran^  and  with  it  the  radical  meaning 
rl'rinkle.  Now,  as  it  is  philologically  impossible  to  find  bap 
m  rain  or  rain  in  bap^  so  impossible  is  it  to  find  dip  in 
sprinkle  or  sprinkle  in  dip.  Hence  the  utter  impossibility 
of  either  of  these  words  representing  both  actions.  It  is  dif- 
ficult to  conceive  how  any  man  of  letters  and  proper  reflection 
can,  for  a  moment,  suppose  that  bapto  can  ever  mean  *  sprinkle 
or  raino  *  dip,*  " 

Nor  was  his  ready  perception  of  the  resemblance  of 
relations  less  marked  in  the  illustration  he  used  in  order 
to  render  the  point  evident  to  the  apprehension  of  his 
hearers.  Referring  to  the  custom  of  the  ancient  gram- 
marians to  represent  verbs  and  their  derivatives  by  a 
tree  with  its  root,  stem  and  branches,  he  said, 

"  Agriculturists,  horticulturists,  botanists  will  fully  com- 
prehend me  when  I  say  that  in  all  the  dominions  of  vegetable 
nature,  untouched  by  human  art,  as  the  root  so  is  the  stem, 
and  so  are  all  the  branches.  If  the  root  be  oak,  the  stem  can- 
not be  ash  nor  the  branches  cedar.  What  would  you  think, 
Mr.  President,  of  the  sanity  or  veracity  of  a  backwoodsman 
who  would  afiirm  that  he  found  in  the  state  of  nature  a  tree 
whose  root  was  oak,  whose  stem  was  cherry,  whose  boughs 


SIGNIFICATION  OF  WORDS. 


were  pear  and  whose  leaves  were  chestnut?  If  these  gram- 
marians and  philologists  have  been  happy  in  their  analogies 
drawn  from  the  root  and  branches  of  trees  to  illustrate  the 
derivation  of  words,  how  singularly  fantastic  the  genius  that 
creates  a  philological  tree  whose  root  is  bapio^  whose  stem 
is  cheo.,  w^iose  branches  are  rantizo  and  whose  fruit  is  kath* 
arizol — or,  if  not  too  ludicrous  and  preposterous  for  English 
ears,  whose  root  is  dip.,  whose  trunk  is  pour.,  whose  branches 
are  sprinkle  and  whose  fruit  is  purijication  /" 

Mr.  Campbell's  opponent,  on  the  other  hand,  mani- 
fested throughout  that  he  moved  in  a  very  different 
sphere  of  thought,  and  was  disposed  to  look  at  subjects 
in  their  details,  rather  than  in  their  general  features. 
Hence,  while  Mr.  Campbell  dealt  in  comprehensive 
rules,  Mr.  Rice  occupied  himself  with  exceptions. 
While  the  former  sought  to  establish  principles,  the 
latter  tried  to  overthrow  them  by  burrowing  beneath  the 
basis  on  which  they  were  erected.  While  the  one  en- 
larged the  comprehension  of  his  hearers  and  illumi- 
nated every  subject  that  he  touched,  the  efforts  of  the 
other  served  only  to  contract  their  understandings  and 
to  involve  the  subject  in  darkness  and  confusion.  Thus 
his  reply  to  the  above  argument  of  Mr.  Campbell  was  to 
deny  the  general  rule  asserted,  and  to  adduce  the  words 

'prevent'''  and  conversation^''  as  having  changed  their 
original  meaning  while  retaining  the  radical  syllables. 
Mr.  Campbell  stated,  however,  that  these  were  words 
of  generic  and  not  of  specific  import,  and  therefore  not 
legitimately  within  the  rule,  though  even  in  these  the 
radical  syllable  still  retained  its  specific  meaning.  Mr. 
Rice  atTected  also  to  rely  greatly  upon  the  fact  that 
^uTZTiD  {bapto)  and  ^a-re^co  {baptidzo)  were  sometimes 
translated  wasA,  and  labored  to  make  it  appear  that  this 
was  iheir  pri?nary  meaning.    But  Mr.  Campbell  showed 

43 


5o6       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


them  to  be  so  used  by  a  metonymy  of  the  effect  for  the 
cause,  according  to  the  well-known  general  principles 
applying  to  all  words.  Mr.  Rice  affirming  that  the 
most  reliable  New  Testament  lexicons  gave  zvash  as 
the  primary  meaning,  this  Mr.  Campbell  refuted, 
but  upon  its  being  again  and  again  reiterated,  brought 
forward  the  celebrated  New  Testament  lexicon  of 
Stokius,  who  says  of  the  word:  "  I.  Generally  it  ob- 
tains the  sense  of  dipping  or  immersing,  without  respect 
to  water  or  any  liquid  whatever.  2.  Specially,  and  in 
its  proper  signification,  it  signifies  to  dip  or  immerse  in 
water.  This  is  the  New  Testament  sense.  3.  Tropi- 
cally, and  by  a  metalefsis^  it  means  to  wash,  to  cleanse, 
because  a  thing  is  usually  dipped  or  immersed  that  it 
may  be  washed,  that  it  may  be  cleansed.  Its  general 
sense  is  to  dip.  Its  proper  sense,  to  dip  in  water.  Its 
figurative  sense,  to  wash,  to  cleanse."  Mr.  Rice's  con- 
fusion was  such  upon  this  exposure  that  he  was  quite 
unable  to  conceal  it  from  the  audience,  and  he  in  vain 
endeavored  to  escape  from  the  dilemma  by  some  evasive 
assertions  in  regard  to  tropes. 

He  also  endeavored  to  place  Mr.  Campbell  in  a 
similar  dilemma  in  reference  to  an  assertion  he  had 
made  that  no  translator,  ancient  or  modern,  ever  ren- 
dered jiar.Tio  {bapto),  or  any  of  that  family  of  words, 
lo  sfj'inkle.  Mr.  Rice,  in  reply,  brought  up  a  passage 
(Rev.  xix.  13)  which  reads,  in  the  common  version, 
"  He  was  clothed  with  a  vesture  dipped  in  blood,"  the 
Greek  word  for  "  dipped "  in  every  early  manuscript 
known  being  in  this  place  ^z^auiiv^ov  {bebammenon) . 
Mr.  Rice  showed  that  in  the  ancient  Syriac  version  the 
passage  was  rendered  so  as  to  read  in  English,  "He 
was  clothed  with  a  vesture  sprinkled  with  blood."  He 
adduced  also  the  ^  ulgate,  which  rendered  the  passage 


TRUTHFUL  INDUCTION. 


in  the  same  manner.  In  addition  he  adduced  Origen, 
who,  in  quoting  the  passage  almost  verbatim,  used 
^avTcf^io  {rantizo)  instead  oi  ^anzo)  {bapto).  He  further 
confirmed  the  correctness  of  the  rendering  sprinkle  by 
referring  to  the  sixty-third  chapter  of  Isaiah,  to  which 
the  passage  in  question  evidently  has  relation,  and  where 
the  conqueror  says,  ''Their  blood  shall  be  sprinkled 
upon  my  garments."  This,  it  must  be  confessed,  seemed 
quite  a  strong  case,  but  so  firmly  was  Mr.  Campbell 
persuaded  that  neither  bapto  nor  its  derivatives  could 
justly,  in  any  case,  be  rendered  sprinkle,  that  he  ven- 
tured to  assert,  what  indeed  had  been  formerly  con- 
jectured by  Dr.  Gale  that,  in  this  place,  there  must 
have  been  in  the  manuscript  from  which  Origen  quoted, 
and  from  which  the  Syriac  version  was  made,  a  differ- 
ent reading  {crrantisnienon^  instead  of  bebammenon)  ^ 
which  Jerome,  the  author  of  the  Vulgate,  had  adopted. 
Although  no  manuscript  then  known  gave  this  reading, 
Mr.  Campbell  inferred  that  there  must  have  been  such 
a  reading  from  the  fact  that,  in  all  the  three  translations 
adduced,  it  occurred  in  the  same  passage,  the  last  oc- 
currence of  the  word  in  the  book.  The  corresponding 
passage  in  Isaiah  also  confirmed  him  in  the  opinion 
that  the  idea  of  sprinkling  had  been  derived  from  the 
language  of  the  prophet  by  Origen  and  the  version 
from  which  he  quoted.  He  insisted,  therefore,  that, 
with  so  much  probability  of  a  different  reading,  Mr. 
Rice  was  logically  bound  to  show  that  the  word  bebam- 
menon  was  actually  in  the  manuscript  quoted  by  Origen, 
as  well  as  in  the  one  from  which  the  Syriac  version  was 
made.  This  being  impossible,  Mr.  Rice's  argument 
was  shown  to  be  logically  inconclusive. 

It  was  not,  however,  merely  to  rebut  his  opponent's 
reasoning  that  Mr.  Campbell  took  this  ground.    In  all 


5oS       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL, 


his  writings  and  discussions  he  failed  not  to  manifest 
that  spirit  of  truthful  investigation  which  had  guided 
him  from  the  beginning.  Mr.  Rice,  seemingly  in- 
capable of  appreciating  either  Mr.  Campbell's  position 
on  the  disputed  passage,  or  of  imitating  the  truth-loving 
spirit  of  investigation  which  it  implied,  continued  for 
some  time  to  make  the  most  of  his  supposed  discovery 
of  an  exception  to  Mr.  Campbell's  universal  rule,  and 
to  bring  up  the  matter  again  and  again. 

"Although  Mr.  Campbell  has  said  and  published,"  said  he, 
*'  that  no  translator,  ancient  or  modern,  ever  rendered  any 
of  this  family  of  words  to  sprinkle,,  I  have  proved  that  the 
translators  of  the  venerable  Syriac,  the  old  Ethiopic  and  the 
Vulgate  (all  of  whom,  according  to  him,  were  immersionists) 
did  so  translate  bapto.  But  he  says,  *  There  must  have  been 
a  ditlerent  reading.'  Where  is  the  evidence.?  Is  there  any 
one  copy  of  the  New  Testament  found  in  all  the  searching  for 
old  manuscripts  which  presents  a  different  reading.?  There 
is  not  one  I  Why,  then,  contend  for  a  diflerent  reading? 
Simply  because  the  claims  of  immersion  demand  it." 

Such  was  yir.  Rice's  charitable  estimate  of  his  op- 
ponent's integrity  that  he  supposed  him  capable  of 
contending  for  a  different  reading  not  in  the  interest  of 
truth,  but  merely  "because  the  claims  of  immersion 
demanded  it."  Providence,  however,  has  already  sin- 
gularly verified  the  postulate  assumed  by  Mr.  Camp- 
bell, and  exposed  the  fallacy  through  which  "sprinkle" 
was  sought  to  be  interpolated  as  a  proper  or  possible 
rendering  of  bapto.  On  the  4th  day  of  February,  1859, 
the  learned  Tischendorf,  who  was  engaged  in  Oriental 
researches,  happened  to  be  sojourning  at  the  monastery 
of  St.  Catherine  at  Mount  Sinai.  Returning  from  a 
walk  in  company^  with  the  steward,  the  latter,  upon 
reaching  his  chamber,  placed  before  the  traveler,  for 


CONFIRMATION  OF  TRUTH. 


his  examination,  a  basket  of  ancient  manuscripts. 
Among  these,  to  his  surprise  and  delight,  he  found  a 
complete  copy  of  the  New  Testament  on  vellum,  which 
proved  to  be  one  of  the  very  oldest  and  most  authentic 
manuscripts  in  the  world,  rivaling  even  the  famous 
Codex  Vatlcanus.  This  precious  apograph,  published 
in  1865  by  Tischendorf,  gives  in  Rev.  xix.  13,  Tztin^E^hj- 
fiii'O^  [/jdzcou  Tteffefjeffa/u/iiuuu  dc/iaTe,  clothed  with  a  ves- 
ture sprinkled  over  with  blood — perirerammenon 
being  here  used  instead  of  bebammenon^  the  word 
found  in  other  MSS.  Thus,  Mr.  Campbell's  position 
that  there  was  a  different  reading  was  shown  to  be 
entirely  correct,  the  or di  perirerammenon^  from  raino^ 
to  sprinkle,  and  fej'i^  over,  signifying  ''sprinkled  over,** 
being  employed,  thus  proving  the  accuracy  of  the 
Syriac  version,  and  rescuing  bebammenon  from  the 
hands  of  those  who  sought  to  impose  upon  it  a  false 
rendering  to  suit  their  purposes.* 

*  This  interesting  fact  serves  to  show  how  consistent  truth  is  ever  with 
itself,  and  it  illustrates  also  the  principle  so  often  acted  on  in  scientific  and 
legal  investigations,  that  by  means  of  knmun  facts  unknown  facts  may  be  dis- 
covered.  From  the  fact  that  various  readings  of  Scripture  existed,  that  the 
word  "  sprinkled"  was  used  in  the  related  passage  of  Isaiah,  and  especially 
because  it  would  have  been  a  singular  anomaly  if  bapto  could  in  any  case  be 
rendered  sprinkle^  it  was  truly  inferred  that  in  the  original  manuscript  the 
word  used,  Rev.  xix.  13,  was  not  bebammenon^  but  one  that  really  signified  to 
sprinkle.  In  like  manner,  Leverrier,  from  certain  disturbances  in  the  move- 
ments of  the  planets,  conjectured  that  there  must  exist,  at  a  certain  distance 
beyond  the  most  distant  planet  known,  another  heavenly  body  of  a  certain 
magnitude,  whose  attractions  could  alone  explain  these  perturbations;  and 
this  conclusion  was  no  sooner  reached  than  a  German  astronomer,  directing 
his  telescope  to  the  quarter  of  the  heavens  indicated,  found  there  the  planet 
Nkptune,  previously  unknown,  but  precisely  answering  all  the  conditions  of 
the  problem.  It  should  be  remarked  also  that,  in  all  such  cases,  while  the 
verification  of  the  conjecture  adds  to  the  sum  of  human  knowledge,  it  pos- 
sesses also  the  reflex  power  of  imparting  an  absolute  confirmation  to  the  data 
from  which  the  fact  had  previously  been  deduced.  Hence,  while  the  result, 
in  the  case  of  Rev.  xix.  13,  exposes  the  falsity  of  the  assumption  upon  which 

43  » 


5IO       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL, 


It  cannot  be  justly  denied  that  throughout  the  dis- 
cussion Mr.  Rice  manifested  acuteness  and  ingenuity 
in  bringing  forward  whatever  could  yield  the  slightest 
support  to  his  cause,  or  that  his  efforts  produced  occa- 
sionall}^  a  marked  impression  on  the  audience.  Hav- 
ing a  musical  voice  and  a  pleasant  countenance,  with 
brilliant  black  eyes  and  hair,  a  confident  and  positive 
manner  and  an  agonistic  style  of  gesticulation,  he  was 
well  fitted  to  command  attention.  Having  also  a  large 
portion  of  the  audience  in  favor  of  his  propositions,  he 
received  from  them  numerous  manifestations  of  sympa- 
thy and  approval,  which  were  supposed  by  many  to 
have  been  even  preconcerted  for  the  purpose  of  manu- 
facturing public  opinion.  If  such  were  the  purpose  of 
the  actors  in  the  case,  there  is  not  the  slightest  evidence 
that  Mr.  Rice  instigated  such  proceedings,  though  his 
manner  and  language  during  the  discussion  were  plainly 
calculated  to  encourage  manifestations  of  applause  and 
merriment,  which  it  was  his  duty  to  repress  as  especially 
unbecoming  in  the  discussion  of  serious  subjects.  His 
remarkable  fluency  of  speech,  superior  talent  for  man- 
aging minute  details,  his  consummate  art  in  presenting 
false  issues  and  evading  the  true  ones,  gave  him  great 
influence  over  the  minds  of  those  unskilled  in  the  de- 
tection of  fallacious  reasoning.  He  seldom  indeed  ap- 
peared to  rise  to  the  dignity  of  the  subject,  and  both 
his  arguments  and  his  expressions  were  often  of  an  ad 
caftanduin  character.  The  characteristic  and  worst 
features  of  his  speeches  were,  however,  the  ^personal 
bearing  and  the  hostile  spirit  w^hich  he  imparted  to 
them.    He  had  gathered  upon  his  table  many  volumes 

Mr.  Rice  insisted  that  sprinkle  was  one  of  the  meanings  of  bapto,  it  also  de- 
monstrates the  truth  ot  the  premises  from  which  Mr.  Campbell  argued,  show- 
ing that  in  no  case  can  bapto  or  any  of  its  derivatives  be  so  rendered. 


DISPUTANTS  CONTRASTED. 


5" 


of  Mr.  Campbell's  works,  and  seemed  to  take  an  es- 
pecial pleasure  in  quoting  and  referring  to  his  writings, 
so  as  to  make  him  appear  inconsistent  or  place  him  in 
an  unfavorable  light  before  the  audience,  rather  than 
in  discussing  the  propositions  upon  their  own  merits. 
This  course  gave  to  the  entire  discussion  a  certain 
degree  of  asperity  and  acrimony,  and  fostered  on  the 
part  of  the  audience  those  personal  and  denominational 
feelings  and  prejudices  which  should  rather  have  been 
allayed. 

These  feelings  indeed  ran  very  high  at  times,  and 
gave  rise  to  amusing  incidents.  Two  ladies  in  the 
gallery  were  earnestly  engaged  in  maintaining  the 
merits  of  their  respective  disputants.  ''Ah,"  said  one 
of  them  to  the  other  as  a  closing  and  convincing  argu- 
ment, "you  can  easily  see  that  Mr.  Rice  is  by  far  the 
most  learned  man.  Just  see  how  many  books  he  has 
upon  his  table,  while  Mr.  Campbell  has  hardly  any." 
*'  But  you  don't  appear  to  know,"  retorted  the  other, 
*'  that  the  books  on  Mr.  Rice's  table  w^ere  written  by 
Mr.  Campbell."  On  another  occasion,  after  dismission, 
a  Mr.  Irwin  of  Madison  county,  a  warm  friend  of  Mr. 
Campbell,  was  complaining  of  poor  health,  and  re- 
marked that  he  had  not  eaten  anything  for  a  number 
of  days.  "  Ah,"  said  Colonel  Speed  Smith,  jocularly, 
*'  you  have  been  feeding  on  camel"  (Campbell).  "  Not 
so,"  said  the  Presbyterian  preacher,  Mr.  Brown,  who 
was  also  from  Madison,  I  believe  he  has  been  living 
on  rice  (Rice)  during  these  days."  "If  so,"  rejoined 
Colonel  Smith,  "  he  has  been  living  on  extremely 
light  diet:' 

The  disputants  indeed,  throughout,  presented  quite  a 
contrast  as  to  their  weight  of  metal  and  modes  of 
warfare.    The  one  was  like  the  light-armed  Saracen 


512       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


circling  round  and  round  his  opponent  upon  his  fleet 
courser,  and  stealthily  endeavoring  to  wound  him  with 
his  arrows.  The  other  was  the  mailed  Crusader  upon 
his  powerful  charger,  calmly  receiving  the  missiles  upon 
his  shield  or  seeking  to  prostrate  his  enemy  with  a 
blow  of  his  battle-axe.  Or,  as  was  pictured  at  the  time 
in  an  Episcopal  paper,  the  *'  Protestant  Churchman,** 
"  Mr.  Campbell  was  like  a  heavy  Dutch-built  man- 
of-war,  carrying  many  guns  of  very  large  calibre ; 
whilst  Mr.  Rice  resembled  a  daring  and  active  Yankee 
privateer,  who  contrived,  by  the  liveliness  of  his  move- 
ments and  the  ease  with  with  which  he  could  take  up 
his  position  for  a  raking  fire,  to  leave  his  more  cumbrous 
adversary  in  a  ver}^  crippled  condition  at  the  close  of 
the  fight."  This  crippled  condition,"  however,  was 
merely  a  slight  damage  in  the  sails  and  rigging,  if  we 
may  continue  a  figure  which  most  incorrectly  represents 
Mr.  Campbell  as  deficient  in  alertness  or  mobility  of 
mind,  a  quality  in  which  he  excelled.  Mr.  Rice,  who 
had  rummaged  Mr.  Campbell's  writings,  in  order  to 
cull  from  thence  whatever  could  serve  his  purpose,  did 
not  fail  to  make  good  use  of  those  philosophical  distinc- 
tions and  disquisitions  in  relation  to  "  moral,  spiritual 
and  physical  power,"  etc.,  which  Mr.  Campbell  had 
employed  in  some  of  his  discussions,  and  which  had 
opened  a  door  to  speculation  and  misrepresentation  in 
the  discussion  of  the  proposition  relating  to  the  influ- 
ence of  the  Holy  Spirit.  Mr.  Rice  therefore  adduced 
these  expressions  and  reasonings  for  the  purpose  of 
involving  Mr.  Campbell  in  inconsistency  and  proving 
his  doctrine  to  be  erroneous.  His  effort,  however,  only 
caused  Mr.  Campbell  to  appear  to  greater  advantage, 
since  it  elicited  from  him  the  following  noble  acknow- 
ledgment : 


HENRT  CLAT  CAPTIVATED. 


"  I  do  not  shrink  from  the  discussion  of  anything  I  have 
ever  written  on  this  subject.  Yet  it  would  be  more  than 
human,  more  than  mortal  man  has  yet  achieved,  if  in  twenty 
years*  writing,  and  in  issuing  one  magazine  of  forty-eight 
octavo  pages  every  month,  written  both  at  home  and  abroad, 
in  steamboats,  hotels  and  in  the  houses  of  my  private  friends 
and  brethren,  I  should  have  so  carefully,  definitely  and  con- 
gruously expressed  myself  on  every  occasion  on  these  much 
controverted  subjects  as  to  furnish  no  occasion  to  our  adver- 
saries to  extract  a  sentence  or  a  passage  which,  when  put  into 
their  crucible  and  mixed  with  other  ingredients,  might  not  be 
made  to  appear  somewhat  different  from  itself  and  myself 
and  my  other  writings.  To  seal  the  lips  of  caviling  sec- 
tarians and  captious  priests  is  a  natural  impossibility.  The 
Great  Teacher  himself  could  not,  at  least  he  did  not,  do  it."* 

Mr.  Campbell's  opening  address  of  an  hour  in  the 
debate  on  the  influence  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  has  been 
greatly  and  deservedly  admired  for  its  beauty  of  diction, 
its  clearness  of  statement  and  its  power  of  argument. 
It  was  remarked  that  Henry  Clay,  who  had  been  very 
careful  to  avoid,  previously,  the  slightest  appearance  of 
favoring  either  disputant,  was  so  captivated  by  it  as,  for 
a  time,  to  forget  himself.  A  gentleman  well  acquainted 
with  him'noticed  that,  soon  after  Mr.  Campbell  began, 

*  Somewhat  similar  was  the  language  of  Luther  when,  before  the  emperor 
and  princes,  he  was  called  upon  to  say  whether  he  would  recant  or  defend 
the  doctrine  he  had  taught.  After  refusing  to  retract  anything  he  had  written 
on  faith  and  good  works  and  against  popery,  he  added  :  "  In  the  third  and  last 
place,  I  have  written  some  books  against  private  individuals  who  have  under- 
taken to  defend  the  tyranny  of  Rome  by  destroying  the  faith.  I  freely  confess 
I  may  have  attacked  such  persons  with  more  violence  than  was  consistent 
with  my  profession  as  an  ecclesiastic  I  do  not  think  of  myself  as  a  saint, 
but  neither  can  I  retract  those  books,  because  I  should  by  so  doing  sanction 
the  impieties  of  my  opponents.  ...  As  I  am  a  mere  man  and  not  God,  I  will 
defend  myself  after  the  manner  of  Jesus  Christ,  who  said,  '  If  I  have  spoken 
evil,  bear  witness  against  me.'  John  xviii.  23.  How  much  more  should  I, 
who  am  but  dust  and  ashes  and  so  prone  to  error,  desire  that  every  one 
should  bring  forward  what  he  can  against  my  doctrine  !" 
VOL.  II.— 2  H 


SH       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


he  became  unusually  attentive,  and  that,  as  the  subject 
became  unfolded  and  successive  arguments  were  pre- 
sented, he  leaned  forward  and  began  to  bow  assent, 
waving  his  hand  at  the  same  time  in  that  graceful,  ap- 
proving manner  peculiar  to  him.  While  the  gentleman 
was  observing  this  with  some  surprise,  as  he  had  never 
before,  except  upon  one  occasion,  found  ]Mr.  Clay  to  be 
so  carried  away  by  a  public  speaker,  the  latter,  suddenly 
recollecting  himself,  drew  himself  back  and  looked 
around  to  see  if  any  one  had  noticed  him  thus  off  his 
guard.  The  address,  as  it  appears  in  the  printed  debate, 
affords  abundant  evidence  of  its  power.  high  dig- 
nitary in  the  Episcopal  Church,  writing  soon  after  in 
the  "  Protestant  Churchman,"  thus  spoke  of  it  and  of 
the  disputants : 

"With  the  exception  of  a  few  unguarded  expressions,  and 
that  he  affirms  a  universal  where  only  a  general  can  be 
proved,  Mr.  Campbell's  affirmative  argument  on  the  point 
that '  the  Holy  Spirit  in  conversion  and  sanctification  operates 
only  through  the  Word  '  is  one  of  the  most  splendid  specimens 
of  eloquent  reasoning  I  ever  remember  to  have  read.  So, 
also,  apply  to  over-expanded  creeds — the  Westminster  Con- 
fession, for  instance — what  he  recklessly  charges*  upon  all 
creeds,  and  more  thrilling  or  magnificent  declamation  can 
hardly  anywhere  be  found  than  that  interwoven  in  the  closing 
debate."  After  referring  to  other  specimens  of  Mr.  Camp- 
bell's lofty  and  powerful  argumentation,  he  adds,  Mr.  Rice 
is  wholly  incapable  of  this  sort  of  thing.  His  imagination  is 
as  barren  as  the  surface  of  granite." 

In  the  affirmative  of  the  proposition  that  *'  the  infant 
of  believing  parents  is  a  scriptural  subject  for  baptism,** 
Mr.  Rice  assumed  the  usual  position  of  the  identity  of 
the  Jewish  and  Christian  institutions  or  churches,  and, 
forbearing  to  insist  upon  the  argument  that  baptism 
came  in  room  of  circumcision,  dwelt  upon  the  com- 


FALSE  IMPRESSIONS. 


mission  to  the  apostles  as  requiring  them  to  disciple  the 
nations  by  teaching  and  baptizing,  asserting  that  teach- 
ing did  not  necessarily  precede  baptism,  and  that  the 
commission  was  fulfilled  if  children  were  baptized  first 
and  taught  afterward  !  With  all  his  arts  of  sophistry, 
however,  he  could  not  succeed  in  makin«r  even  a 
plausible  det'ence  of  a  proposition  which,  as  Mr.. Camp- 
bell showed,  had  not  a  particle  of  scriptural  evidence  to 
su5?tain  it.  Nor  was  he  at  all  more  successful  in  the  at- 
tempt to  prove  the  fourth  proposition,  that  "baptism  is 
to  be  administered  only  by  a  bishop  or  ordained  pres- 
byter," for  which,  indeed,  he  did  not  pretend  to  produce 
a  single  scriptural  authority.  It  was  in  the  discussion 
of  the  last  proposition  in  reference  to  "  human  creeds 
as  bonds  of  union  and  communion "  that  he  labored 
with  the  greatest  assiduity,  and,  it  must  be  admitted, 
with  the  greatest  temporary  efTect.  Ingeniously  availing 
himself  of  the  cases  in  which  considerable  difference 
of  sentiment  had  been  tolerated  amongst  the  Reformers, 
and  of  Mr.  Campbell's  candor  in  acknowledging  occa- 
sionally in  his  writings  the  existing  deficiencies  amongst 
his  brethren,  he  managed,  by  exaggerating  these  and 
by  n>eans  of  incorrect  statements,  imaginary  cases  and 
feigned  issues,  to  create,  for  a  time,  the  impression  upon 
some  even  who  had  been  opposed  to  creeds  that  they 
were  by  no  means  so  injurious  or  unnecessary  as  had 
been  supposed.*  In  his  attempt  to  excite  religious  fears 

*  Mr.  Rice  descanted  largely  upon  the  case  of  Dr.  Thomas  as  an  evidence 
of  the  looseness  of  belief  among  the  disciples,  and  of  the  necessity  for  a  creed 
in  order  to  the  detection  of  errorists,  although  the  repudiation  of  Dr.  Thomas 
and  his  speculations  by  the  Reformers  was  in  reality  a  clear  proof  of  the 
sufficiency  of  the  Sa-iptures  for  "  reproof"  and  for  "  correction,"  as  well  as 
for  "instruction"  in  "righteousness."  He  magnified  also  certain  differences 
in  opinion  between  Mr,  Raines  and  Dr.  Fishback  wth  regard  to  the  degrees 
of  human  depravity.    He  seemed  particularly  desirous,  however,  of  attaching 


5l6       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


and  prejudices  upon  this  subject  he  was  greatly  aided 
by  the  circumstance  that  Mr.  Campbell's  view  of  the 
true  grounds  of  Christian  union  was  so  far  in  advance 
of  the  age  as  not  to  be  yet  really  and  fully  understood 
by  the  community  in  general.  In  repelling,  therefore, 
the  false  imputations  and  consequences  upon  which  Mr. 

the  stigima  of  Unitarianism  to  B.  W^.  Stone  and  those  with  him  who  had 

engaged  in  the  reformatory  movement. 

B.  W.  Stone,  now  near  the  close  of  his  life,  having  been  informed  by  A* 
Kendrick  that  Mr.  Rice  had  publicly  charged  him  with  being  a  "  Unitarian 
who  made  the  Saviour  a  mere  man — a  created  being,"  and  who  "  openly  de- 
nied the  divinity  of  Christ,"  answered  Mr.  Kendrick  as  follows  in  reference 
to  the  matter:  "Now  I  reply  for  the  last  time  (so  I  now  think)  that  at  no 
time  in  my  long  life  did  I  ever  believe  these  doctrines ;  I  never  taught  them 
either  publicly  or  privately,  from  the  pulpit  or  the  press.  I  am  bold  to  say 
no  man  ever  heard  them  from  me,  or  read  them  in  any  of  the  essays  I  have 
written  and  published  on  the  doctrine  of  Chri.st  ...  It  is  well  known  to 
all  that  know  me  that  I  differed  from  the  Presbyterians  on  the  speculations 
in  their  Confession  of  Faith  on  the  Trinity  when  I  was  a  Presbyterian.  Yet 
was  I  unanimously  ordained  by  the  Presbytery  and  held  in  communion  by 
them.    I  was  never  charged  with  these  things  until  I  withdrew  from  them." 

After  recapitulating  briefly  his  belief  in  the  distinction  between  the 
Father  and  the  Son  in  the  words  in  which  the  Scripture  reveals  it,  he  goes 
on  as  follows :  "  Just  before  he  ascended,  the  Son  prayed  to  the  Father  to 
glorify  him  with  himself  with  the  glory  he  had  with  him  before  the  world 
was.  This  with  many  other  texts  proves  that  the  Son,  or  Logos,  existed  in 
glory  with  the  Father  before  the  world  was — before  all  created  things  in  the 
universe  ;  without  him  was  not  one  thing  made  that  is  made. 

"  This  glorious  being  is  the  Son  of  God,  the  only  begotten  Son  of  God, 
and  therefore  divine  :  the  children  of  men  are  human,  because  begotten  and 
born  of  human  parents  ;  so  is  the  Son  of  God  divine,  because  begotten  of  the 
divine  Father.  ...  I  believe  the  Father  sent  the  Son  to  be  the  Saviour  of 
the  world,  that  whosoever  believeth  on  him  might  not  perish,  but  have  ever- 
lasting life.  I  believe  that  all  power  and  authority  in  heaven  and  earth  are 
given  unto  him,  and  that  he  is  able  to  save  to  the  uttermost  all  that  come  to 
God  by  him  ;  that  in  him  are  all  the  treasures  of  wisdom  and  knowledge  ;  that 
it  pleased  the  Father  that  in  him  should  all  fullness  dwell— the  fullness  of  the 
Godhead,  the  fullness  of  the  Spirit,  the  fullness  of  grace  and  salvation.  When 
we  see  him  we  see  the  Father — his  image,  his  character,  his  glory  and  per- 
fection. Let  me  lose  life  before  I  would  detract  from  my  Lord  one  ray  of  his 
glory.  To  him  that  sitteth  on  the  throne  and  to  the  Lamb  be  everlasting 
praise  !    Amen  !  B.  W.  Stone." 


OBJECTION  TO  CREEDS.  517 


Rice  was  pleased  to  descant,  Mr.  Campbell  took  occa- 
sion to  state  again,  in  various  forms,  the  real  principles 
of  the  Reformation  and  to  maintain  their  correctness 
and  their  necessity  for  Christian  union. 

We  all  see,"  said  he,  "  that  Christendom  is  at  present  in 
an  agitated,  dislocated  condition — cut  up  or  frittered  down  into 
sects  and  parties  innumerable,  wholly  unwarranted  by  right 
reason,  pure  religion,  the  Bible,  the  God  of  the  Bible.  Be- 
fore the  high  and  holy  and  puissant  intelligences  of  the  earth 
and  heaven  this  state  of  things  is  most  intolerable.  I  have 
for  some  five-and-twenty  years  regarded  creeds  as  both  the 
cause  and  effect  of  party  ism  and  the  main  perpetuating  cause 
of  schism,  and  have  remonstrated  and  inveighed  against  them. 
Not  like  many  who  oppose  creeds  because  they  first  oppose 
their  peculiar  tenets,  we  opposed  them  on  their  own  demerits, 
and  not  because  they  opposed  us.  In  this  particular  at 
least,  if  on  no  other  account,  we  differ  from  the  great  majority 
of  those  who  oppose  them  :  because  old  parties  were  sustained 
by  them,  because  they  made  new  parties,  and  because  they 
were  roots  of  bitterness  and  apples  of  discord,  we  opposed 
them. 

"  In  lieu  of  them  all  we  tendered  the  book  that  God  gave 
us.  We  regard  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  as  King,  Lord,  Law- 
giver and  Prophet  of  the  Church,  and  well  qualified  by  the 
power  of  the  Holy  Spirit  to  give  us  all  a  perfect  volume — one 
in  substance  and  form  exactly  adapted  as  he  would  have  it 
for  just  such  a  family  as  the  great  family  of  man,  if  we  be- 
lieve the  Lord  Jesus  was  wiser  and  more  benevolent  than  all 
his  followers  in  their  united  wisdom  and  benevolence,  and 
that  he  could  and  would  give  them  such  a  book  as  they 
needed.  It  is  both  the  light  of  salvation  and  the  bond  of 
union  amongst  the  saved.  We  abjure  creeds  simply  as  sub- 
stitutes— directly  or  indirectly  substitutes — for  the  book  of  in- 
spiration. In  other  respects  we  have  no  objection  whatever 
to  any  people  publishing  their  tenets  or  views  or  practices  to 
the  world.    I  have  no  more  objection  to  writing  my  opinions 

44 


5l8       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL, 


than  to  speaking  them.  But,  mark  it  well,  it  is  the  making 
of  such  compends  of  views,  in  the  ecclesiastic  sense,  creeds 
(that  is,  terms  of  cofjimunion  or  bonds  of  tin  ton) — I  say 
again,  as  ecclesiastic  documents,  as  terms  of  exclusion  and 
reception  of  members,  we  abjure  them.  .  .  .  Our  sin,  in  the 
eyes  of  all  devoted  to  them,  is,  that  we  substitute  for  them 
the  new  covenant  as  our  church  covenant,  and  the  apostolic 
writings  as  our  Christian  creeds  believing  all  things  in  the 
law  and  in  the  prophets. 

'•We  preach  in  the  words  of  that  book  the  gospel  as  pro- 
mulgated by  the  apostles  in  Jerusalem.  We  use  in  all  im- 
portant matters  the  exact  words  of  inspiration.  We  command 
all  men  to  believe,  repent  and  bring  forth  fruits  worthy  of 
reformation.  We  enjoin  the  same  good  works  commanded 
by  the  Lord  and  by  his  apostles.  We  receive  men  of  all 
denominations  under  heaven,  of  all  sects  and  parties,  who 
will  make  the  good  confession  on  which  Jesus  Christ  builded 
his  Church.  We  propound  that  confession  of  the  faith  in  the 
identical  words  of  inspiration,  so  that  they  who  avow  it  ex- 
press a  divine  faith  and  build  upon  a  consecrated  foundation — 
a  well-tried  corner-stone.  On  a  sincere  confession  of  this 
faith  we  immerse  all  persons,  and  then  present  them  with 
God's  own  book  as  their  book  of  faith,  piety  and  morality. 
This  is  our  most  obnoxious  oftence  against  the  partyism  of 
this  age. 

"  On  this  ground  many  of  us  have  stood  for  many  years. 
We  have  fully  tested  this  principle.  Men,  formerly  of  all 
persuasions  and  of  all  denominations  and  prejudices,  have 
been  baptized  on  this  good  confession  and  have  united  in  one 
community.  x\mongst  them  are  found  those  who  have  been 
Romanists,  Episcopalians,  Presbyterians,  Methodists,  Bap- 
tists, Restorationists,  Qiiakers,  Arians,  Unitarians,  etc.,  etc. 
We  have  one  faith,  one  Lord,  one  baptism,  but  various  opin- 
ions. These,  when  left  to  vegetate  without  annoyance,  if 
erroneous,  wither  and  die.  We  find  much  philosophy  in  one 
of  Paul's  precepts,  somewhat  mistranslated  :  '  Receive  one  an- 
other without  regard  to  difference  of  opinion.*    We  indeed 


TRUE  BASIS  OF  UNION, 


5'9 


receive  in  our  communion  persons  of  other  denominations 
who  will  take  upon  them  the  responsibilit}^  of  their  partici- 
pating with  us.  We  do  indeed  in  our  affections  and  in  our 
practice  receive  all  Christians,  all  who  give  evidence  of  their 
faith  in  the  Messiah,  and  of  their  attachment  to  his  person, 
character  and  will." — Debate^  p.  783. 

Of  the  philosophy  of  this  basis  of  union  he  thus  remarks : 
"We  long  since  learned  the  lesson  that  to  draw  a  well-defined 
boundary  between  faith  and  opinion,  and,  while  we  earnestly 
contend  for  the  faith,  to  allow  perfect  freedom  of  opinion  and 
of  the  expression  of  opinion,  is  ihe  true  philosophy  of  church 
union  and  the  sovereign  antidote  against  heresy.  Hence  in 
our  communion  at  this  moment  we  have  as  strong  Calvinists 
and  as  strong  Arminians  as  any,  I  presume,  in  this  house — 
certainly  iriany  that  have  been  such.  Yet  we  go  hand  in 
hand  in  one  faith,  one  hope,  and  in  all  Christian  union  and 
co-operation  in  the  great  cause  of  personal  sanctification  and 
human  redemption.  It  is  a  pleasure  to  see  such  persons 
holding  in  abeyance  their  former  opinions — conclusions  and 
opinions  the  results  of  an  early  education  and  the  effects  of 
youthful  associations — sacrificing  all  their  predilections  and 
partialities  for  the  sake  of  the  pure  and  holy  principles  of  a 
religion  that  was  fully  and  perfectly  taught  before  the  age  of 
Luther,  of  Calvin  or  of  any  of  the  Reformers  of  popery  or 
any  other  superstition,  living  or  dead.  They  see  not  those 
specks  while  Heaven's  bright  sun  of  righteousness  and  truth 
shines  into  their  souls  in  all  its  glorious  effulgence. 

It  is  not  the  object  of  our  efforts  to  make  men  think  alike 
on  a  thousand  themes.  Let  them  think  as  they  like  on  any 
matters  of  human  opinion  and  upon  '  doctrines  of  religion,* 
provided  only  they  hold  the  Head  Christ  and  keep  his  com- 
mandments, I  have  learned  not  only  the  theory,  but  the  fact, 
that  if  you  wish  opinionism  to  cease  or  subside  you  must  not 
call  up  and  debate  everything  that  men  think  or  say.  You 
may  debate  anything  into  consequence,  or  you  may,  by  a  dig- 
nified silence,  waste  it  into  oblivion." — Debate^  p.  797. 

Mr.  Rice,  wholly  unable,  from  his  point  of  view,  to 


520       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


admit  such  results,  continued  to  complain  of  the  latitudi- 
narianism  of  such  principles.    Mr.  Campbell  replied : 

The  gentleman  complains  that  our  foundation  is  too  broad, 
too  liberal.  It  is  indeed  broad,  liberal  and  strong.  If  it 
were  not  so,  it  would  not  be  a  Christian  foundation.  Chris- 
tianity is  a  liberal  institution.  It  was  conceived  in  view  of 
the  ruin  of  the  world.  God  looked  upon  not  tlie  thousand 
millions  of  one  age,  but  the  untold  millions  of  all  ages.  And 
he  looked  with  the  inconceivable  compassion  of  a  divine 
Father,  rich  in  mercy  and  plenteous  in  redemption.  He  laid 
help  for  us  on  the  shoulders  of  a  divine  Man,  '  who  meted 
out  the  heavens  with  a  span,  comprehended  the  dust  of  the 
earth  in  a  measure,  and  weighed  the  mountains  in  scales  and 
the  hills  in  a  balance  the  great  Philanthropist  whose  wide 
charities  and  tender  compassions  embrace  all  ages,  all  races, 
all  generations  of  men.  He  knows  no  differences  of  castes, 
ranks,  dignities.  Before  him  kings  and  .their  subjects,  the 
nobles  of  the  earth  and  their  slaves,  the  tyrants  and  their 
vassals,  lose  all  differences.  Their  circumstantial  grandeur 
and  their  circumstantial  meanness  are  as  nothing.  He  looks 
upon  them  all  as  men — fallen,  ruined  men.  He  made  one 
splendid  sacrifice  for  all,  and  has  commanded  his  gospel  to  be 
preached  from  pole  to  pole  and  from  Jerusalem  to  the  utter« 
most  parts  of  the  earth.  He  bids  all  nations,  languages  and 
tribes  of  men  a  hearty  welcome  to  the  rich  provisions  of  his 
bounteous  table,  made  large  enough  and  well  supplied  with 
the  richest  provisions  of  his  unwasting  fullness.  Surely,  then, 
that  ought  to  be  a  large  house  on  a  broad  foundation  that  has 
in  it  a  table  for  saved  men  from  every  nation  under  heaven. 

He  has  commanded  a  simple  stor}'  to  be  told,  leveled  to 
the  apprehension  of  all.  It  is  expressed  in  plain,  clear  and 
forcible  terms.  The  great  cardinal  principles  upon  which  the 
kingdom  rests  are  made  intelligible  to  all,  and  every  one  who 
sincerely  believes  these  and  is  baptized  is,  without  any  other 
instrument,  creed,  covenant  or  bond,  entitled  to  the  rank  and 
immunities  of  the  city  of  God,  the  spiritual  Jerusalem,  the 
residence  of  the  great  King.    This  is  precisely  our  foundation. 


SIMPLICITY  OF  PRINCIPLES. 


Strong  or  weak,  broad  or  narrow,  it  is  commensurate  with  the 
Christian  charter.  It  embraces  all  that  believe  in  Jesus  as  the 
Christ  of  all  nations,  sects  and  parties,  and  makes  them  all 
one  in  Christ  Jesus." — Debate^  p.  80S. 

Having  thus  shown  the  Bible  to  be  the  true  and  only 
guide  in  religion,  and  vindicated  the  sufficiency  of  the 
simple  gospel  which  it  reveals  as  the  basis  of  Christian 
union  apart  from  all  mere  human  opinions,  he  subse- 
quently developed,  in  a  still  more  comprehensive  view, 
the  grand  fundamental  resting-point  of  the  entire 
structure  : 

The  strength  of  the  whole  edifice  is  in  its  foundation,  and 
the  still  more  interior  secret  of  the  strength  of  our  sy«;tem  is 
that  IT  IS  DIVINE.  It  is  the  foundation  which  God  has  laid 
in  Zion.  It  is  not  both  divine  and  human.  It  is  wholly 
divine.  Does  any  one  ask  me  what  it  is.^  I  wish  I  had  a 
summer's  day  and  my  wonted  strength  to  develop  its  glorious 
features  to  your  view.  A  full  revelation  of  it  would  disarm 
our  opponents  and  take  frrom  them  more  than  half  their  argu- 
ments. I  tell  you,  my  Christian  friends,  the  Christian  faith  is 
quite  a  simple  but  most  comprehensive  and  potent  document. 
The  five  books  of  Moses,  together  with  the  prophets,  com- 
pose the  Jews'  religion.  The  Christian  believes  all  these  too, 
and  studies  them  well ;  but  Christianity  was  born  after  Christ. 
There  were  Jews  and  Gentiles  innumerable  before  Christ  was 
born.  But  we  speak  not  of  the  Jewish  nor  of  the  patriarchal 
ages.  The  Harbinger  has  done  his  work.  He  prepared  a 
people  for  the  Lord  and  introduced  the  sublime  and  glorious 
age  of  Messiah  the  Prince  ;  but  Christianity  is  more  than  John 
preached.  The  principles  of  Christianity,  like  the  grand  laws 
of  nature,  are  simple  and  few,  but  omnipotent  to  all  the  ends 
of  its  Author.  What  sublime  and  awful  wonders  are  revealed 
in  heaven  to  the  eye  of  the  philosopher  by  the  operations  of  the 
centrifugal  and  centripetal  forces !  Silently  and  unobtrusively 
these  laws,  for  ages,  have  swayed  creation's  ample  bounds, 
kept  the  universe  to  its  place  and  guided  all  the  mighty 

44  * 


522       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


masses,  in  their  unmeasured  circuit  of  miles  unmeasured, 
through  all  the  fields  of  occupied  space.  That  regularity, 
harmony,  beauty  and  beneficence  spread  over  those  empyreal 
regions  where  the  march  of  revolving  worlds  overwhelms 
the  adoring  saint  and  fills  his  soul  with  admiration  of  the 
divine  Author  of  the  universe,  all  spring  from  and  are  the 
raysterious  result  of  a  happy  combination  of  these  two  stupen- 
dous principles. 

So  is  it  in  our  most  holy  faith.  There  are  but  two  grand 
principles  in  Christianity — two  laws  revealed  and  developed, 
whose  combination  produces  similar  harmony,  beauty  and 
loveliness  in  the  world  of  mind  as  in  the  world  of  matter. 
But,  leaving  the  development  of  these  for  the  present,  I  must 
at  once  declare  the  simplicity  of  this  divine  constitution  of 
remedial  mercy.  It  has  but  three  grand  ideas  peculiar  to 
itself,  and  these  all  concern  the  King.  I  am  sorry  that  this 
sublime  and  mysterious  simplicity  does  not  appear  to  those 
who  set  about  making  constitutions  for  Christ's  kingdom. 
This  confession  of  omnipotent  moral  power,  because  the  off- 
spring of  infinite  wisdom  and  benevolence,  must  be  learned 
from  one  passage.  Matt.  xvi. :  *  Who  am  I,  do  men  say  ?* 
We  must  advance  one  step  farther :  *  Who  am  I,  (iiO you  say?* 
Peter  in  one  momentous  period  expressed  the  whole  afl'air — 
THOU  ART  THE  MESSIAH,  THE  SON  OF  THE 
LIVING  GOD.  The  two  ideas  expressed  concern  the  per^ 
son  of  the  Messiah  and  his  ojffice.  The  one  implied  concerns 
his  character^  for  it  was  through  his  character,  as  developed, 
that  Peter  recognized  his  person  and  his  Messiahship.  Now 
let  us  take  the  shoes  from  off  our  feet,  for  we  stand  on 
holy  ground ;  and  let  us  hear  him  unfold  unto  Peter  his  in- 
tentions: '  Blessed  art  thou^  Simon,  son  of  Jonas  !  Flesh  and 
blood  hath  not  revealed  this  unto  thee,  but  my  Father  which 
is  in  heaven.  But  I  say  unto  thee.  Thou  art  Peter  (or  stone), 
and  on  THIS  ROCK  I  will  build  MY  Church,  and  the  gates 
of  hell  (hades)  shall  not  prevail  against  it.*  It  will  stand  for 
ever.  '  I  will  give  unto  thee  (thyself  alone,  Peter)  the  keys 
of  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  and  whose  sins  soever  you  remit. 


A  REFORMER  NEEDED, 


5^3 


they  are  remitted,  and  whose  sins  soever  you  retain,  they 
shall  be  retained.*  Here,  then,  is  the  whole  mystery  of  the 
Christian  institution — the  full  confession  of  the  Christian 
faith.  All  that  is  peculiar  to  Christianity  is  found  in  these 
words ;  not  merely  in  embryo,  but  in  a  clearly-expressed  out- 
line. A  cordial  belief  and  clear  conception  of  these  two 
facts  will  make  any  man  a  Christian.  He  may  carry  them 
out  in  their  vast  dimensions  and  glorious  developments  to  all 
eternity.  He  may  ponder  upon  them  till  his  spirit  is  trans- 
formed into  the  image  of  God — until  he  shines  in  more  than 
angelic  brightness  in  all  the  purity  and  beauty  of  heavenly 
love.  Man  glorified  in  heaven,  gifted  with  immortality  and 
rapt  in  the  ecstasies  of  infinite  and  eternal  blessedness,  is  but 
tile  mere  result  of  a  proper  apprehension  of  and  conformity 
to  this  confession.  1  am  always  overwhelmed  in  astonish- 
ment in  observing  how  this  document  has  been  disparaged 
and  set  at  naught  by  our  builders  of  churches.  It  seems  still 
to  be  '  a  stone  of  stumblings  and  a  rock  of  oflTence.'  Yet  Jesus 
calls  it  the  rock.  It  is  in  the  figure  of  a  church  or  a  temple, 
the  fountlation,  a  rock.  When  all  societies  build  on  this  one 
foundation,  and  ovi  it  only,  then  shall  there  be  unity  of  faith, 
of  affection  and  of  co-operation  ;  but  never,  n-ever  till  then. 
Every  other  fountlation  is  sand.  Hence,  they  have  all  wasted 
away.  lnnumeral>le  parties  have  perished  from  the  earth  ; 
and  so  will  all  the  present  built  on  any  other  foundation  than 
this  rock." — Debate.,  p.  821. 

Amidst  the  sad  divisions  of  religious  society,  pro- 
duced and  perpetuated  by  substituting  a  doctrinal  for  a 
personal  faith,  and  the  orthodoxy^  of  the  head  for  that 
of  the  heart,  when  men  relied  upon  nice  philosophical 
distinctions,  metaphysical  theories  and  theological  or 
ecclesiastical  systems  rather  than  upon  gospel  facts, 
there  needed  a  mind  like  that  of  Alexander  Campbell, 
of  expansive  generalizing  power  and  wide  reach  of 
thought,  capable  of  seizing  upon  the  grand  principles 
of  things  and  disengaging  from  the  rubbish  of  partyism 


524       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


the  truth  on  which  the  Church  of  Christ  was  founded* 
Nor  was  it  surprising  that  a  discovery  at  once  so  simple 
and  so  grand  should  fail  to  be  comprehended  and  ap- 
preciated at  once  by  those  who  were  accustomed,  like 
Mr.  Rice,  to  justify  sectarianism  and  find  abundant 
space  for  all  their  religious  thought  within  the  narrow 
limits  of  a  party.  Time  had  to  be  allowed,  that  men 
might  be  schooled  to  larger  views  and  learn  by  degrees 
the  important  lesson  that  "  God's  ways  are  not  as  man*s 
ways,  nor  his  thoughts  as  man's  thoughts."  Even  now, 
after  the  lapse  of  more  than  half  a  century,  the  thought- 
ful among  religious  communities  are  only  beginning  to 
perceive  and  to  admit  that  if  Christian  union  is  ever  to 
be  established,  it  must  be  based  upon  the  simple  primi- 
tive and  personal  faith  advocated  and  first  publicly  ac- 
knowledged by  Mr.  Campbell  in  1812. 

Whatever  was  the  judgment  of  the  discerning  and 
impartial  with  regard  to  the  discussion  and  the  dispu- 
tants, it  is  certain  that  the  Presbyterians,  as  Mr.  Rice 
himself  had  done  throughout  the  debate,  boasted  of  a 
complete  victory  on  their  side.*  Carried  away  by  Mr. 
Rice's  confident  and  assuming  manner,  and  the  present 
effect  which  it  seemed  to  have  upon  the  unthinking  and 

*  A  similar  course  of  boasting  had  been  pursued  by  the  Presbyterians  in 
the  case  of  the  Jenning's  Debate,  and  gave  rise  to  the  following  incident : 
While  Nashville  was  ringing  with  Presbyterian  acclamations,  an  aged  citizen 
accosted  one  of  the  boasters  in  the  following  style  :  "  You  Presbyterians 
have  gained,  you  say,  a  glorious  victory.  I  do  not  understand  how  you  as- 
certain a  victory.  Do  tell  me  how  you  know  when  you  beat  I  will  tell 
you  how  in  old  times  we  judged  of  victories  when  I  was  in  the  Indian  wars. 
After  the  battle  was  over  we  counted  the  scalps,  and  those  who  could  show 
the  largest  number  of  them  were  said  to  have  conquered.  Now,  then,  since 
Mr.  Campbell  had  been  here,  he  has  immersed  some  thirty,  among  whom 
were  some  of  the  most  intelligent  citizens  of  Nashville.  How  many  have 
you  added  to  your  church  oy  this  debate  ?"  "  1  have  not  heard  of  any,"  said 
his  Presbyterian  friend,  "  Pray,  then,  my  dear  sir,  tell  me  how  you  know 
when  you  have  gained  a  great  victory." 


DISAPPOINTED  HOPE.  535 

prejudiced,  they  overlooked  the  fact  that  a  boastful  and 
supercilious  inanner  was  incapable  of  being  transferred 
to  print,  like  the  argumentative  speeches  which  Mr. 
Campbell  had  wisely  designed  for  the  future  readers 
of  the  discussion.  They  seemed  also  to  have  failed 
to  notice  the  ominous  fact  that  v/hen  Mr.  Campbell 
preached  during  the  period  of  the  discussion  quite  a 
number  came  forward  for  baptism,  and  among  them  a 
very  intelligent  Lutheran  preacher.*  The  assurance 
of  triumph,  however,  felt  by  the  Presbyterians  cannot 
justly  be  attributed  entirely  to  Mr.  Rice's  confident 
manner  and  bold  assertions.  He  certainly  acquitted 
himself  much  better  than  his  friends  expected,  and 
showed  a  readiness  in  reply  and  an  ingenuity  and  a 
plausibility  in  the  arguments  he  employed  quite  beyond 
public  expectation — a  circumstance  which  naturally 
tended  to  create  an  exaggerated  notion  of  his  ability. 
The  sincerity  of  the  Presbyterians  in  their  convictions 
of  success  was  well  shown  in  the  eagerness  with  which 
the  Rev.  J.  H.  Brown  purchased  for  $2000  the  copy- 
right of  the  printed  debate,  and  in  the  efforts  which  for 
a  time  were  made  by  them  to  circulate  it. 

It  was  soon  found,  however,  that  the  effect  of  the 

♦  This  gentleman,  Mr.  William  McChesney,  who  possessed  undoubted 
testimonials  of  his  standing  with  the  Lutherans,  gave  afterward  to  Mr. 
Campbell  the  following  account :  "  I  could  have  sprinkled  a  child  the  day 
before  the  debate  commenced  with  a  good  conscience.  All  my  early  educa- 
tion and  associations  were  placed  on  a  scale  with  Paedobaptism  during  the 
debate.  I  went  there  willing  to  ascertain  the  truth.  I  was  a  little  prejudiced 
against  you,  and  more  than  a  little  against  the  Reformation-  I  listened  with 
candor  and  attention.  After  the  whole  ground  had  been  gone  over,  I  was 
satisfied  that  nothing  but  immersion  would  do,  and  that  infant  baptism  could 
not  be  maintained  from  the  Scriptures.  I  felt  deeply  interested  in  the  whole 
matter.  If  Mr.  Rice  could  have  met  all  your  arguments  satisfactorily  to  my 
mind,  and  have  sustained  his  own  propositions,  he  would  have  received  my 
warmest  thanks.  He  failed,  however,  in  my  estimation — completely  failed  in , 
both." 


526        MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL, 


printed  discussion  upon  the  public  mind  was  quite 
different  from  what  the  party  expected,  and  they  were 
mortified  to  perceive  that  it  was  making  many  converts 
to  Mr.  Campbell's  views,  but  none  to  Presbyterianism.* 

♦Amongst  numerous  cases  of  the  kind,  the  following  may  be  given  as  illus- 
trating the  effect  produced  by  the  printed  debate:  Mrs.  Postlethwaite,  of 
Greensburg,  Pa.,  the  reiict  of  Dr.  Postlethwaite,  an  elder  of  high  standing  in 
the  Presbyterian  Church,  and  who  had  herself  been  a  sincere  and  exemplary 
member  of  that  Church  for  full  fifty-four  years,  after  carefully  reading  the  de- 
bate three  times,  came  forward  and  demanded  immersion  on  her  own  con- 
fession of  the  faith,  and  was  accordingly  immersed.  What  made  this  case 
more  striking  was,  that  this  venerable  lady  was  spending  the  time  with  her 
son-in-law,  a  Presbyterian  clergjmen,  during  the  time  she  was  examining 
this  discussion.  After  her  first  reading  she  thought  Mr.  Rice  had  sustained 
himself  pretty  well,  although  she  could  not  see  that  he  had  exactly  answered 
Air.  Campbeirs  argiivients.  She  read  again  and  again,  and  at  last  expressed 
herself  thoroughly  ashamed  of  the  disingenuousness  and  the  unfairness  of 
Mr.  Rice's  speeches,  and  thought  she  could  plainly  discover  this  important 
difference — that  one  side  was  contending  for  all-important  truths,  and  the 
Other  for  contracted  human  institutions  and  traditions. 

Another  case  was  that  of  a  devoted  and  influential  member  in  the  Metho- 
dist Church,  who  thus  wrote  to  Mr.  Campbell  from  Nashville,  in  November, 
1846 :  "  I  commenced  to  read  the  debate  between  you  and  Rev.  N.  L.  Rice 
some  twelve  months  ago,  with  prejudices  decidedly,  for  the  most  part,  in 
favor  of  the  views  entertained  by  the  latter  ;  but  by  the  time  I  had  finished  I 
was  fully  convinced  that  Mr.  Rice  had  utterly  failed  to  sustain  his  positions. 
Yet  I  was  not  fully  satisfied  that  the  doctrine  for  which  you  contended  was 
true.  It  was  a  clear  case  to  my  mind  that  your  arguments,  for  the  niost  part, 
were  conclusive — that  you  had  gained  a  coniplete  triumph  over  Mr.  Rice  ;  but 
yet  I  was  fearful  that  your  premises  might  somewhere  be  defective,  and,  to  be 
honest,  I  had  a  kind  of  a  secret  wish  that  it  might  be  so!  I  did  not,  some- 
how  or  other,  like,  after  living  in  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  for  some 
founeen  years,  sustaining,  too,  as  I  did,  an  official  relation  to  that  Church,  to 
give  up  my  long-cherished  opinions.  Still,  I  determined,  after  making  a  fair 
test  of  your  views,  to  fall  upon  the  side  of  the  truth,  should  it  even  be  what 
I  was  pleased,  in  common  w  ith  many  others,  to  call  '  Campbellism.'  I  there- 
fore, with  earnest  inquiry  after  God's  revealed  truth,  fled  to  the  Bible,  and 
read  it  with  greater  care  and  solicitude,  if  possible,  than  I  had  ever  done  be- 
fore. The  result  of  this  was  a  confirmation  of  my  already  partial  conviction 
of  the  truth  of  your  position.  I  found  that  what  I  had  supposed  to  be  Camp- 
bellism was  God's  own  revealed  truth.  Under  tnis  conviction,  about  the  24th 
of  last  May,  in  Franklin  county,  Ky.,  I  was  immersed,  after  which  I  becanie  a 
member  of  the  Christian  Church.    Is  not  ray  case,  with  many  others  similar. 


ESTIMATE  OF  THE  DISCUSSION, 


Upon  this,  Mr.  Brown  gladly  disposed  of  his  copyright 
for  a  small  sum  to  a  member  of  the  Christian  Church 
at  Jacksonville,  Illinois,  C.  D.  Roberts,  who  imme- 
diately printed  a  large  edition  of  the  work,  which  has 
been  since  patronized  and  circulated  by  the  Reformers. 
Results  have  shown  that  whatever  personal  distinction 
or  notoriety  the  debate  may  have  given  to  Mr.  Rice, 
it  certainly  added  nothing  to  the  cause  of  Presbyterian- 
ism,  which  in  Kentucky  continued  still  to  decline,  while 
that  of  the  Reformation  steadily  prospered.  The  fol- 
lowing just  estimate  of  Mr.  Rice's  performance,  from 
the     Christian  Messenger,"  published  in  London,  Oc- 

a  demonstration  of  the  (shall  I  say?)  omnipotence  of  truth?  When  I  com- 
menced reading  the  debate  to  which  I  have  alluded,  my  prejudices  were  un- 
reasonable aj^ainst  yourself  and  what  I  then  considered  exclusively  ^i7«r  doc- 
trine ;  but  the  truth— the  unsophisticated  truth,  as  contended  for  by  yourself 
and  confirmed  by  the  Hible — proved  sufficiently  strong  to  conquer  that  mon- 
ster Prejudice.  Accept,  my  dear  brother,  my  assurances  of  high  esteem  and 
Christian  regard.  P.  O.  Jenkins." 

None  of  these  cases,  however,  gave  Mr.  Campbell  greater  pleasure  than 
that  of  his  uncle  Archibald,  of  Newry,  Ireland,  several  of  whose  children 
had  emigrated  to  the  United  States  and  adopted  the  reformatory  views. 
Among  these  may  be  mentioned  Knos  Campbell,  who  has  distinguished  him- 
self l)o*th  as  a  teacher  and  as  an  able  public  advocate  of  the  Reformation. 
The  father,  Archibald  Campbell,  continued,  nevertheless,  to  maintain  his 
Presbyterian  sentiments  and  to  act  as  an  elder  of  the  Presbyterian  Secession 
church  at  Newry,  an  utiftce  which  he  had  filled  for  more  than  half  a  century. 
At  length,  in  May,  1846,  he  thus  wnde  to  Mr.  Campbell  :  "I  read  your  de- 
bate with  Mr.  Kice,  through  the  medium  of  your  Dungannon  friends.  I  con- 
sider him  a  much  more  wily  antagonist  than  either  McCalla  or  Walker.  I 
would  not  be  surprised  if  the  popular  cx"^  would  be  in  his  favor,  lie  seems 
to  have  the  tact  of  making  the  most  of  everything  that  might  appear  in  his 
favor.  .  .  .  Put,  notwithstanding  his  ingenuity  and  wiles,  I  am  constrained  to 
give  up  infant  baptism  as  being  apostolical."  "This,"  said  Mr.  Campbell, 
commenting  on  this  letter,  "coming  fr<«n  such  a  source— from  one  who  has 
often,  during  twenty  years,  ol^jected  to  my  views  on  this  suliject  and  corre- 
sponded with  me  in  defence  not  (^nly  of  infant  baptism,  but  of  the  diflTerential 
peculiarities  of  Presbvterianism,  and  one  of  the  most  learned  and  nitluential 
elders  of  that  Church  in  the  .Xmih  of  Ireland— I  regard  as  a  very  great  tri- 
umph. Such  a  man's  testimony,  with  me,  weighs  more  than  that  of  many 
thousand." 


528       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


tober,  1844,  gives  a  fair  illustration  of  the  effect  of  the 
printed  discussion  upon  truth-loving  minds : 

*^  It  is  to  be  regretted  that  such  a  man  as  Mr.  Rice  should 
be  the  chosen  champion  of  any  religious  party.  From  a 
body  so  respectable  as  the  Presbyterians  are,  in  talent  and 
learning,  an  advocate  talented  and  learned  was  to  be  expected — 
one  worthy  to  appear  for  a  great  people.  Mr.  Rice  is  not 
this.  His  qualifications,  if  he  were  a  lawyer,  would  fit  him 
well  to  manage  a  nisi  prius  case,  but  he  should  not  plead  in 
a  higher  court.  Bishop  Purcell,  Mr.  Campbell's  quondam 
opponent,  though  we  thought  him  an  adept  in  sophistical 
argumentation,  in»the  manoeuvre  of  evasion  and  in  some 
other  things  too  little  for  special  notice,  has  been  outdone  in 
these  respects  by  a  Presbyterian  polemic.  The  bishop,  in- 
deed, was  apparently  averse  to  argue  in  this  way  when  he 
could  do  anything  else.  Not  so,  Mr.  Rice  ;  he  prefers  the 
obliquities  of  argument  and  the  quibbles  of  the  schools  to 
the  more  agreeable  course  chosen  by  the  bishop,  who,  when 
argument  was  scarce,  entertained  the  audience  with  a  mixture 
of  philosophy  and  poetry,  and  enlivened  his  speeches  with  an 
eloquence  rendered  earnest  by  an  abundant  faith.  Mr.  Rice 
will  at  least  escape  the  reproach  of  making  digressions  of  this 
kind  ;  but  had  he  done  so — had  he  been  competent  to  do  so — 
his  part  of  the  book  would  not  be  altogether  so  barren  as  it 
is  for  those  who  care  not  for  gathering  the  fruit  of  mere  con- 
troversial ingenuity.  In  fine,  persons  who  are  acquainted 
with  the  whole  subject  of  this  controversy  will  not  rise  from 
the  perusal  of  Mr.  Rice's  speeches  with  one  new  idea,  while 
the  ignorant  are  likely  to  be  misled  by  the  strange  aberrations 
from  truth  in  his  statements,  as  well  of  matters  of  fact  as  of 
matters  of  criticism." 

Mr.  Rice  nevertheless  received  various  honors  from 
the  Presbyterians,  among  which  was  the  title  of  D.  D., 
which  had  been  conferred  in  turn  upon  Mr.  Campbell's 
former  opponents,  Ralston,  MrCalla  and  Jennings.  As 
Dr.  Priestley  used  to  say  wnen  he  found  his  Episcopal 


EARNEST  LABORS, 


opponents  immediately  raised  to  the  rank  of  bishops, 
that  "it  was  he  who  made  the  bishops  of  England/* Mr. 
Campbell  with  equal  propriety  could  say  that  it  was  he 
who  made,  in  his  time,  the  Presbyterian  doctors  of 
divinity.  ''We  are  always  pleased,"  said  he,  *' and 
feel  ourselves  honored  by  the  theological  promotion  of 
our  opponents.  The  Rev.  McCalla  was  dubbed  D.  D. 
after  his  debate  with  me,  and  even  Dr.  Purcell  is  a 
bishop  much  nearer  the  papal  throne  since  than  before 
his  victory  at  Cincinnati." 

The  era  of  the  Rice  debate  was  one  of  the  busiest 
periods  of  Mr.  Campbell's  life.  In  addition  to  his 
duties  at  the  college,  he  continued  the  "  Harbinger,"  and 
had  likewise  to  prepare  for  the  press  his  portion  of  the 
debate.  During  this  year  he  published  also  his  Extra 
on  '*  Life  and  Death,"  as  well  as  an  Address  which  he 
delivered  before  the  ''Union  Literary  Society"  of  Mi- 
ami University,  on  "The  Responsibilities  of  Men  of 
Genius."  Although  he  was  now  about  fifty-five  years 
of  age,  his  physical  and  intellectual  vigor  seemed  un- 
abated. He  complained  often,  it  is  true,  during  his 
tours  of  the  fatigue  he  experienced,  but  it  was  surpris- 
ing to  see  how  quickly  a  little  rest  restored  him,  and 
how  fresh  he  seemed  even  after  his  sixteen  days'  debate 
with  Mr.  Rice,  and  its  attendant  labors.  Incessant  oc- 
cupation, indeed,  seemed  to  be  a  necessity  of  his  being, 
no  less  than  a  result  of  the  earnestness  with  which  he 
sought  to  benefit  society.  He  had  been  fitted  for  his 
work,  as  well  by  the  grandeur  of  his  moral  and  intel- 
lectual nature,  as  by  the  restless  activity  of  his  entire 
mental  and  physical  constitution,  and  seemed  impelled 
by  an  irresistible  impulse  to  employ  his  energies  in  be- 
half of  the  noble  purposes  for  which  alone  he  seemed 
to  live. 

VOL.  II. — 2  I  45 


CHAPTER 


XVII. 


View  of  slavery — Bethany  College— Tour  to  the  South— Tour  to  the  Far 
West—"  Evangelical  alliance  " — Tour  in  England,  France  and  Scotland- 
Persecutions. 

THE  power  of  great  men  to  control  public  sentiment 
and  to  direct  human  progress  is  immense,  and 
imposes  on  them  peculiar  responsibilities.  Such  of 
them  as  are  good  as  well  as  great  will  hence  be  careful 
that  their  influence  is  not  employed  for  purposes  of  sel- 
fish aggrandizement,  and  that  they  seek  neither  to  float 
idly  upon  the  favoring  current  of  popular  opinion  nor 
to  direct  it  into  improper  channels.  Amidst  the  con- 
flictinor  movements  of  human  affairs  it  is  also  most  im- 
portant  that  they  should  make  their  real  position  clearly 
understood,  so  that  in  matters  affecting  human  welfare 
their  authority  may  not  be  unjustly  claimed  for  false 
principles  or  injurious  measures.  From  the  beginning, 
Mr.  Campbell  had  fully  shown  his  sense  of  duty  in 
these  respects,  and  was  far  from  disregarding  it  now 
w^hen  his  reputatic-n  and  influence  were  so  widely  ex- 
tended. No  personal  aims  or  sectional  prejudices  could 
narrow  the  largeness  of  his  mind,  or  induce  him  to 
swerve  in  any  degree  from  the  interests  of  truth  and 
right  for  which  he  was  ever  ready  to  sacrifice  human 
applause  and  suffer  unjust  reproach. 

Of  this  he  gave  fresh  evidence  about  this  period  in 
relation  to  several  important  questions,  and  particularly 

530 


SLAVER r  INEXPEDIENT. 


to  that  of  slavery,  which  now  engrossed  a  very  large 
share  of  public  attention,  and  was  producing  important 
revolutions  both  in  political  and  in  religious  society.  It 
had  already  divided  the  Methodists  into  two  parties, 
and  was  now  threatening  to  produce  a  similar  result  in 
the  case  of  the  Reformers,  many  of  whom,  carried  away 
by  the  excitement  of  the  period,  had  come  to  regard 
slaveholding  in  itself  as  a  sin,  and  were  disposed  to  refuse 
religious  fellowship  to  those  who  in  any  wise  sanctioned 
it.  Mr.  Campbell  had,  indeed,  on  various  occasions 
condemned  the  institution  of  slavery  as  existing  in  the 
United  States,  and  had  used  his  influence  on  all  proper 
occasions  in  favor  of  emancipation.  But  when  extrem- 
ists under  the  pretended  sanction  of  the  Bible  began  to 
deny  the  lawfulness  of  the  relation  of  master  and  ser- 
vant, and  to  pervert  the  Scriptures  in  order  to  support 
their  assumptions,  he  felt  it  his  duty  to  oppose  their 
errors  and  to  withhold  his  sanction  from  their  proceed- 
ings. He  accordingly  at  this  period  thought  it  neces- 
sary to  define,  in  a  series  of  articles  in  the  **  Harbinger," 
his  position  in  relation  to  the  institution. 

At  the  close  of  these  articles  he  expressed  his  views 
summarily  as  follows  : 

I.  That  the  relation  of  master  and  servant  is  not  in  itself 
sinful  or  immoral.  2.  That,  nevertheless,  slavery  as  practiced 
in  any  part  of  the  civilized  world  is  inexpedient ;  because 
not  in  harmony  with  the  spirit  of  the  age  nor  the  moral  ad- 
vancement of  society  ;  because  in  itself,  as  fully  demonstrated, 
not  favorable  to  individual  and  national  prosperity;  and  be- 
cause it  imposes  on  Christian  masters  and  their  families 
burdens  and  responsibilities  not  easily  discharged  in.  existing 
circumstances  ;  and  which,  when  not  discharged,  prevent  that 
refined  and  elevated  personal  and  domestic  happiness  so  de- 
snable  to  any  Christian  household.  3.  That  no  Christian 
community  governed  by  the  Bible,  Old  Testament  and  New, 


532       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


can  constitutionally  and  rightfully  make  the  simple  relation 
of  master  and  slave  a  term  of  Christian  fellowship  or  a  sub- 
ject of  discipline,  while  in  duty  bound  in  this  case,  as  in  all 
others,  to  take  cognizance  of  any  neglect  or  violation  of  the 
relative  duties  obligatory  on  the  parties." — "  Mill.  Harb."  for 
1845,  p.  263. 

In  maintaining  the  above  positions,  Mr.  Campbell 
looked  at  the  subject  entirely  from  a  scriptural  point  of 
view : 

Our  position,"  said  he,  "  is  not  that  of  a  politician,  an 
economist,  a  mere  moralist,  but  that  of  a  Christian.  ...  I 
stand  or  fall  by  supernatural  religion  or  revelation.  Hence, 
my  position,  and  the  reasons  of  it,  can  be  clearly  stated  and 
satisfactorily  sustained  by  the  New  Testament,  and  to  those 
who  admit  its  divine  authority.  I  know  some  men,  and  have 
heard  of  others,  who  candidly  aver  the  resolution  to  abandon 
the  Bible  as  soon  as  it  is  made  evident  that  it  sanctions  the 
relation  of  master  and  slave.  Such  is  their  faith  in  their 
own  reason,  and  such  their  preference  for  natural  law,  con- 
science and  religion,  that,  if  any  sacrifice  is  to  be  made,  they 
will  sacrifice  tlie  Bible  to  their  theory  rather  than  their  theory 
to  the  Bible.  I  have  nothing  to  say  at  this  time  to  such 
Christians  as  these. 

''When  I  affirm  that  the  New  Testament  without  censure 
recognizes  the  relation  of  master  and  servant,  I  do  not  say 
that  it  sanctions  the  legalized  treatment  of  either  master  or 
slave,  according  to  the  American  or  any  other  code.  I  do 
not  say  that  the  New  Testament  authorizes  a  man  to  treat  his 
servants  as  he  treats  his  mules  or  his  oxen  ;  that  if  he  feed, 
clothe  and  house  them  well,  find  them  abundance  of  whole- 
some food  in  health,  medicine  and  medical  attendance  in 
sickness,  that  he  has  '  rendered  unto  them  that  which  is  just 
and  equal.*  They  have  souls  as  well  as  bodies ;  they  have 
powers  of  reason  ;  they  have  consciences,  moral  feelings, 
moral  instincts,  and  are  susceptible  of  spiritual  enjoyments, 
of  immortality  and  eternal  life.  They  have  the  rights  of 
husbands  and  of  wives,  of  parents  and  of  children ;  and  any 


POSITION  DEFINED. 


533 


code  which  takes  these  away  from  them  is  not  of  God,  but  of 
man.  Moral  training,  reHgious  and  moral  instruction,  they 
must  have  among  their  inalienable  rights  and  privileges. 
These  cannot  be  withheld  by  Christian  masters  without  the 
forfeiture  of  Christian  character  and  Christian  privilege,  no 
matter  under  what  code  of  laws  such  injustice  be  perpetuated. 

'*When,  then,  I  strongly  affirm  my  long-cherished  and 
deeply-rimpressed  conviction  that  the  New  Testament  sanc- 
tions the  relation  of  master  and  slave,  when  such  relation  is 
providentially  existing  in  any  community,  I  do  not  maintain 
that  it  sanctions  any  man  in  'man-stealing'  in  taking  away 
the  liberty  of  any  man  born  free,  or  in  withholding  from 
those  'born  in  his  house  or  bought  with  his  money'  any  of 
these  specified  rights,  immunities  and  privileges  above  enu- 
merated."— Mil.  Harb.  for  1S45,  p.  236. 

Defining  an  abolitionist  as  one  who  denied  the  law- 
fulness of  the  relation  of  master  and  servant  and  in- 
sisted on  its  immediate  abrogation,  he  says  elsewhere 
(Id.  p.  358)  : 

"  I  have  always  been  anti-slavery,  but  never  an  abolitionist, 
if  I  may  illustrate  a  definition  in  my  own  case.  There  are 
many  men  owning  slaves  quite  anti-slavery  in  all  their  views 
and  feelings,  while  yet  reprobating  the  doctrines  and  move- 
ments of  abolitionists.  All  men  of  humanity  and  good  sense 
contemplate  an  end  of  slavery  in  all  its  obnoxious  attributes, 
but  no  one  anticipates  a  sudden  or  immediate  termination  of 
it,  except  at  the  point  of  the  bayonet.  Christians  can  never 
be  reformers  in  any  system  which  uses  violence^  or  recom" 
mends  or  expects  it.  I  have  already  suggested  political, 
economical  and  moral  reasons  why  this  institution  should 
ultimately  yield  to  the  genius  of  the  age  and  the  spirit  of 
our  institutions.  But  as  members  of  Christ's  Church,  our 
duties  have  already  and  repeatedly  been  pointed  out ;  and  to 
these  now  must  all  conform  if  we  expect  or  desire  the  plau- 
dits of  the  great  Master  and  Judge  of  all. 

"  My  object  in  writing  on  this  subject  is  already  in  a  great 

45  * 


534       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


measure  gained.  I  have  from  all  parties — abolition  and  anti- 
abolition — such  approval  of  the  grounds  proposed  as  to  be- 
lieve that  on  calm  and  deliberate  reflection  they  will  command 
the  acquiescence  of  all  whose  approbation  and  co-operation 
are  desirable  in  the  great  work  of  reformation.  •  The  true  par- 
tisan, the  political  aspirant,  with  all  those  desirous  of  political 
revolution  for  the  sake  of  a  new  order  of  things,  will  never 
approve  my  views.  I  do  not  expect  such  a  thing.  I  neither 
desire  nor  covet  their  approbation.  I  have  the  exquisite 
satisfaction  to  know  that  I  am  countenanced  and  encouraged 
in  this  course  by  the  unanimous  voices  of  patriarchs,  pro- 
phets and  apostles — by  the  whole  genius  and  spirit  of  the 
Christian  institution — by  the  doctrine  and  example  of  the 
Author  and  Founder  of  the  Christian  faith.  This  is  enough 
for  me." 

Mr.  Campbell's  conservative  course  in  regard  to  this 
disturbing  question,  while  it  preserved  the  reforming 
churches  from  division,  excited  against  him  the  ani- 
mosity of  many  individuals  who  had  hoped  that  he 
would  declare  himself  in  favor  of  their  particular  views, 
and  who  now  refused  to  take  his  periodical  any  longer. 
Such  tokens  of  displeasure,  however,  did  not  deter  him 
from  hazarding  similar  consequences  in  speaking  out 
boldly  against  Christians  becoming  members  of  secret 
societies,  and  thereby  compromising,  as  he  thought,  the 
character  and  influence  of  the  Church  of  Christ.  Nor 
did  he  hesitate  to  denounce  also  war  as  utterly  abhor- 
rent to  the  gospel  and  incompatible  with  the  Christian 
character.  He  occupied  also  a  considerable  space  in  a 
special  exposure  of  the  evils  and  errors  of  Methodism, 
which  excited  no  little  commotion  in  certain  quarters, 
and  in  which  he  endeavored  to  fulfill  a  duty  which  he 
conceived  himself  to  owe  to  that  large  and  highly- 
respectable  community. 

At  this  period  the  affairs  of  Bethany  College  de- 


FAMILY  SCHOOL. 


535 


manded  unusual  attention.  The  difficulties  and  disap- 
pointments incident  to  the  establishment  of  such  institu- 
tions had  not  been  wanting,  but  these  were  met  with 
wisdom  and  firmness,  and  a  respectable  number  of  stu- 
dents were  constantly  in  attendance,  while  there  were 
the  most  favorable  indications  of  the  accomplishment 
of  great-  good.  The  want  of  adequate  support,  however, 
compelled  the  faculty  of  the  institution  to  make  great 
sacrifices,  and  Mr.  Campbell,  earnestly  desiring  to  pro- 
cure a  sufficient  endowment,  found  it  necessary  to  exert 
his  personal  influence  to  the  utmost,  and  to  make  fre- 
quent and  extensive  tours  for  this  purpose.  He  wished 
also  to  put  into  operation  as  soon  as  practicable  the 
primary  department,  in  which  he  had  great  hopes  of 
being  able  to  secure  that  early  moral  training  and  in- 
struction in  which  he  was  most  deeply  interested,  and 
upon  which  in  his  general  plan  he  had  placed  great 
reliance  as  the  most  important  preparation  for  the  col- 
lege course.  He  had  already  erected  at  his  own  ex- 
pense a  large  building  for  the  purpose  at  some  distance 
from  the  college,  and  sought  diligently  to  obtain  persons 
fitted  to  carry  out  his  designs.  Failing  in  this,  however, 
and  finding  after  some  time  that  this  department  was 
not  sufficiently  patronized  to  justify  the  continuance  of 
the  experiment,  it  was  reluctantly  abandoned.  It  was 
seen  indeed  in  its  progress  that  young  boys  away  from 
the  influence  of  home  and  watchful  parental  guardian- 
ship were  peculiarly  exposed,  and  especially  as  brought 
more  or  less  into  necessary  communication  with  the 
older  college  students.  Mr.  Campbell,  however,  still 
cherished  the  belief  that  could  he  have  obtained  a 
patron  and  a  matron  with  teachers  possessed  of  the 
peculiar  qualifications  necessary  for  such  a  charge,  his 
highest  hopes  would  have  been  attained.    The  labors 


53^       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL, 


of  all  concerned  were  accordingly  now  concentrated 
upon  the  college  and  the  church,  from  which  there  soon 
began  to  be  developed  benertcial  results  to  the  cause  of 
the  Reformation,  which  fully  equaled  Mr.  Campbell's 
highest  expectations.  Many  talented  and  well-educated 
young  men  were  annually  sent  forth,  who  at  once  began 
to  distinguish  themselves  by  their  enlarged  vievVs,  their 
knowledge  of  the  Bible,  and  the  practical  skill  and 
energy  which  they  displayed  on  their  various  fields  of 
operation.  The  churches,  which  in  many  places  had 
long  suffered  for  want  of  an  efficient  ministry  and  com- 
petent teachers,  began  to  be  supplied,  and  a  new  impulse 
was  given  to  the  cause  of  the  primitive  gospel. 

lu  March,  1845,  Mr.  Campbell,  in  company  with  R. 
L.  Coleman,  made  another  tour  to  the  South,  speak- 
ing at  various  points  in  Virginia  and  visiting  many  old 
friends,  and  among  others  the  excellent  T.  M.  Henley, 
who  was  gradually  failing  in  health,  but  whose  spirit- 
ual enjoyment  and  religious  fervor  seemed  to  be  re- 
newed day  by  day.  At  Richmond,  where  he  met  wdth 
Brethren  Bullard  and  Shelburne,  he  found  the  church 
still  prospering  under  the  labors  of  James  Henshall. 
Passing  from  thence  to  Wilmington,  North  Carolina,  and 
thence  to  Charleston,  he  proceeded  to  Augusta,  Georgia, 
still  accompanied  by  Mr.  Coleman,  where  they  de- 
livered addresses  to  increasing  congregations,  and  suc- 
ceeded in  removing  much  of  the  religious  prejudice 
which  existed.  Here  they  were  kindly  entertained  by 
a  wealthy  and  pious  sister,  Mrs.  Tubman,  who  sent  at 
her  own  expense  a  number  of  students  to  Bethany  Col- 
lege, and  contributed  largely  of  her  means  to  its  endow- 
ment. Here  they  met  also  the  excellent  Dr.  Hooke, 
who  had  been  mayor  of  the  city,  and  who  distinguished 
liimself  for  many  years  by  his  faithful  advocacy  of  the 


VISIT  TO  MISSOURI. 


537 


Reformation  in  Georgia  and  South  Carolina.  Here, 
also,  he  formed  a  pleasant  acquaintance  with  many  dis- 
tinguished persons,  as  ex-Governor  Schley,  of  Georgia, 
and  Mr.  Hammond,  of  South  Carolina. 

Upon  visiting  Governor  Hammond  by  special  invita- 
tion at  his  residence,  sixteen  miles  from  Augusta,  he 
found  him  to  be  a  gentleman  of  superior  taste  in  litera- 
ture and  the  fine  arts,  v^'hich  he  had  improved  by  a  long 
residence  in  Europe,  and  while  with  him  held  various 
interesting  conversations  upon  the  evidences  and  great 
themes  of  the  gospel.  Upon  his  return  he  spoke  in 
Charleston,  and  passing  from  thence  to  Petersburg, 
he  held  profitable  meetings  in  Lunenburg,  Amelia,  and 
various  other  points  south  of  James  River,  and  after 
visiting  Louisa  county,  delivered  some  discourses  at 
Charlottesville,  from  whence,  on  the  5th  of  May,  he  re- 
turned home,  having  traveled  twenty-five  hundred  miles 
in  two  months,  during  which  he  delivered  more  than 
fifty  addresses,  and  was  almost  incessantly  occupied 
with  company  and  conversation. 

On  the  last  day  of  September  of  this  year  he  again 
set  out  from  home  upon  a  trip  to  the  Far  West.** 
Unable  in  consequence  to  attend  the  meeting  of  the 
College  of  Teachers  in  Cincinnati,  to  which  he  was 
especially  invited,  he  prepared  while  passing  down  the 
Ohio  an  interesting  address  upon  education,  to  be  read 
at  their  meeting.  V^isiting  St.  Louis,  where  Jacob 
Creath,  Jr.,  was  then  laboring,  he  set  out  in  company 
with  him  by  stage  for  Columbia,  one  hundred  and  forty 
miles  distant,  where  the  annual  State  meeting  was  to 
be  held,  at  which  about  one  hundred  and  fifty  churches 
were  heard  from,  the  membership  in  this  State  being 
estimated  as  considerably  upward  of  fifteen  thousand. 
While  here,  Mr.  Campbell  enjoyed  the  kind  hospitali- 


53^        MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


ties  pf  Mr.  Barr  in  Columbia,  and  of  Thomas  M.  Allen 
at  his  pleasant  residence  eight  miles  from  the  city. 
Passing  thence  to  various  other  parts  of  the  State, 
as  Lexington,  Booneville,  Liberty,  etc.,  the  distances 
being  great  and  his  appointments  numerous,  he  was 
compelled  to  travel  post-haste  from  point  to  point ;  and 
after  these  fatiguing  journeys  and  labors  by  day  and 
night,  finally  on  his  return  reached  Fayette,  forty  miles 
from  Columbia,  where  he  again  met  with  T.  M.  Allen, 
who  accompanied  him  to  Paris.  Parting  at  this  place, 
Mr.  Campbell  went  on  to  Palmyra,  and  thence  to  Han- 
nibal. 

Here  he  visited  Mr.  Bowen,  son-in-law  of  B.  W. 
Stone,  and  entered  with  deep  feeling  the  apartment  in 
which  a  few  months  before  (November,  1844)  the 
latter  had  closed  his  useful  life.  He  was  at  the  time  on 
a  visit  to  Missouri,  and  after  holding  several  meetings 
was  taken  ill  upon  his  way  back  to  Illinois.  His  faith 
and  hope  and  patience  never  shone  more  brightly  than 
amidst  the  sufferings  of  his  last  hours.  Calling  his 
friends  and  such  of  his  children  as  were  present  around 
him,  he  admonished  and  exhorted  them  to  live  to  the 
glory  of  God,  giving  to  each  one  individually  the  most 
affectionate  counsels.  When  asked  by  his  physician, 
Dr.  D.  Morton,  what  he  now  thought  of  the  doctrine  he 
had  preached,  he  promptly  replied  that  he  believed  it 
to  be  true.  "I  may  indeed,"  said  he,  '*  have  held 
some  erroneous  opinions  on  minor  points,  but  in  the 
main  I  conscientiously  believe  I  have  taught  the  truth, 
and  have  tried  to  live  what  I  have  preached  to  others. 
But  it  is  not  by  works  of  righteousness  that  I  have  done, 
but  according  to  his  mercy,  He  saved  me  by  the  wash- 
ing of  regeneration  and  the  renewing  of  the  Holy  Spirit, 
which  he  shed  on  me  abundantly  through  Jesus  Christ. 


TOUR  IN  ILLINOIS. 


53^ 


It  is  of  grace — it  is  all  of  grace."  When  asked  by 
Jacob  Creath  if  he  had  any  fear  at  the  approach  of 
death,  he  said:  Oh  no,  Brother  Creath;  I  know  in 
whom  I  have  believed  and  in  whom  I  have  trusted,  and 
I  am  persuaded  he  is  able  to  keep  what  I  have  com- 
mitted to  him.  I  know  that  my  Redeemer  lives.  All 
my  dependence  is  on  God  ar  d  in  his  Son  Jesus  Christ." 
Quoting  and  commenting  on  some  passages  of  Scrip- 
ture, he  said:  "My  strength  fails,  but  God  is  my 
strength  and  my  portion  for  ever."  Then  requesting 
to  be  placed  in  an  arm-chair,  and  conversing  on  the  love 
of  God,  he  reclined  his  head  on  the  shoulder  of  his  son 
Barton,  and  fell  asleep  in  the  Lord.  Mr.  Campbell, 
with  his  strong  personal  attachments,  greatly  regretted 
the  death  of  one  who  had  been,  as  he  said,  the  honored 
instrument  of  bringing  many  out  of  the  ranks  of  human 
traditions,  and  putting  into  their  hands  the  Book  of 
books  as  their  only  confession  of  faith  and  rule  of  life ;" 
and  was  happy  in  being  able  to  procure  an  oil  portrait 
of  him,  which  he  conveyed  to  Bethany  ;  and  in  after 
years  often  gazed  with  emotions  of  affectionate  remem- 
brance upon  the  benignant  features  of  his  departed  fel- 
low-laborer as  portrayed  in  this  excellent  likeness,  which 
he  placed,  with  those  of  his  own  venerated  father  and  his 
children,  upon  the  wall  of  the  apartment  in  which  he 
was  wont  to  assemble  his  family  for  morning  and  even- 
ing worship. 

From  Hannibal  he  passed  into  Illinois,  where,  at 
Winchester,  he  met  with  J.  T.  Jones,  who  accom- 
panied him  to  Jacksonsville  and  various  other  points  in 
the  State — as  Springfield,  Bloomington,  etc.  Again 
reaching  St.  Louis,  he  took  passage  on  a  boat  for 
Wheeling ;  but  the  navigation  being  closed  by  ice  in 
the  Upper  Ohio,  he  was  compelled  to  make  his  way  ta 


540       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


Bethany  in  sleighs  over  the  rough  roads  and  mountains 
of  Western  Virginia.  In  less  than  nine  months  of  this 
year,  Mr.  Campbell  passed  over  at  least  seven  thousand 
miles,  speaking  in  villages  and  hamlets  scattered  from 
Georgia  to  the  Far  West  of  Missouri. 

With  the  beginning  of  the  year  1846  he  enlarged  the 
Harbinger"  to  sixty  pages  per  month,  and  took  as  co- 
editor  Professor  W.  K.  Pendleton,  who  had  already 
efficiently  aided  in  the  work  and  signalized  his  ability 
as  a  writer.  In  March  of  this  year,  Mr.  Campbell 
published  his  address,  delivered  before  the  Washington 
Literary  Institute,  upon  Capital  Punishment," in  refer- 
ence to  which,  with  his  accustomed  fealty  to  Bible 
teaching,  he  showed  that  it  is  alike  an  oracle  of  rea- 
son, of  justice  and  of  mercy  that  **  whosoever  sheddeth 
man's  blood,  by  man  shall  his  blood  be  shed,"  and  that, 
therefore,  no  substitute  should  be  taken  for  the  life  of 
the  murderer,  inasmuch  as  by  the  eternal  and  immutable 
law  of  God  "  the  land  cannot  be  cleansed  of  the  blood 
that  is  shed  therein  but  by  the  blood  of  him  that  shed 
it."  The  above  address  he  published  as  one  of  his 
tracts  for  the  people.  Of  these  he  had  already  published 
several,  of  twelve  pages  each,  upon  important  religious 
subjects,  and  continued  them  occasionally  for  several 
years.  The  above  tract  on  capital  punishment  was 
widely  circulated  in  America  and  republished  in  Eng- 
land, copies  being  sent  to  Lord  John  Russell  and  other 
eminent  statesmen.  On  the  eleventh  of  March  of  this 
year  the  devoted  Thomas  M.  Henley,  who  had  suffered 
so  much  for  the  cause  of  the  Reformation  in  Virginia, 
died  in  the  triumphs  of  faith,  in  his  sixty-fourth  year. 
Shortly  before,  he  wrote  his  last  communication  to  Mr. 
Campbell,  in  which  he  remarked:  **x\fter  a  corre- 
spondence of  nearly  twenty-one  years,  I  am  the  more 


EVANGELICAL  ALLIANCE. 


persuaded  of  the  great  work  you  are  engaged  in,  and 
that  no  man  or  set  of  men  can  ever  publish  a  more  solid 
basis  of  union  than  that  you  and  your  venerable  father 
have  published  to  the  world  some  thirty-five  years  ago." 
On  the  29th  of  May  of  the  same  year,  Mr.  Campbell's 
daughter  Lavinia,  wife  of  Professor  W.  K.  Pendleton, 
died  of  pulmonary  disease,  having,  with  great  patience 
and  resignation,  waited  for  the  hour  of  her  release, 
and  leaving  behind  her  an  only  daughter,  named  Camp- 
bellina. 

About  this  period  the  Evangelical  Alliance,"  de- 
signed to  promote  the  union  of  Christians,  attracted 
much  of  Mr.  Campbell's  attention,  and  was  hailed  by 
him  with  great  satisfaction  as  an  indication  of  the  ap- 
proach of  a  better  era.  As  to  the  basis  of  union  which 
it  proposed,  he  expressed  a  substantial  agreement, 
though  objecting  to  some  of  the  expressions  employed 
as  unscriptural.  He  pointed  out  the  resemblance  of  the 
movement  to  that  of  the  "Christian  Association"  in 
Washington  in  1809,  which,  like  the  Evangelical  Al- 
liance, assumed  not  the  character  of  a  church,  but  of  a 
society  to  promote  union  among  Christians,  and  re- 
marked, at  the  close  of  his  article : 

"  I  said  at  the  beginning,  I  say  at  the  close,  of  my  notice  of 
the  Evangelical  Alliance,  that  I  thank  God  and  take  courage 
at  every  etlbrt,  however  imperfect  it  may  be,  to  open  the  eyes 
of  the  cominunity  to  tlie  impotency  and  wickedness  of  schism, 
and  to  impress  upon  the  conscientious  and  benevolent  portion 
of  the  Christian  profession  the  excellency,  the  beauty  and  the 
necessity  of  co-operation  in  the  cause  of  Christ  as  prerequisite 
to  the  diffusion  of  Christianity  throughout  the  nations  of  the 
earth. 

**  The  Reformation  for  which  we  plead  grew  out  of  a  con- 
viction of  the  enormous  evils  of  schism  and  partyism,  and  the 
first  article  ever  printed  by  any  of  the  co-operants  in  the  pres- 

46 


542       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


ent  etFort  was  upon  the  subject  of  the  necessity,  practicability 
and  excellency  of  Christian  union  and  communion,  in  order 
to  the  purification  and  extension  of  the  Christian  profession. 
The  abjuration  of  human  creeds  as  roots  of  bitterness  and 
apples  of  discord,  as  the  permanent  causes  of  all  sectarian- 
ism, was  set  forth  as  a  preliminary  step  to  the  purification  of 
the  Church  and  the  conversion  of  the  world.  The  restoratioa 
of  a  pure  speech,  or  the  giving  of  Bible  names  to  Bible  ideas, 
followed  in  its  train,  and  from  these  standing-points  we  have 
been  led  step  by  step  to  our  present  position,  each  one  of  the 
prime  movers  adding  to  the  common  stock  something  of  im- 
portance, until  matters  have  issued  in  one  of  the  most  ex- 
tensive moral  and  ecclesiastical  movements  and  revolutions 
of  the  present  age." 

As  an  evidence  of  the  extent  to  which  the  reformatory 
principles  had  been  circulated,  it  may^  be  here  added 
that  he  had  just  before  received  a  letter  from  New  Zea- 
land, dated  March  21,  1845,  informing  him  of  the  or- 
ganization of  a  church  there  in  the  town  of  Nelson,  and 
desiring  an  additional  -supply  of  his  wridngs  to  be  for- 
warded. This  letter,  in  its  transit  by  way  of  New  South 
Wales  and  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope  to  Great  Britain 
and  thence  to  America,  had  been  carried  about  twenty 
thousand  miles,  and  was  one  year  and  six  weeks  in 
reaching  its  destination  at  Bethany. 

Mr.  Campbell,  who  had  been  long  desirous  of  revisit- 
ing his  native  land,  was  about  this  time  induced  by^  press- 
ing invitations  from  the  churches  in  Great  Britain  and 
Ireland  to  undertake  the  journey.  Arranging  the  time 
of  his  departure  so  as  to  include  the  college  vacaUon  of 
two  and  a  half  months  in  his  period  of  absence,  he  set 
out  on  the  2d  of  April,  1847,  Professor  Pendleton  sup- 
plying his  place  meanwhile  by  virtue  of  his  appoint- 
ment as  vice-president.  At  Baltimore  he  met  with 
James  Henshall,  who  had  agreed  to  accompany  him. 


ROBERT  OWEN. 


543 


and  received  there  certain  donations  for  the  poor  m 
Ireland.  After  speaking  several  times  in  Baltimore,  he 
passed  through  Philadelphia  to  New  York,  where  in 
company  with  D.  S.  Burnet,  he  sojourned  at  the  hospit- 
able abode  of  E.  Parmley.  While  here  he  had  several 
pleasant  interviews  with  Dr.  Giustiniani,  an  eminent 
Roman  Catholic  clergyman,  who  with  a  number  of 
adherents  had  lately  seceded  from  Rome.  He  enjoyed 
also  much  of  the  society  of  James  Buchannan,  late 
British  Consul,  who  happened  to  be  in  the  city,  and 
whom  he  highly  esteemed  for  his  piety  and  devotion  to 
the  cause  of  religious  reformation.  He  was  especially 
gratified,  too,  by  a  call  from  Robert  Owen,  who  with 
the  most  perfect  courtesy  and  kind  feeling  inquired 
after  Mr.  Campbell's  family,  and  particularly  after  his 
lather,  for  whom  he  had  a  peculiar  regard.  In  speak- 
ing of  the  interview,  Mr.  Campbell  remarked,  as  he 
had  been  wont  to  do  on  many  occasions,  that  *'  of  all 
his  opponents  in  debate  the  infidel  Robert  Owen  was 
the  most  candid,  fair  and  gentlemanly  disputant  he  had 
ever  met."  As  this  was  the  last  time  he  ever  saw  Mr. 
Owen,  it  may  be  here  stated  that  the  latter  afterward 
finally  returned  to  England,  and,  as  related  in  a  biog- 
raphical sketch  published  after  his  death,  continued 
to  be  noted  for  his  amiability,  being  still 

"  The  same  placid,  happy  being  in  his  old  age,  believing 
and  expecting  whatever  he  wished  ;  always  gentlemanly  and 
courteous  in  his  manners ;  always  on  the  most  endearing 
terms  with  his  children,  who  loved  to  make  him,  as  they  said, 
*  the  very  happiest  old  man  in  the  world  ;*  always  a  gentle 
bore  in  regard  to  his  dogmas  and  his  expectations ;  always 
palpably  right  in  his  descriptions  of  human  misery;  always 
thinking  he  had  proved  a  thing  when  he  had  asserted  it  in 
the  force  of  his  own  conviction  ;  and  alwa3's  meaning  some- 


544       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


thing  more  rational  than  he  had  actually  expressed.  It  was 
said  by  way  of  mockery,  that  *  he  might  live  in  parallelo- 
grams, but  he  argued  in  circles,*  but  this  is  too  favorable  a 
description  of  one  who  did  not  argue  at  all,  nor  know  what 
argument  meant.  His  mind  never  fairly  met  any  other, 
though  at  the  close  of  his  life  he  had  a  strange  idea  that  it 
did  by  means  of  spirit-rapping.  He  published  sundry  con- 
versations held  in  that  way  with  Benjamin  Franklin  and 
other  people,  and  in  the  very  same  breath  in  which  he  in- 
sisted on  the  reality  of  these  conversations  he  insisted  that  the 
new-found  power  was  '  all  electricity.*  He  lived  until  his 
eighty-ninth  year,  and  died  in  November,  1857,  Newtown, 
in  Wales,  the  place  of  his  birth,  to  which  he  had  gone  on  a 
visit." 

Mr.  Campbell,  after  spending  some  days  in  New 
York,  set  out  with  his  companion,  James  Henshall,  on 
the  4th  of  May  on  board  the  Siddons,  Captain  Cobb,  a 
sailing  vessel,  which  he  preferred  to  a  steamer,  in  order 
that  he  might  enjoy  a  longer  sea  voyage.  He  found  on 
board  a  pleasant  company  of  some  twelve  cabin  passen- 
gers, with  kind  attentions  on  the  part  of  the  captain 
and  very  agreeable  quarters,  where,  with  his  fellow- 
voyager,  he  maintained  regularly  his  morning  and 
evening  devotions  with  special  reference  to  the  success 
of  the  present  mission  in  which  they  were  engaged. 

"  After  an  exchange  of  views  on  the  plan  of  operations," 
remarks  Mr.  Henshall  in  his  notes  of  the  tour,  ''we  agreed 
to  make  it  a  constant  subject  of  prayer,  and  that  we  commend 
ourselves  daily  to  the  Lord,  praying  him  to  impress  our  own 
hearts  with  the  importance  of  the  work  to  be  done;  calling 
on  him  for  his  guidance  and  protection,  so  that  in  all  our 
labors  God  may  be  glorified  and  the  saints  comforted  and 
edified  and  poor  sinners  turned  from  the  error  of  tlieir  ways. 
Brother  Campbell  then  laid  the  whole  before  the  throne  of 
grace  in  a  very  impressive  manner,  and  we  felt  the  good  influ- 
ence of  the  sweet  Spirit  of  God.    Oh  that  the  traducers  of 


LABORS  IN  CHESTER. 


545 


this  Reformation  and  the  revilers  of  this  good  man  could  have 
felt  what  we  enjoyed  upon  tl>e  broad  face  of  the  mighty 
waters !" 

Mr.  Campbell,  having  been  invited  by  the  captain  to 
preach  on  every  Lord's  day,  was  heard  with  great 
attention.  He  had  also  pleasant  conversations  on  re- 
ligious topics  with  many  of  the  passengers,  especially 
with  a  young  Englishman,  a  Mr.  Thornhill,  who  had 
been  a  great  traveler  and  belonged  to  the  school  of 
Robert  Owen,  whose  views  he  often  attempted  to  sus- 
tain, but  was  soon  confounded  by  Mr.  Campbell's  argu- 
ments. These  discussions  and  conversations,  often  re- 
newed, and  conducted  always  with  the  utmost  good 
feeling,  were  very  agreeable  to  all,  and  tended  to 
diminish  the  tiresomeness  of  the  voyage,  which  ex- 
tended to  twenty-five  days,  and  was  much  of  the  time 
rough  and  unpleasant.  Upon  landing  at  Liverpool, 
Mr.  Campbell  was  met  at  the  docks  by  Mr.  J.  Davies 
of  Mollington,  a  worthy  and  zealous  member  of  the 
Church,  with  whom  he  had  had  a  correspondence,  and 
who  had  been  largely  instrumental  in  introducing 
Mr.  Campbell's  writings  into  England.  At  the  custom- 
house he  met  with  Brethren  Woodnorth  and  Tickle  of 
Liverpool,  and  was  then  conveyed  by  Brother  Davies  to 
his  delightful  residence  in  the  valley  of  the  Dee,  seven- 
teen miles  from  the  city,  while  Mr.  Henshall  set  out  to 
visit  his'  parents  and  other  relatives  living  not  far  from 
Stockport.  Notice  of-  Mr.  Campbell's  arrival  being 
given,  he  spoke  several  times  in  a  public  hall  in  the 
neighboring  city  of  Chester  to  large  audiences,  and 
delivered  two  discourses  in  the  church  building  formerly 
occupied  by  Matthew  Henry  the  commentator,  now  in 
possession  of  the  Unitarians,  who,  although  they  were 
aware  that  Mr.  Campbell  was  opposed  to  their  views, 

VOL.  II.— 2  K  46  * 


54^        MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


kindly  tendered  him  the  use  of  their  house.  Re- 
joined by  Brother  Henshall,  he  went  down  with  him 
and  Brother  Davies  to  Wrexham  in  Wales,  fourteen 
miles  distant,  where  several  meetings  were  held,  and 
where  he  was  received  with  the  utmost  kindness  by  the 
Baptists  and  Disciples.  On  the  7th  and  8th  of  June 
they  visited  Liverpool,  and  delivered  addresses  in  Con- 
cert Hall,  which  had  been  erected  by  the  Owenites  for 
the  promotion  of  infidelity,  but  was  now  used  for  vari- 
ous public  purposes  and  for  the  defence  and  advance- 
ment of  that  Christianity  which  it  had  been  built  to 
overthrow\  Leaving  Mr.  Henshall  to  continue  meet- 
ings in  Liverpool  and  Chester,  he  visited  Shrewsbury, 
an  ancient  walled  town  beautifully  located  on  the  delight- 
ful banks  of  the  Severn,  and  the  birth-place  of  Mrs. 
Bakewell,  where  he  sojourned  with  Mrs.  Cooke,  an 
amiable  Baptist  lady,  sister  of  Mr.  Hawley  of  Detroit. 
Here  he  spoke  three  times,  and  formed  an  agreeable 
acquaintance  with  some  of  the  Plymouth  brethren,  of 
whom  he  formed  a  high  opinion  as  a  spiritually-minded 
and  intelligent  people.  From  thence  he  went  to  Not- 
tingham, where  he  sojourned  with  the  devoted  James 
Wallis,  and  spoke  to  crowded  audiences  in  the  Me- 
chanics' Institute,  the  largest  hall  in  the  city.  Here  he 
was  again  succeeded  by  Mr.  Henshall,  and  some  twenty 
persons  in  all  were  added  to  the  church. 

Having  visited  Eaton  Hall,  the  magnificent  palace 
of  the  Marquis  of  Westminster,  four  miles  from  Chester, 
he  concluded,  before  leaving  Nottingham,  to  see  New- 
stead  Abbey,  to  which,  with  a  pleasant  company  of 
Disciples,  he  drove  through  Sherwood  Forest,  the  scene 
of  many  of  the  famed  exploits  of  Robin  Hood.  On 
the  following  day,  22d  of  June,  he  went  to  Leicester, 
accompanied  by  his  wife's  cousin,  Henrietta  Bakewell, 


LABORS  IN  LONDON. 


547 


of  Stafford.  Here  he  spoke  twice  to  large  audiences, 
and  visited  the  famous  ancient  abbey  to  which  Wolsey 
retired  to  die  in  1530.  Here  he  was  particularly  inter- 
ested in  the  fact  that  Leicester  was  the  city  of  the 
illustrious  missionary  Carey,  and  of  Robert  Hall,  who 
after  Dr.  Carey's  departure  occupied  his  pulpit  for  eigh- 
teen years.  Here  also  he  was  shown  the  guard-house, 
yet  standing  on  the  wall,  where  John  Bunyan  kept  guard 
while  a  soldier  in  the  wars  of  Cromwell.  From  thence 
he  passed  to  London,  a  hundred  miles  distant,  and  was 
met  at  the  depot  by  Brethren  Wallis  and  Davies,  who  had 
preceded  him,  and  by  a  zealous  and  intelligent  Disciple, 
a  Sister  Whalley,  w^ho  in  London  had  charge  of  the 
household  of  the  Duke  of  Norfolk,  and  by  whom  he 
was  conveyed  to  Surrey  street,  on  the  Strand,  to  a  suite 
of  rooms  prepared  for  him.  In  London  he  delivered 
addresses  at  the  Disciples'  meeting-house  in  Elstree 
street,  also  in  the  Alvetian  Rooms  near  the  University, 
and  in  the  Mechanics'  Institute,  as  well  as  in  a  meeting- 
house tendered  by  the  Unitarians,  and  in  another  por- 
tion of  the  city  in  a  house  of  the  General  Baptists.  He 
also  delivered  a  discourse  in  the  pulpit  of  the  eminent 
Dr.  Cox,  who  gave  Mr.  Campbell  a  very  kind  invita- 
tion to  preach  for  him,  and  was  much  pleased  with  his 
discourse  upon  the  mystery  of  godliness  (i  Tim.  iii.  16), 
seeming  to  be  entirely  disabused  of  some  unfavorable 
impres.sions  he  had  received  from  his  Baptist  friends  on 
a  former  tour  in  the  United  States  with  Dr.  Hobey. 
On  Friday  evening,  9th  of  July,  he  addressed  the  skepn 
tics  in  their  hall  of  debate  on  the  question,  Has  God 
ever  spoken  to  man?"  for  which  he  afterward  received 
a  vote  of  thanks.  On  Lord's  day,  the  nth,  the  church 
met  in  the  Alvetian  Rooms,  when  both  he  and  Mr. 
Henshall  addressed  highly-interested  audiences,  Mr. 


54^       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


Campbell  delivering  his  last  discourse  in  London  in 
the  evening.  In  this  vast  city  of  three  millions  there 
was  but  a  small,  inefficient  church  of  about  seventy 
members,  and  as  little  effort  had  been  made  to  direct 
public  attention  to  Mr.  Campbell's  brief  visit,  the  at- 
tendance at  his  meetings  had  not  at  any  time  been 
very  large. 

Having  received  highly  commendatory  letters  of  in- 
troduction from  Henry  Clay  *  and  others,  and  being 
highly  favored  by  the  American  Minister,  Mr.  Bancroft, 
and  other  persons  of  influence,  he  enjoyed  unusual 
facilities,  and  everything  he  wished  to  see  was  opened 
to  him  in  the  city  and  in  the  country.  He  accordingly 
attended  the  meetings  of  Parliament,  where  he  had  the 
pleasure  of  hearing  Lord  Brougham  and  the  Duke  of 

*  The  following  is  Mr.  Clay's  letter,  which  he  kindly  forwarded  to  Mr. 
Campbell  when  he  learned  that  he  was  going  abroad.  Like  many  others,  he 
was  under  the  impression  that  Mr.  Campbell  was  a  doctor  of  divinity,  and 
misconceived  his  true  position  also  in  other  respects : 

"The  Rev.  Dr.  A.  Campbell,  the  bearer  hereof,  a  citizen  of  the  United 
States  of  America,  residing  in  the  Commonwealth  of  Virginia,  being  about 
to  make  a  voyage  to  Europe  and  to  travel  particularly  in  Great  Britain,  Ire- 
land and  France,  I  take  great  satisfaction  in  strongly  recommending  him  to 
the  kind  offices  and  friendly  reception  and  treatment  of  all  persons  with 
whom  he  may  meet  and  wherever  he  may  go.  Dr.  Campbell  is  among  the 
most  eminent  citizens  of  the  United  States,  distinguished  for  his  great  learn- 
ing and  ability,  for  his  successful  devotion  to  the  education  of  youth,  for  his 
piety  and  as  the  head  and  founder  of  one  of  the  most  important  and  respect- 
able religious  communities  in  the  United  States,  Nor  have  his  great  talents 
been  exclusively  confined  to  the  religious  and  literary  walks  in  which  he  has 
principally  moved  ;  he  was  a  distinguished  member,  about  twenty  years 
ago,  of  the  convention  called  in  the  State  of  Virginia  to  remodel  its  civil 
constitution,  in  which,  besides  other  eminent  men,  were  ex- Presidents  Madison 
and  Monroe,  and  John  Marshall,  the  late  Chief-Justice  of  the  United  States. 

"Dr.  Campbell,  whom  I  have  the  honor  to  regard  personally  as  my  friend, 
carries  with  him  my  wishes  and  my  prayers  for  his  health  and  happiness 
whilst  abroad,  and  for  his  safe  return  to  his  country,  which  justly  appreciates 
him  so  highly.  H.  Clay. 

•    "Ashland,  Kentucky,  May,  1847." 


VISIT  TO  PARIS. 


549 


Wellington  deliver  speeches.  He  saw,  also,  the  prin- 
cipal public  buildings  and  places  of  celebrity  in  and 
about  London,  as  he  did  also  in  other  parts  of  the  king- 
dom, and  gave  particular  accounts  of  them  and  of  his 
entire  tour  in  his  "  Letters  from  Europe,"  published  in 
the  Harbinger"  and  addressed  to  his  daughter  Cla- 
rinda,  the  only  one  remaining  of  his  first  family,  and 
who  had  herself,  the  preceding  year,  visited  England  in 
company  with  Prof.  W.  K.  Pendleton.  It  would  be  un- 
necessary, therefore,  if  space  even  permitted,  to  repeat 
familiar  descriptions  of  things  which  were  not  particu- 
larly related  to  his  mission,  and  of  which  he  himself 
became  weary,  since  at  the  close  of  his  visit  to  London 
he  says  to  his  daughter, 

"Meantime  I  sigh  for  repose,  and  often  think  of  the  hills 
around  Bethany  and  of  the  enviable  lot  of  those  I  left  behind 
me,  compared  to  that  of  the  millions  through  which  I  am 
passing  in  this  Old  World  of  palaces  and  hovels,  of  princes 
and  beggars,  of  exuberant  wealth  and  cheerless  poverty. 
May  the  Lord  in  his  mercy  watch  over  your  native  country, 
and  long  preserve  it  from  the  vices  and  follies  which  have  en- 
tailed on  France,  on  England  and  on  Europe  an  inheritance 
of  miseries  and  misfortunes  from  which  the  wisdom  of  poli- 
ticians and  the  benevolence  of  Christians  cannot  rescue  them 
for  generations  to  come  !" 

By  way  of  a  little  recreation  after  his  labors  in  Lon- 
don, he  resolved  on  a  flying  trip  to  the  metropolis  of 
France.  During  his  hasty  visit,  he  was  impressed  with 
the  inferiority  of  the  agriculture  and  domestic  animals 
of  France  compared  with  those  of  England.  He  was 
astonished,  however,  with  the  magnificence  of  Paris 
and  with  the  superiority  of  its  public  garaens  and  walks 
to  those  of  London.  He  visited  the  Louvre,  the  Tuil- 
eries  and  other  places  of  interest,  and  was  amazed  at 
the  taste  and  beauty  everywhere  displayed.    He  rode 


55°       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


along  the  Seine  and  admired  its  twenty-one  elegant 
bridges.  He  also  visited  some  of  the  churches,  among 
which  he  noted  particularly  the  splendid  architecture 
and  internal  decorations  of  La  Madeleine^  which  he 
briefly  describes,  and  remarks,  in  passing  to  matters 
more  consonant  with  his  trains  of  thought : 

"  While  gazing  on  all  the  grandeur  above  and  around  me, 
I  saw  the  priest  standing  before  the  altar  with  his  back  to 
half  a  dozen  devotees  kneeling  in  difierent  parts  of  the  church, 
performing  various  genuflections  and  grimaces.  A  large 
cross  was  inwTought  on  his  coat,  after  the  manner  of  Indian 
beads,  of  various  colors,  so  that  while  his  back  was  to  the 
people,  a  gorgeous  cross  from  head  to  heel  was  visible. 
W^hat  a  splendid  device !  How  easy  to  carry  such  a  rich  and 
beautiful  cross,  kneeling  on  a  velvet  cushion  under  a  golden 
canopy,  with  a  few  august  worshipers  in  his  rear!  What  an 
ingenious  commentary  upon  the  words,  *  Take  up  your  cross 
and  follow  me  !'  I  turned  away  from  this  disgusting  mum- 
mery and  left  the  cathedral." 

While  in  France  he  was  greatly  annoyed  by  the  pass- 
port system,  which  marked  so  striking  a  contrast  be- 
tween the  freedom  enjoyed  by  strangers  there,  com- 
pared wath  what  he  had  found  in  England  and  enjoyed 
in  the  United  States,  which,  he  remarks,  had  risen  a 
hundred  per  cent,  in  his  estimation  above  any  country 
he  had  seen.  Upon  his  return  to  England  he  visited 
Banbury,  where  he  delivered  three  discourses,  and 
made  a  brief  call  at  Cambridge  and  Oxford,  where  it 
was  now  the  period  of  vacation.  He  also  spoke  twice 
in  Manchester  and  thence  repaired  to  Wigan,  where  he 
delivered  one  discourse  and  enjoyed  the  hospitalities  of 
the  zealous  and  intelligent  Brother  Coop.  He  visited 
also  Huddersfield  and  the  old  city  of  York,  passing  on 
to  Sunderland,  where  he  was  kindly  received,  sojourn- 
ing with  a  Brother  Douglass,  a  ship-owner,  who  had 


LABORS  IN  EDINBURGH, 


55^ 


given  the  nkme  of  "  Alexander  Campbell "  to  one  of 
his  vessels,  and  was  then  building  another  to  be  called 
*'  Clarinda."  Here  he  spoke  three  times,  and  Mr. 
Henshall  twice,  having  a  very  fine  hearing  and  pro- 
ducing a  very  favorable  impression.  From  thence  he 
went  to  Newcastle,  where  he  spoke  thrice  to  immense 
audiences,  and  then  proceeded  to  Berwick-upon-Tweed 
on  his  way  to  Scotland,  which  he  greatly  desired  to  re- 
visit, as  well  from  the  ties  of  ancient  lineage  as  from 
his  cherished  remembrance  of  his  former  checkered 
experience  in  that  portion  of  the  island,  which,  by  a 
singular  coincidence,  he  entered  on  the  fifth  day  of 
August,  the  very  same  day  on  which,  thirty-eight  years 
before,  he  had  embarked  from  it  for  the  United  States. 

Upon  his  arrival  at  Edinburgh  he  was  kindly  received 
by  the  brethren,  many  of  whom  had  come  to  meet  him 
from  various  parts  of  Scotland,  and  among  whom  he 
found  also  John  Tener,  of  Ireland.  Next  day  being 
Lord's  day,  he  spoke  to  the  church  in  Nickleson  street, 
and  in  the  evening  at  the  Waterloo  Rooms.  He  had 
declined  making  any  appointment  for  the  afternoon,  in 
order  to  visit  James  Haldane's  church,  having  promised 
himself,  as  he  said,  much  pleasure  from  seeing  and 
hearing  this  distinguished  and  excellent  man.  He 
found,  however,  that  the  churches  established  by  the 
Haldanes  were  greatly  reduced,  and  upon  entering 
what  was  formerly  the  "  Great  Tabernacle,"  found  it 
also  so  contracted  in  its  dimensions  as  to  seat  only  some 
seven  or  eight  hundred,  and  only  partially  filled  with 
an  audience  of  some  two  hundred  persons.  Disap- 
pointed in  not  seeing  James  Haldane,  who  was  absent 
some  twenty  miles  in  the  country,  he  listened  to  a  dis- 
course by  a  Mr.  McKenzie,  a  missionary  from  the 
Highlands,  which,  as  he  remarked,  seemed  to  him  as 


552       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


quaint,  formal  and  familiar  as  the  doctrinal  disquisitions 
to  which  he  had  been  accustomed  to  listen  forty  years 
before.  Next  morning  he  and  Mr.  Henshall  break- 
fasted, by  invitation,  with  John  Tener,  at  the  Nelson 
Monument  on  Calton  Hill,  and  enjoyed  a  magnificent 
view  of  Arthurs  Seat  and  of  the  New  Citv,  which 
George  IV.,  from  the  same  spot,  called  the  "City  of 
Palaces."  Subsequently,  he  visited  the  Castle  and 
some  other  places  as  time  permitted,  being  considerably 
interested  in  seeing  the  house  of  the  celebrated  John 
Knox  and  the  room  in  which  Spurzheim  had  taught 
phrenology. 

Appointments  having  been  made  at  the  Waterloo 
Rooms  for  lectures  during  the  week,  a  considerable  in- 
terest was  beginning  to  be  created  when  unlooked-for 
occurrences  gave  a  new  turn  to  affairs.  It  appears  that 
prior  to  Mr.  Campbell's  arrival  considerable  excitement 
existed  amongst  some  of  the  Congregational  churches 
in  Edinburgh  and  its  vicinity  in  reference  to  his  relig- 
ious views.  Two  influential  male  members  had  recent- 
ly left  the  Morrisonian  church  at  Leith,  near  Edinburgh, 
under  the  care  of  the  Rev.  S.  M.  Kennedy,  and  united 
with  the  Disciples  in  the  city.  Another  church  in  the 
city,  under  the  Rev.  Mr.  Kirk,  as  well  as  some  of  the 
preachers  of  the  denomination,  were  at  this  time  dis- 
turbed upon  the  subject  of  Reformation.  As  few  ac- 
quainted with  Mr.  Campbell's  previous  history  and 
ability  as  a  disputant  cared  to  engage  with  him  in  an 
open  discussion  of  his  religious  views,  it  seems  to  have 
been  thought  advisable  by  his  prejudiced  opponents  to 
find  some  ground  upon  which  public  odium  could  be 
excited  against  him  and  the  people  be  kept  from  hearing 
him.  As  Mr.  Campbell  w^as  known  to  be  from  Virginia, 
and  the  anti-slavery  excitement  at  this  time  ran  high  in 


PERSE  C  UTIONS. 


553 


Scotland,  nothing  seemed  to  be  so  well  suited  to  the 
purpose  as  the  slavery  question,  of  which  the  managers 
in  the  affair  at  once  availed  themselves,  and  the  Rev. 
Mr.  Kennedy,  with  a  Rev.  James  Robertson  and  a  Mr. 
Hunter,  were  soon  deputed  by  the  "  Scotch  Anti-slavery 
Society  "  to  ascertain  Mr.  Campbell's  opinions  upon  the 
subject.  This  committee  accordingly  visited  Mr.  Camp- 
bell, and,  without  informing  him  of  their  character  or 
their  errand,  sought,  as  it  were,  to  take  him  off  his 
guard  and  to  obtain  from  him  some  expression  of  senti- 
ment which  they  could  employ  against  him.  Regard- 
ing them  merely  as  friendly  visitors,  Mr.  Campbell 
made  no  concealment  of  his  disapproval  of  the  course 
pursued  by  the  abolitionists  in  Britain  and  America  as 
not  tending  to  the  removal  of  the  institution,  adding 
that  the  people  in  Britain  did  not  understand  the  subject 
as  well  as  the  Americans,  and  that  their  interference 
could  be  attended  by  no  beneficial  results.  The  gentle- 
men then,  after  bidding  him  an  apparently  friendly 
adieu,  departed,  and  in  a  few  hours  had  posted,  in  the 
public  places  of  Edinburgh,  placards  having  printed 
upon  them,  in  immense  capitals,  "Citizens  of  Edinburgh 
— Beware  I  beware  !  The  Rev.  Alexander  Campbell 
of  Virginia,  United  States  of  America,  has  been  a 
slaveholder  himself  and  is  still  a  defender  of  man- 
stealers  !"  At  his  next  meeting,  as  there  was  a  con- 
siderable excitement  and  a  large  audience  in  attendance, 
Mr.  Campbell,  before  proceeding  with  his  address,  ad- 
verted to  the  placard,  informing  the  people  that  it  was 
grossly  false  and  calumnious,  and  that  he  would  pre- 
sume so  far  upon  their  candor  as  to  proceed  with  his 
lecture  for  the  evening,  promising  to  give,  on  Friday 
evening,  a  full  view  of  his  position  on  the  subject  of 
American  slavery.    This  he  accordingly  did  at  con- 


554       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


siderable  length  and  amidst  much  noise  and  tumult,  pro- 
moted by  Mr.  Robertson,  Kennedy  and  others  who 
were  present.  He  also  read  a  letter  which  he  had  re- 
ceived from  Mr.  Robertson,  challenging  him  to  debate 
his  position  in  regard  to  slavery,  and  his  reply,  inform- 
ing Mr.  Robertson  that  his  published  appointments  left 
him  little  or  no  time  for  an  oral  debate,  but  that  he 
would  engage,  if  desired,  in  a  written  discussion  in  de- 
fence of  his  position. 

Leaving  Edinburgh  next  morning,  Saturday,  14th 
of  August,  for  the  city  of  Aberdeen  by  steamer,  he  en- 
joyed a  pleasant  voyage  along  the  northern  coast  of 
Scothmd,  and  was  kindly  received  upon  his  arrival  by 
Brother  Dunn,  of  the  Baptist  church.  Being  comfort- 
ably lodged  in  this  kind  and  hospitable  family,  he  was 
much  refreshed,  and  spoke  thrice  on  the  following  day, 
iind  nfter  visiting  and  preaching  at  Banff,  and  taking 
several  baths  in  the  Northern  Sea,  returned  to  Aber- 
deen much  invigorated.  Here  he  visited  the  university 
premises,  and  the  churchyard  where  the  remains  of  Pro- 
fessor George  Campbell  and  Doctor  Beattie  repose, 
for  whose  memory  he  entertained  the  highest  regard. 
Leaving  Aberdeen  on  the  19th,  he  visited  Montrose, 
where  he  held  one  meeting,  and  departed  next  morning 
for  Dundee.  Finding  himself  pursued  or  anticipated 
at  all  his  appointments  by  the  placards  forwarded  from 
Edinburgh,  and  having  heard  something  unfavorable  to 
the  cliaracter  of  Mr.  Robertson,  he  addressed  from  Dun- 
dee a  letter  to  the  editor  of  the  Edinburgh  Journal," 
in  which  he  said  that  he  would  consent  to  devote  the  time 
from  tlie  2.jth  to  the  27th  of  September  to  an  oral  discus- 
sion on  his  position  in  regard  to  American  slavery  with 
any  one  whom  tlie  Anti-slavery  Society  might  appoint, 
or  engage  in  a  written  discussion  for  which  any  time  or 


LABORS  IN  PAISLEY. 


555 


place  could  be  made  acceptable.  I  will  in  either 
way,"  said  he,  "  meet  any  gentleman  whom  you  may 
select — even  Mr.  Robertson  himself — provided  only 
that  he  be  not  that  Reverend  yames  Robertson  who 
was  publicly  censured  and  excluded  from  the  Baptist 
Church  for  violating  the  fifth  commandment  in  refer- 
ence to  his  mother,  of  which  I  have  heard  something  in 
Dundee."  After  leaving  Dundee  he  spoke  at  Cupar, 
and  passed  thence  to  the  village  of  Auchtermuchty, 
where  at  "  Bethany  Cottage,"  the  residence  of  an  ami- 
able Christian  family  by  the  name  of  Dron,  he  was  re- 
ceived with  great  kindness,  and  delivered  one  discourse. 
From  thence,  passing  by  Loch  Leven,  he  had  a  pleas- 
ant meeting  at  Dumfermline,  and  on  the  following  day 
at  Falchor,  from  whence  he  went  on  to  Glasgow,  and 
found  himself  quite  at  home  in  the  pleasant  abode  of 
Brother  Alexander  Paton. 

Here  he  commenced  his  course  of  lectures  in  a  capa- 
cious Presbyterian  meeting-house  on  the  27ih  of  Au- 
gust, and  had  a  large  audience,  which  was  at  first  some- 
what tumultuous,  but  soon  became  quiet  and  attentive. 
Next  day  he  visited  Paisley,  where  he  had  a  very 
airreeable  meetin^j  with  the  brethren,  and  where  he 
was  introduced  to  a  wealthy  disciple,  Ivie  Campbell, 
of  Dalziff,  in  Avrshire,  who  had  been  educated  in  the 
University  of  Glasgow  for  a  Presbyterian  minister,  and 
had  been  classmate,  friend  and  companion  of  Pollock, 
author  of  ''The  Course  of  Time."  Though  wholly 
Presbyterian  in  education  and  feeling,  he  possessed  so 
much  independence  of  mind  and  candor  that  upon 
reading  the  Rice  Debate  he  became  fully  satistied  of 
the  truth  of  Mr.  Campbell's  positions,  renounced  Pres- 
byterianism  and  was  immersed  into  the  primitive  faith. 
After  preaching  at  Kilmarnock,  Mr.  Campbell  went  to 


55^        MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 

the  town  of  Ayr,  where  he  contemplated  the  memorials 
of  Burns,  and  then  visited  Irvine  where  he  dined  with 
a  zealous  Brother  Rollo,  uncle  of  Lord  Rollo,  by  whom 
he  was  conducted  to  the  apartment  in  which  the  poet 
Montgomery  was  born.  Returning  thence  to  Glasgow^ 
he  continued  his  lectures. 

On  the  night  of  Saturday,  4th  of  September,  he  was 
affected  with  a  peculiar  sadness  for  which  he  was  un-  • 
able  to  account,  and  which  was  so  entirely  foreign 
to  his  nature  that  he  could  not  avoid  mentioning  it  next 
morning  at  breakfast.  He  felt  as  if  some  great  calamity 
was  impending,  and  he  found  it  impossible  to  divert  his 
mind  from  thoughts  of  home,  which  seemed  to  press 
upon  him  as  never  before.  By  the  next  morning,  how- 
ever, he  had  entirely  regained  his  usual  serenity  and 
cheerfulness.  It  is  a  singular  circumstance  that  just 
about  the  time  he  experienced  this  unaccountable  de- 
pression a  sad  affair  was  indeed  occurring  at  his  home 
across  the  Atlantic.  On  that  very  Saturday,  his  second 
and  most  beloved  son  Wickliffe,  then  in  his  eleventh 
year,  was  drowned.  He  had,  in  company  with  two 
other  little  boys,  repaired  to  the  creek  to  bathe,  in  a 
deep  pool  below^  the  apron  of  a  mill-dam,  above  which 
there  was  but  little  water,  as  the  creek  was  low.  After 
bathing,  the  boys  were  amusing  themselves  by  diving 
under  a  small  boat  and  coming  up  on  the  other  side  of 
it.  This  they  had  frequently  done  with  safety  on  for- 
mer occasions,  but  at  this  time  Wickliffe  failed  to  ap- 
pear after  his  companions  had  come  up  safely  on  the 
other  side.  The  alarm  was  immediately  given,  but 
more  than  half  an  hour  elapsed  before  he  was  dis- 
covered in  the  water  under  the  apron  of  tlie  mill-dam. 
The  most  earnest  and  persevering  efforts  at  resuscita- 
tion proved  under  the  circumstances  entirely  fruitless. 


OCCURRENCES  IN  GLASGOW.  ^jST 

This  event  plunged  the  household  into  the  deepest 
affliction,  for  he  was  a  boy  of  great  promise  and  much 
beloved.  Especially  did  it  fall  with  peculiar  force  in 
Mr.  Campbell's  absence  upon  the  afflicted  mother,  who 
now  experienced  her  first  great  sorrow,  under  which  her 
con-stitutional  tendency  to  melancholy  was  at  once  de- 
veloped in  all  its  force,  so  that  neither  the  hopes  and 
consolations  of  religion  nor  the  Christian  sympathies 
of  Thomas  Campbell  and  other  cherished  friends  could 
soothe  her  grief. 

On  the  morning  of  Monday,  the  6th  of  September,. 
Mr.  Campbell,  accompanied  by  a  few  friends,  directed 
his  steps  to  the  cemetery  at  Glasgow,  and,  as  he  says, 
spent  one  of  the  most  beautiful  and  happy  forenoons 
he  had  enjoyed  in  Scotland,  ''in  conversing  with  the 
living  and  yet  communing  with  the  dead."  Passing 
over  the  ''Bridge  of  Sighs"  beyond  the  old  cathedral, 
where  the  waters  of  Molindinar  Burn  dash  violently 
over  an  artificial  cascade  into  a  deep  ravine,  he  reached 
the  city  of  the  dead,  where  amidst  elegant  monuments 
and  beautiful  shrubbery  lay  the  crumbling  memorials 
of  five-and-twenty  generations,  and  where,  nearly  forty 
years  before,  he  had  occasionally  rambled  and  spent 
many  a  moonlight  hour  in  solitary  musings.  In  the 
afternoon  of  this  day,  while  he  was  expecting  to  con- 
tinue his  lectures  in  the  evening  and  to  complete  his 
course  in  time  to  meet  his  appointments  in  Ireland,  he 
was  presented  with  a  warrant  from  the  sheriff  of  Lanark 
to  prevent  him  from  leaving  Scotland. 

This  was  done  at  the  instance  of  Rev.  James  Robert 
son,  who  had  received  the  thanks  of  the  "  Anti-slavery 
Society"  for  placarding  and  opposing  Mr.  Campbell, 
and  who,  having  found  his  previous  measures  unavail- 
ing to  prevent  the  people  from  hearing  him,  and  having 

47  * 


55S        MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


become  still  further  exasperated  by  Mr.  Campbell's 
allusion  to  him  in  his  letter  from  Dundee,  had  based 
upon  the  latter  a  suit  for  damages,  the  amount  of  which 
he  placed  at  five  thousand  pounds.  Representing  that 
Mr.  Campbell  was  about  to  leave  the  country,  he  had 
now  succeeded  in  obtaining  a  warrant  in  meditatione 
fugcB^  rarely  used  and  designed  to  prevent  the  escape  of 
debtors.  Mr.  Campbell's  counsel  demurred  to  the  war- 
rant, and  the  case  was  heard  before  one  of  the  sheriffs, 
who  with  some  distrust  decided  that  it  was  legal.  The 
case  was  then  appealed  to  the  high  sheriff,  who  was 
no  other  than  Archibald  Alison  the  historian,  who  ad- 
judged the  warrant  legal,  but  reduced  the  amount 
specified  in  it  of  five  thousand  pounds  to  the  compara- 
tively paltry  sum  of  two  hundred  pounds.  Mr.  Camp- 
bell's counsel  then  appealed  to  the  Superior  Court  of 
Scotland,  to  the  lord  ordinary,  who  happened  then  to  be 
Lord  Murray. 

**  Meantime,"  says  Mr.  Campbell  in  his  account  of  the 
matter,  there  must  intervene  no  less  than  ten  days  before 
the  case  can  be  tried  before  Lord  Murray.  And  now  the 
question  with  me  was,  Shall  I  give  security  or  go  to  prison? 
Security  was  kindly  offered  me,  but  that  relieved  me  not  as 
respects  my  duty  to  the  Lord,  his  cause  and  people.  I  felt 
m\  self  persecuted  for  righteousness'  sake,  and  I  could  not  find 
in  my  heart  to  buy  myself  otf  from  imprisonment  by  tender- 
ing the  required  security.  I  thougiit  it  might  be  of  great 
vakie  to  the  cause  of  my  Master  if  I  should  give  myself  into 
the  hantls  of  my  persecutors,  and  thus  give  them  an  oppor- 
tunity of  showing  their  love  of  liberty,  of  truth  and  right- 
eousness by  the  treatment  of  myself  in  the  relations  I  sustain 
to  mankind  as  a  Christian  and  a  Christian  teacher — an  advo- 
cate of  the  apostles'  doctrine  in  Scotl.nitl — in  her  capital  cities  ; 
I  therefore  placed  mvself  in  the  hands  of  these  superlative 
philanthropists,  the  Anti-slavery  Society  of  the  whole  king- 


CONFINEMENT  IN  PRISON. 


559 


dom.  I  felt  the  idea  of  imprisonment  in  all  its  horrors — of 
being  immured  in  a  cell  or  cold  dark  dungeon  for  an  indefi- 
nite period ;  I  thought  of  my  appointments  in  Ireland,  and 
of  all  that  might  be  lost  by  not  fulfilling  them  ;  I  thought  too 
of  the  dangers  to  my  health,  greatly  impaired  by  one  hundred 
days*  incessant  talking.  But  casting  myself  on  the  Lord,  I 
said,  to  the  astonishment  of  the  friends  around  me,  *  I  believe 
that  in  all  this  I  am  persecuted  for  the  truth's  sake.  I  star.d 
for  the  Bible  doctrine  in  faith,  in  piety  and  morality,  and  I 
am  resolved  to  give  no  security.    I  will  rather  go  to  prison.* 

"  Mr.  Robertson's  counsel,  fearing  the  consequences,  said 
if  I  would  pledge  my  word  that  I  would  be  back  from  Ire- 
land within  the  time,  he  would  take  my  word  for  it.  Thank- 
ing the  gentleman  for  his  kindness,  I  said,  *  Sir,  I  shall  still 
be  a  prisoner  and  obliged  to  return  ;  I  cannot  consent  to  return 
on  the  warrant  issued.  I  will  go  to  Ireland,  sir,  with  your 
permission  and  without  promise  to  return.*  He  said  he  could 
not  grant  that.  '  Then,'  said  I, '  your  pleasure  be  done.*  lie 
walked  into  another  room.  Mr.  Robertson  and  the  sheriff 
followed  him.  The  sheriff  asked  Mr.  Robertson  what  he 
should  do.  Mr.  Robertson  told  him  to  inquire  of  Mr.  Jame- 
son, his  counsel.  Mr.  Jameson  sent  the  sheriff' to  Mr.  Robert- 
son for  his  mandate,  refusing  to  give  any.  Mr.  Robertson 
said,  *  Take  him  to  jaiV — and  to  jail  I  went." 

Messrs.  Henshall,  Paton  and  Stalker  accompanied 
Mr.  Campbell  to  the  prison,  which  they  found  to  be 
built  of  stone.  He  was  confined  in  a  small  room,  where 
there  was  little  light  and  no  comforts  save  a  stool  and  a 
small  table,  with  a  piece  of  carpet,  two  feet  by  four,  on 
the  cold  stone  floor. 

The  brethren  in  Glasgow  strongly  disapproved  of 
Mr.  Campbell's  course  in  positively  refusing  their  otTers 
of  security,  and  subjecting  himself,  as  they  thought, 
unnecessarily  to  confinement.  They  urged  him  to  ac- 
cept their  offers  of  bail,  arguing  that  the  object  of  the 
law  was  merely  to  secure  the  presence  of  the  defend- 


560       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


ant.  He  was  a  foreigner  and  about  to  leave  the  country, 
and  the  object  of  the  court  was  to  secure  his  presence 
to  answer  to  the  decision  of  the  suit.  This  would  have 
been  equally  well  attained  by  giving  bail  for  his  ap- 
pearance, as  the  law  provided.  They  furthermore 
urged  that  they  did  not  think  it  was  the  wish  of  the 
prosecutor  to  imprison,  but  if  it  was,  it  was  wrong  to 
afford  him  that  gratification  when  it  could  have  been 
avoided.  Nor  did  they  fail  to  suggest  that  much  good 
might  be  lost  by  his  failure  to  fill  the  appointments  fall- 
ing due.  Disposed  as  Mr.  Campbell  was  ordinarily  to 
weigh  with  care  the  counsels  of  his  friends,  and  often 
to  modify  by  them  his  own  conclusions,  on  the  present 
occasion  their  arguments  and  entreaties  produced  no 
effect.  Knowing  that  he  had  done  nothing  to  merit 
such  treatment,  that  he  had  never  been  an  apologist  for 
American  slavery  or  a  defender  of  man-stealers,  as 
falsely  and  calumniously  represented  in  the  placards, 
but  that  on  the  contrary  he  had  used  all  his  influence 
and  opportunities  for  the  emancipation  of  slaves,  he 
felt  that  he  was  persecuted,  if  not  for  his  religious  views 
in  general,  at  least  certainly  because,  in  opposition  to 
the  Scotch  Anti-slavery  Society,  he  maintained  that  the 
mere  relation  of  master  and  servant  was  not  in  itself 
sinful,  but  was  sanctioned  by  the  Bible.  Looking  back 
over  the  whole  series  of  indignities  to  which  he  had 
been  subjected,  he  could  not  but  regard  the  whole  as 
simply  a  persecution  for  the  truth's  sake.  Such,  in- 
deed, had  been  the  character  of  Mr.  Robertson's  pro- 
ceedings that  the  more  intelligent  of  his  own  party 
denounced  the  whole  affair  as  a  matter  of  persecution. 
Thus  the  editor  of  the  "Christian  Record,"  published 
in  Jersey,  said  in  regard  to  it : 

*'  We  regret  exceedingly  the  issue  of  this  matter.  What- 


WILLINGNESS  TO  SUFFER. 


561 


€ver  be  Mr.  Campbeirs  opinions  in  regard  to  slavery — and  if 
he  entertains  the  views  attributed  to  him,  we  hold  them  in 
abhorrence — w^e  cannot  but  regard  him  as  a  persecuted  man.- 
We  know  not  the  nature  of  the  libel  with  which  he  is  charged, 
but  this  we  know — that  his  opponents  have  been  unscrupu- 
lous in  their  language  and  most  unrelenting  in  their  persecu- 
tion. Following  Mr.  Campbell  from  city  to  city,  from  town 
to  town,  they  have  hunted  him  more  like  a  wild  beast  than  a 
human  being,  much  less  a  gentleman  of  education  and  a 
minister  of  the  gospel.  While  we  yield  to  no  man  in  the 
intensity  of  our  hatred  to  slavery  in  all  its  forms,  we  question 
very  much  if  the  procedure  of  the  secretary  of  the  'Anti- 
slavery  Society'  in  Edinburgh  will  raise  his  character  in  the 
estimation  of  the  thinking  portion  of  mankind,  or  at  all  pro- 
mote the  object  of  the  excellent  society  with  which  he  is 
identified.  We  would  strongly  recommend  him  to  withdraw 
his  action  and  throw  himself  upon  the  moral  sense  of  the 
community.  It  is  possible  by  our  imprudence  or  the  exhibi- 
tion of  a  persecuting  or  vindictive  spirit  to  'build  again  the 
things  we  are  endeavoring  to  destroy.'  Let  us  not  fail  to 
remember  that  the  '  wrath  of  man  worketh  not  the  righteous- 
ness of  God.' " 

Feeling  accordingly  that  he  was  persecuted  for  right- 
eousness' sake,  Mr.  Campbell  could  not  for  a  moment 
think  of  evading  in  any  respect  the  sufferings  which  his 
enemies  sought  to  inflict.  In  the  days  of  his  youth, 
when  consecrating  himself  to  the  service  of  God,  it  had 
been  to  him  one  of  the  strongest  evidences  of  a  divine 
call  that  there  had  been  given  to  him  a  desire  **  to 
suffer  hardships  and  reproach  "  for  the  sake  of  the  truth. 
Of  misrepresentations  and  slanders,  indeed,  he  had 
already  had  a  full  share,  and,  like  Whitefield,  he  seems 
to  have  thought  that  it  was  to  be  his  lot  to  suffer  still 
severer  trials. 

My  work,"  said  Whitefield  to  one  of  his  American  coad- 
jutors, "  is  scarce  begun.    My  trials  are  yet  to  come.  What 
VOL.  ir. — 2  L 


562       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


is  a  little  scourge  of  the  tongue?  What  is  a  thrusting  out  of 
the  synagogues?  The  time  of  temptation  will  be  when  we 
are  thrust  into  an  inner  prison  and  feel  the  iron  entering  even 
into  our  souls.  Then,  perhaps,  even  God's  people  will  be 
permitted  to  forsake  us  for  a  while,  and  none  but  the  Lord 
Jesus  to  stand  by  us." 

Mr.  Campbell,  however,  was  not  destined  to  realize 
the  latter  part  of  Whitefield's  exultant  anticipation. 
Far  from  forsaking  him  in  the  hour  of  suffering,  the 
Disciples  in  Scotland  vied  with  each  other  in  their  un- 
ceasing efforts  to  minister  to  his  comfort.  The  Sisters 
Paton,  Gilmour,  Dron  and  others  in  Glasgow  waited  on 
him  daily-  with  ever}-thing  needful.  A  Sister  Davis, 
who  had  heard  him  preach  at  Paisley,  and  had  then 
resolved  to  emigrate  to  America  and  cast  in  her  lot  with 
the  Disciples,  upon  hearing  of  his  imprisonment  came 
at  once  to  Glasgow  and  was  assiduous  in  her  attentions. 
From  various  parts  of  Scotland,  indeed,  his  many  friends 
flocked  in  to  visit  him,  so  that  all  day  long  they  were 
coming  and  going,  and  he  had  sometimes  as  many  as 
eleven  in  his  cell  at  one  time,  through  the  kind  in- 
dulgence of  the  jailer,  for  the  law  strictly  allowed  but 
two  persons  at  a  time  to  visit  a  prisoner,  and  that  only 
durincr  two  hours  of  the  day.  Multitudes  of  letters  like- 
wise  poured  in  upon  him  from  all  parts  of  England  ex- 
pressing the  kindliest  sympathy.  His  situation  was  thus 
rendered  comparatively  comfortable,  and  his  chief  re- 
gret was,  that  he  had  caused  so  much  pain  and  grief  to 
many  of  his  brethren  and  sisters.  Maintaining  his  ac- 
customed serenity  and  cheerfulness,  he  conversed  as 
usual  upon  the  interesting  themes  of  the  gospel  with 
his  friendly  visitors,  or  occupied  his  quiet  hours  in 
writing.  Being  without  fire,  however,  and  deprived  of 
his  usual  exercise,  he  felt  a  severe  cold  constantly  ac- 


UNCOMPLAINING  SPIRIT. 


cumulating  in  his  system,  notwithstanding  all  his  pru- 
dence and  care,  so  that  when,  after  ten  days.  Lord 
Murray  heard  the  case,  declared  the  warrant  illegal  and 
ordered  his  discharge,  he  found  himself  quite  unwell. 

He  preached  his  first  sermon  in  Paisley  after  his  lib- 
eration, and  it  proved  to  be  the  last  he  ever  preached  in 
Scotland.  The  house  was  crowded  in  every  part,  and 
as  he  prefaced  his  address  with  a  brief  statement  of  the 
causes  of  his  imprisonment,^  th«  audience  was  most 
deeply  affected  and  listened  in  breathless  silence  to  his 
discourse,  which  he  delivered  with  difficulty,  on  account 
of  his  hoarseness  and  indisposition.  He  was  driven  in 
a  private  carriage  back  to  Glasgow,  followed  by  a  large 
number,  as  he  was  to  speak  that  evening  in  the  largest 
hall  in  the  city,  where  an  immense  concourse  was  as- 
sembled. Upon  rising,  however,  to  make  the  effort,  he 
found  himself  unable,  having  wholly  lost  his  voice. 
Dr.  Watson,  who  had  been  a  fellow-student  with  him  in 
the  University,  and  had  kindly  called  upon  him  while  in 
prison  to  renew  his  acquaintance,  was  called  from  the 
body  of  the  hall  and  discovered  him  to  be  laboring 
under  a  high  degree  of  fever  and  quite  unfit  for  mental 
or  bodily  exertion.  He  therefore,  turning  to  the  people, 
informed  them  of  Mr.  Campbell's  condition  and  dis- 
missed the  assembly,  which  dispersed  in  silence  and  in 
sadness.  Resigning  himself  calmly  into  the  hands  of 
his  friends,  he  was  in  a  few  days  so  much  restored  that 
he  concluded  to  set  out  for  Ireland,  where  some  appoint- 
ments yet  remained,  James  Henshall  having  already 
filled  some  of  them,  as  at  Belfast  and  elsewhere,  very 
acceptably. 

Neither  during  nor  after  these  proceedings  was  Mr. 
Campbell  known  to  utter  a  word  of  complaint  or  cen- 
sure again5:t  the  law  enforced  in  his  case,  nor  did  he 


5^4       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


manifest  the  slightest  disposition  to  inveigh  against  Mr. 
Robertson,  his  prosecutor.  Believing  it  to  be  strictly  a 
persecution  for  the  truth's  sake,  he,  on  the  contrary,  re- 
joiced that  he  was  counted  worthy  to  suffer  it,  and  in 
the  same  spirit  he  would  have  gone  joyfully  to  the  stake 
for  the  truths  he  taught.  It  is  a  curious  fact  that  John 
Wesley  experienced  nearly  the  same  fortune  in  Scot- 
land. One  day,  at  Edinburgh,  a  man  by  the  name  of 
G.  Sutherland  trumped  up  certain  charges  against  him, 
demanding  damages  to  the  amount  of  £500.  He  de- 
posed also,  like  Mr.  Robertson,  that  the  said  John  Wes- 
ley, to  evade  his  pursuit,  was  preparing  to  fly  the  coun- 
try, and  upon  these  grounds  obtained  a  similar  warrant 
to  search  for  him  and  incarcerate  him  in  the  Tolbooth  till 
he  should  find  security  for  his  appearance.  Although 
the  sheriff  had  been  so  indiscreet  as  to  grant  this  writ, 
when  the  case  was  tried  before  the  magistrate  the  latter 
had  sufficient  wisdom  to  perceive  that  the  accusation 
was  false  and  calumnious  ;  so  that,  instead  of  committing 
Wesley  to  prison,  he  fined  the  prosecutor  £1000  Scotch^ 
i.  dJ.,  a  thousand  shillings.  Thus,  as  before  Pilate,  the 
Jews  sought  to  veil  their  religious  animosity  to  Jesus  of 
Nazareth  under  the  pretence  of  fealty  to  Cassar,  so 
modern  religious  persecutors  seek  to  hide,  under  the 
mantle  of  civil  suits  and  legal  processes,  the  sectarian 
malignity  which  they  wish  to  gratify. 

"  I  was  incarcerated,"  said  Mr.  Campbell,  "  because  of 
mere  speculative  and  doctrinal  dissent  from  the  opinion  of  a 
certain  class  of  anti-slavery  men.  My  liberty  was  taken 
away  by  '  liberty  men.'  ...  I  am  aware  it  will  be  said  I 
was  imprisoned  for  a  libel.  But  who  libeled  me  from  Edin- 
burgh to  Banfl'?  I  libeled  no  man — I  spoke  the  truth. 
There  were  three  Rev.  James  Robertsons  in  Edinburgh,  and 
one  was  accused  of  insultinof  and  abusin^  his  mother.  His 


GOOD  RESULTS. 


565 


exclusion  from  a  church  for  that  offence  is  matter  of  record 
ii.  Dundee. 

"  I  did  not  specify  any  one  of  the  three  Rev.  James  Robert- 
sons. Why  did  only  one  of  them  accuse  himself  by  profess- 
ing to  be  the  man?  Why  did  not  the  other  two  find  cause 
for  a  libel  ?    The  truth  is  no  libel  in  Scotland." 

As  to  this  Rev.  James  Robertson,"  it  may  be  stated 
that  when  judgment  was  given  against  him,  as  above 
mentioned,  by  Lord  Murray,  at  the  called  court,  he 
immediately  appealed  to  all  the  lords  in  the  '*  court 
of  sessions,**  at  the  November  term.  In  this  court  the 
decision  of  Lord  Murray  was  confirmed,  and  the  pros- 
ecutor, Mr.  Robertson,  was  condemned  to  pay  the  costs 
on  both  sides,  which  by  this  time  amounted  to  a  large 
sum.  Besides  the  lord  justice-general,  Lord  Fullertan, 
Lord  McKenzie,  and  the  celebrated  Lord  Jeffreys, 
delivered  concurring  opinions.  Mr.  Robertson  then 
offered  to  withdraw  his  suit  for  damages  if  Mr.  Camp- 
bell or  his  friends  would  pay  one-half  the  costs  which 
had  accrued.  This  was  at  once  refused,  as  it  was 
evident  Mr.  Robertson  would  be  unable  to  prove  his 
charcres  of  libel. 

Before  leaving  Scotland,  Mr.  Campbell  rode  with 
A.  Paton,  seven  miles  out  of  the  city,  to  visit  Dr. 
Wardlaw,  with  whom  he  had  had  a  pleasant  acquaint- 
ance while  a  student,  but  failed  to  see  him,  as  he  and 
his  family  were  absent  at  a  watering-place  fifty  miles  dis- 
tant. On  14th  September  he  set  out  for  Ireland,  and 
after  some  delay  at  Fort  Patrick,  on  account  of  rough 
weather,  arrived  safely  at  Belfast,  on  the  17th.  From 
letters  afterward  received  he  learned  that  his  visit  to 
Scotland  had  been  productive  of  benefit. 

"  The  good  arising  from  your  labors  here,"  said  Alexander 
Paton,  writing  from  Glasgow,  "  is  daily  being  made  knowr> 

48 


566 


MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXAXDER  CAMPBELL. 


to  us.  The  people  are  surprised  to  find  how  ignorant  and 
prejudiced  they  have  been,  and  how  gratified  they  were  with 
your  addresses,  placing  the  word  of  God  in  such  a  clear  and 
powerful  manner  before  them.  That  was  totally  different 
from  what  they  were  accustomed  to.  There  have  been  nine 
individuals  united  to  us  since  you  were  here,  and  we  have  a 
greater  number  of  hearers  who  pay  us  a  visit  than  formerly. 
The  congregation,  I  should  also  state,  was  greatly  benefited 
by  your  teaching  —  much  more  so  than  appearances  when 
you  were  here  might  have  indicated.  This  is  manifested  by 
greater  attention  and  zeal  for  the  truth  and  behavior  in 
accordance  with  it.  Your  alms-offerings,  also,  left  with  me 
came  very  opportunely.  Poverty,  distress  and  death  have 
been  the  visitants  of  several  of  the  brethren's  families,  and  it 
has  been  administered  to  alleviate  their  wants  and  sorrows. 
I  may  perhaps  after  this  particularize  the  expenditure  of  it 
when  it  is  all  exhausted,  that  it  may  afford  consolation  to  the 
givers  that  it  had  not  been  sent  in  vain.'"' 

Upon  receiving  similar  letters  touching  his  labors  and 
trials  in  Scotland,  Mr.  Cannpbell  thus  closes  his  notice 
of  them :  * '  May  the  Lord  make  all  these  trials  redound 
to  his  own  glory,  to  the  consolation  of  his  own  children 
and  to  the  enlightenment  and  salvation  of  many.  The 
great  cause  of  original  Christianity  and  of  the  general 
reformation  in  the  land  of  our  fathers  is,  we  confidentl}- 
expect,  to  be  furthered  and  advanced  by  the  singular 
providences  through  which  we  have  been  made  to  pass." 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 


Visit  in  Ireland— In  England— Return  to  the  United  States — Afflictions—- 
Emancipation — Orphan  school — Tours — Bible  union — Church  edificatior 
— Temperance  movement. 

MR.  CAMPBELL  found  the  city  of  Belfast  greatly 
enlarged  and  changed  from  what  it  was  when 
he  visited  it  in  his  youth.  After  calling  upon  the  few 
Disciples  here,  he  set  out  next  morning  for  Dungannon, 
as  most  of  his  appointments  for  the  North  had  been 
frustrated  by  his  detention  in  Glasgow.  He  regretted 
especially  that  this  had  prevented  him  from  filling  an 
appointment  he  had  made  at  Ballymena,  the  place  of 
his  nativity,  twelve  miles  from  Belfast,  and  as  he  passed 
by  railroad  along  the  southern  shore  of  Lough  Neagh 
he  often  cast  longing  and  anxious  looks  across  the 
waters  to  descry,  if  possible,  the  ruins  of  the  ancient 
Shane's  Castle  upon  the  northern  shore,  and  found  no 
little  comfort  in  the  belief  that  he  had  once  or  twice 
obtained  a  glimpse  of  this  fascinating  spot,  which  was 
among  the  most  cherished  memories  of  his  childhood. 
Though  much  enfeebled,  he  spoke  at  Dungannon, 
Cookestown  and  Moree  to  large  and  attentive  audiences. 
His  strength  here  failing,  he  was  again  partially  re- 
stored by  the  attention  of  the  amiable  Sister  Tener; 
and,  after  parting  from  the  Disciples  who  had  accom- 
panied him  from  Belfast,  he  set  out  on  his  way  to  Rich- 
Hill  with  young  Mr.  Tener  and  James  McCrum,  a 

567 


568       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


gentleman  of  handsome  attainments  and  author  of  a 
volume  of  poems.  Here  he  addressed  a  congregation 
in  the  Presbyterian  meeting-house.  He  then  went  out 
to  sojourn  with  one  of  his  youthful  playmates,  Nathan- 
iel Greer,  w^here  with  much  enjoyment  he  spent  the 
greater  part  of  a  day  and  two  nights  in  making  in- 
quiries and  hearing  details  respecting  former  friends 
and  acquaintances,  Mr.  Greer  often  reminding  him  of 
the  amusing  pranks  in  which  they  had  together  en- 
gaged in  the  daj's  of  their  boyhood. 

Mr.  Greer,"  says  Mr.  Campbell  in  his  notes,  "  spent  the 
whole  of  that  day,  the  23d,  in  carrying  me  in  his  carriage 
over  the  grounds  around  my  father's  farm  and  residence,  the 
old  stone  meeting-house  and  the  surrounding  residences  of 
the  prominent  members  of  his  congregation.  But  more  than 
forty  years  had  carried  them  all  away,  except  a  few  members 
of  their  families,  who  still  reside  on  their  patrimonial  inherit- 
ances or  in  their  immediate  environs,  of  which  class  Mr.  Greer 
himself  was  one,  occupving  the  same  house  and  grounds  on 
which  his  father  died  fifty  years  ago.  We  had  the  sexton  to 
open  the  meeting-house,  some  sixty  feet  by  forty,  and  with 
many  a  melancholy  though  somewhat  pleasing  reminiscence 
I  surveyed  the  pews,  saying  to  myself,  '  Here  sat  such  a  one, 
and  there  sat  such  a  one  ;  and  where  sit  they  now  ?'  The 
pulpit  and  the  doors  were  new  modified  ;  all  else  was  in  statu 
quo  as  it  was  when  I  heard  my  father  in  April,  1807,  deliver 
his  farewell  sermon  to  a  large  and  weeping  concourse." 

Mr.  Campbell  spent  the  evening  at  the  pleasant  resi- 
dence of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Robert  Morrison,  minister  of  the 
Presbyterian  church  at  Market  Hill,  and  who  had  been 
one  of  his  own  pupils.  Mr.  Morrison  desired  to  make 
an  appointment  for  him  to  speak  to  his  congregation, 
but  his  engagements  in  England  not  admitting  any  fur- 
ther delay,  he  set  out  on  the  24th  for  Newry,  where, 
though  he  greatly  desired  to  spend  several  days,  he  was 


CLOSE  OF  MISSION. 


able  to  spend  but  a  few  hours,  and  after  an  agreeable 
interview  with  one  or  two  old  acquaintances  whom  he 
met,  he  hastened  to  Warren  Point,  where,  in  the  even- 
ing, after  supping  with  Brethren  McCrum  and  Tener, 
he  took  passage  on  the  steamer  and  was  safely  landed 
next  morning  at  Liverpool,  where  he  found  Brethren 
Davies  and  Woodnorth  awaiting  him.  As  the  church 
there  had  no  meeting  until  the  afternoon,  he  went  to 
hear  the  celebrated  Dr.  Raffles,  and  was  much  pleased 
with  his  discourse,  while  he  criticised  with  some  severity 
in  his  notes  the  splendid  and  expensive  adornments  of 
the  meeting-house. 

After  a  pleasant  meeting  with  the  church,  which  as- 
sembled in  an  upper  room  in  the  city,  he  returned  to 
Mollington  for  a  little  repose  before  the  co-operation 
meeting  of  the  Disciples,  which  was  to  assemble  at 
Chester  on  the  ist  of  October.  This  was  a  very  agree- 
able meeting.  The  brethren  had  raised  a  sum  much 
more  than  sufficient  to  defray  Mr.  Campbell's  expenses, 
but  as  he  refused  to  receive  anything  more  than  his  ex- 
penses, the}^  voted  one  hundred  pounds  to  Bethany 
College.  The  brethren  from  Scotland  presented  also 
to  Mr.  Campbell  and  Mr.  Henshall  elegant  copies  of 
the  Polyglot  Bible.  At  this  meeting  arrangements 
were  made  for  the  support  of  evangelists,  and  Mr. 
Campbell  immersed  two  Wesleyan  ministers  from 
Wales  and  Mr.  Samuel  Davies  from  Mollington. 
After  adjournment  he  delivered  his  last  discourse  in 
England  at  Liverpool,  and  he  and  Mr.  Henshall  hav- 
ing now  accomplished  their  mission  in  the  British 
Islands,  and  made  at  various  points  arrangements  for 
the  judicious  distribution  of  the  donations  from  America 
for  the  sufiering  poor  which,  to  the  amount  of  $1326  72, 
had  been  committed  to  their  charge,  they  bade  a  final 

48  * 


570       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL, 

and  a  sorrowful  farewell  to  their  numerous  kind  fiiends, 
who  had  become  greatly  endeared  to  them,  and  many 
of  whom  accompanied  them  to  the  ship,  the  steamer 
Cambria,  which  immediately  upon  the  reception  of  its 
mails,  turned  its  prow  toward  the  West  and  left  the 
harbor. 

The  weather  at  the  beginning  and  ending  of  the 
voyage  was  pleasant,  but  in  mid-oceap  a  severe  storm 
was  encountered  which  tried  the  vessel  to  the  utmost. 
On  the  first  Lord's  day  at  sea,  Captain  Judkins  himself 
attended  upon  the  Episcopal  service  and  read  a  ser- 
mon, although  there  were  five  clergymen  on  board,  one 
of  whom  on  the  following  Lord's  day  was  called  to 
officiate.  Among  these  clergymen  Mr.  Campbell  was 
pleased  to  find  his  old  acquaintance,  Mr.  Clapp  of  New 
Orleans.  Upon  reaching  Halifax,  he  went  ashore  for 
a  couple  of  hours. 

"  On  walking  up  to  the  top  of  the  hill,"  says  he,  "  upon 
which  its  fortress  stands,  we  met  crowds  of  worshipers  re- 
turning from  their  respective  churches,  carrying  with  them 
their  household  of  boys  and  girls,  with  their  Bibles  and 
Psalm-books  in  their  hands.  Nothing  in  Halifax  pleased  me 
more.  To  see  the  houses  of  business  closed  and  the  citizens 
returning  en  masse  home  from  their  respective  sanctuaries  on 
a  Lord's  day,  is  always  to  me  a  most  pleasing  and  acceptable 
sight.  A  city  or  a  town  without  a  sanctuary  or  a  Sabbath 
is  of  all  sights  to  me  the  most  desolate  and  depressing ;  and 
I  think  to  every  one  of  common  sense  and  common  humanity 
who  has  read  with  consideration  the  Bible  history  of  the  origin 
and  destiny  of  man." 

Next  morning,  while  passing  along  the  American 
coast,  he  thus  notes  his  reflections : 

On  Monday  morning,  rising  very  early  and  enjoying  an 
almost  soHtary  walk  on  the  deck,  often  casting  my  eyes  to 
the  West,  I  had  many  pleasing  recollections  and  emotions  in 


AMERICAN  CITIZENSHIP. 


571 


retrospecting  the  past  and  anticipating  the  future.  The  good- 
ness and  merciful  care  of  the  Father  of  mercies  in  first  direct- 
ing my  path  across  the  vast  ocean,  the  scenes  and  transactions 
of  nearly  forty  years  since  first  I  approached  the  American 
coast,  in  turn  passed  and  repassed  before  my  mind  with  many 
an  emotion  and  feeling  to  which  I  cannot  give  utterance. 
But  thoughts  of  ^  home,  sweet  home,*  which  I  dare  not  cherish 
nor  even  entertain  while  so  far  from  it,  and  the  tens  of  thou- 
sands of  brethren  and  friends  dear  to  me  from  whom  I  had 
been,  as  it  seemed  to  me,  a  long,  long  time  separated,  now 
found  a  ready  admission  and  easy  access  into  my  heart. 

'^I  had,  when  worn  down  with  labor  at  different  parts  of 
my  tour,  almost  concluded  that  I  would  never  return  to  those 
whom  I  had  left  behind.  But  now  a  bright  hope  reassured, 
me,  and  the  thought  that  twenty-four  hours  from  that  time  I 
would  be  in  Boston,  and  once  more  tread  the  soil  of  the 
United  States  of  America,  now  to  me  the  dearest  and  most 
precious  land  on  the  face  of  the  earth,  awoke  within  me  so 
many  pleasing  and  grateful  emotions  that  for  a  time  I  seemed 
lost  to  everything  around  me,  and  to  be  wholly  absorbed  in 
admiration  of  the  divine  goodness  in  wonder,  gratitude  and 
praise. 

The  relative  position  of  the  United  States,  the  numerous 
and  various  privileges  and  honors  of  an  American  citizen, 
now  appeared  to  me  so  ineff\ibly  beyond  comparison  with 
those  of  any  nation  or  people  on  earth,  of  the  present  or  of 
any  past  age,  that  I  would  not  sell  my  political  rights  and 
privileges  of  American  citizenship  for  all  the  emoluments 
that  cluster  around  the  stateliest  and  most  aristocratic  subject 
of  any  European  or  Asiatic  crown  ever  worn  on  earth. 

I  have  often  given  it  as  my  opinion,  and  now  affirm  it  as 
a  stubborn  and  invincible  fact,  that  few,  if  any,  native-born 
American  citizens  who  have  never  traveled  abroad  either  did 
or  do  appreciate  the  privileges,  duties  and  responsibilities  of 
an  American  citizen.  To  feel  one's  self  a  lord,  a  prince,  a 
potentate,  clothed  with  a  little  brief  authority — to  feel  one's 
self  decorated  with  hereditary  honors,  titles  and  privileges, 


572       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


with  which  some  are  possessed  without  any  virtue,  and  ot 
which  others  are  debarred  by  birth  without  any  vice  of  their 
own,  may  indeed  minister  some  gratification  to  the  pride  and 
selfishness  of  fallen  humanity ;  but  to  feel  one's  self  a  man 
endowed  with  reason,  conscience  and  moral  feeling,  invested 
with  a  paramount  provision  of  paramount  human  authority, 
with  liberty  of  thought,  liberty  of  speech  and  liberty  of  action, 
knowing  no  one  superior  in  rank  to  a  7nan — a  well-educated, 
moral  and  religious  man — as  the  noblest,  best  and  greatest 
work  of  God  on  earth,  is  the  greatest  nobility  to  which  any 
human  being  can  rationally,  morally  or  religiously  aspire. 
And  with  all  these  honors,  immunities  and  privileges  is 
every  American  citizen  invested,  of  which  he  never  can  be 
divested  by  atiy  superior  on  earth  so  long  as  he  conducts  him- 
self in  harmony  with  reason,  tnorality  and  religion. 

"We  can  desire  for  ourselves  no  better  political  or  temporal 
birth-right  or  inheritance  than  we  now  possess,  and  we  can 
pray  for  no  greater  honors  and  privileges  of  this  world  for 
any  living  people  greater  or  better  tlian  those  guaranteed  by 
our  institutions  to  every  American  citizen.  May  we  act  wor- 
thily of  them  !  May  they  long  be  the  inheritance  of  our  pos- 
terity, and  may  they  soon  be  bestowed  on  all  the  kindreds, 
tongues  and  people  of  the  earth,  until  there  shall  ascend  from 
every  dwelling  on  the  earth  one  grateful  song  of  praise  to  Him 
that  hath  redeemed  man  from  the  tyranny  of  man  and  invested 
the  human  race  with  equal  laws,  equal  institutions  and  equal 
national  and  political  birth-rights,  leaving  it  to  every  human 
being  under  the  government  and  providence  of  God  to  be  the 
architect  of  his  own  fortune,  the  creator  of  his  own  personal 
rank,  dignity  and  honor  !'* 

The  great,  far-reaching  principles  upon  which  the 
polit'cal  institutions  of  the  United  States  were  founded 
were  peculiarly  grateful  to  one  of  Mr.  Campbell's  ex- 
pansive philanthropy  and  comprehensive  intellect;  and 
it  was  ever  with  delight  that  he  adverted  to  the  great 
truths  developed  in  American  history,  and  so  well  ex- 


PA  TIENT  IN  AFFLICTION. 


573 


pressed  by  President  Quincy,  that  human  happiness 
has  no  perfect  security  but  freedom ;  freedom  none 
but  virtue ;  virtue  none  but  knowledge ;  and  neither 
freedom  nor  virtue  has  any  vigor  or  immortal  Hfe  ex- 
cept in  the  principles  of  the  Christian  faith  and  in  the 
sanctions  of  the  Christian  religion." 

Arriving  in  Boston  on  the  morning  of  the  19th  of 
October,  he  received,  while  in  the  custom-house,  a  let- 
ter from  home  giving  him  the  first  information  of  the 
death  of  his  son  Wickliflfe.  Deeply  moved  by  the  in- 
telligence of  this  mournful  event,  *' but  for  which,"  he 
says  in  his  notes,  his  travels  abroad,  as  well  as  his 
travels  at  home,  would  long  have  been  remembered 
with  pleasure,"  he  nevertheless  failed  not  to  apply  to 
the  only  true  source  of  consolation  and  to  submit  rev- 
erently to  the  will  of  God.  He  is  too  wise  to  err," 
he  remarked,  "  and  too  kind  causelessly  to  afflict  the 
children  of  men.  May  our  afiections  never  be  unduly 
placed  on  anything  on  earth  ;  but  as  those  we  love,  both 
in  the  flesh  and  in  the  Lord,  are  taken  to  himself,  may 
our  affections  be  more  placed  on  things  above  and  less 
on  ihincrs  of  earth  !" 

Upon  his  return  to  Bethany  he  appeared  much  worn 
and  jaded,  rather  than  refreshed,  by  his  European  tour. 
His  incessant  labors  and  his  anxieties  and  afflictions  had 
much  more  than  countervailed  the  invigorating  effects 
of  travel,  and  it  was  a  number  of  months  before,  in  the 
pure  air  of  his  quiet  home  and  amidst  his  customary 
pursuits,  he  could  be  said  to  have  regained  his  health. 
Mrs.  Campbell's  unhappy  state  of  mind,  too,  during  this 
period  pressed  very  heavily  upon  him,  as  he  was 
naturally  of  a  cheerful  and  even  joyous  temperament, 
delighting  in  the  happiness  of  those  around  him,  and 
exceedingly  affectionate  and  sympathetic  in  his  feelings. 


574       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 

It  was  some  time  before  his  presence  and  unceasing 
attentions  seemed  to  have  much  effect  upon  Mrs.  Camp- 
bell, whose  health  was  visibly  suffering.  Overwhelmed 
with  sorrow,  and  unable  to  take  any  longer  her  accus- 
tomed interest  in  the  household  aff'airs,  it  was  beautiful 
to  see  how  gentle  and  subdued  he  was  in  his  demeanor 
toward  her,  and  how  tenderly  and  encouragingly  he 
addressed  her.  Seeking  her  always  upon  his  return 
from  college,  he  gave  her  as  much  of  his  society  as 
possible,  and  often,  in  the  dusk  of  the  evening,  missing 
her  from  the  family  circle,  and  suspecting  that  she  had 
stolen  away  to  weep  at  the  grave,  he  would  hasten  to 
the  cemetery  to  find  her,  and,  accosting  her  in  the 
kindest  accents,  "My  dear,"  he  would  say — "my 
dearest  Selina,  the  loved  ones  are  not  here.  They 
have  passed  beyond  these  earthly  scenes  to  happier 
abodes  ;"  and  taking  her  arm  with  the  most  touching 
expressions  of  sympathy  and  love,  would  lead  her 
gently  home.  His  affectionate  condolence  and  the  con- 
solations of  the  word  of  God,  which  he  constantly 
sought  to  impress  upon  her  mind,  together  with  the 
kindest  expressions  of  sympathy  from  the  brotherhood, 
finally  began  to  produce  their  appropriate  effect  upon 
Mrs.  Campbell  in  imparting  to  her  a  greater  degree  of 
resignation.  In  reply  to  a  kind  letter  of  condolence 
about  this  time  from  R.  L.  Coleman,  Mr.  Campbell 
thus  wrote  : 

"  Bethany,  Virginia,  January  12,  1848. 
"  Brother  Coleman — my  very  dear  brother  :  I  thank- 
fully acknowledge  two  favors  received  from  you  since  my 
return  home  ;  and  for  the  kind  Christian  sympathies  expressed 
in  the  former,  and  condolence  with  myself  and  wife  in  the 
severe  affliction  through  which  we  have  passed,  you  have  our 
grateful  and  thankful  acknowledgments.    Our  prayer  to  our 


UNSWERVING  FAITH. 


575 


heavenly  Father  is,  that  the  bereavement  and  trial  which  we 
have  endured  during  the  last  year  may  wean  us  more  from 
everything  on  earth,  purify  our  hearts  from  every  inordinate 
afiection  and  passion,  and  make  us  more  devoted  to  his  honor 
and  glory  and  that  of  our  exalted  Saviour.  She  is,  however, 
still  very  much  grieved  and  dejected.  She  thinks  she  never 
can  cease  to  grieve  that  the  Lord  was  constrained  from  any- 
thing in  herself  to  lay  his  hand  so  heavily  upon  her.  Being 
constitutionally  of  very  strong  affections  and  feelings,  and  of 
a  very  sensitive  and  delicate  conscience,  and  withal  being  at 
the  time  very  much  debilitated  in  her  health,  she  has  been 
greatly  dejected  and  afflicted  in  this  case.  I  am  glad,  how- 
ever, that  she  is  getting  round  by  degrees  to  a  better  health, 
though  I  fear  it  will  be  some  time  before  she  be  herself  again. 
I  have  suffered  much  in  the  loss  of  my  children.  Yet  the 
last  loss — so  unexpected,  and  as  such  a  special  providence — 
has  been  more  oppressive  than  any  one  case  or  trial  through 
which  I  had  passed.  Many  a  fond  hope  and  promise  clustered 
around  VVickliffe.  But  he  was  destined  for  another  field  of 
action,  and  the  Lord  has  taken  him  to  himself.  And  to  his 
sovereign  good  pleasure  I  desire  to  bow  with  the  most  devout 
submission,  praying  only  that  the  Lord  may  make  it  a  bless- 
ing to  myself  and  to  all  his  relatives." 

It  was  doubtless  fortunate  for  Mr.  Campbell  during 
this  period  that  the  continual  demands  upon  his  time 
and  attention  on  the  part  of  the  great  and  varied  inter- 
ests with  which  he  was  connected  served  to  divert  his 
mind  from  private  griefs,  and  to  enable  him  to  retain 
undisturbed  that  moral  and  religious  equilibrium  for 
which  he  was  so  remarkable.  Prompt  in  the  fulfillment 
of  all  his  duties  to  the  college,  and  earnest  in  all  his 
efforts  to  promote  the  welfare  of  the  students,  as  well 
as  to  instruct  the  general  public  through  the  pulpit  and 
the  press,  his  activities  were  not  permitted  to  stagnate, 
but  flowed  on  steadily  in  their  accustomed  channels. 

He  was  much  gratified  after  his  return  from  Europe 


57^       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL, 


in  receiving  from  time  to  time  and  from  various  quarters 
assurances  of  sympathy  and  approval  in  relation  to  his 
course  upon  the  slavery  question  in  Scotland.  Espe- 
cially were  those  connected  with  the  abolition  party 
forward  to  denounce  the  conduct  of  Mr.  Robertson  and 
the  Anti-slavery  Society  which  sustained  him.  How- 
ever diflering  with  Mr.  Campbell  as  to  the  question  of 
slavery  itself,  none  could  fail  to  admire  his  noble  in- 
trepidity and  his  conscientious  and  inflexible  adherence 
to  the  teachings  of  the  Bible  upon  the  subject.  His 
position  indeed  was  in  reality  admitted  by  the  more 
intelHgent  opponents  of  American  slavery.  Dr.  Way- 
land,  in  his  able  and  christianlike  discussion  of  the 
matter  with  Dr.  Fuller,  granted  that  slaves  were  held 
under  the  Old  Testament,  and  that  Moses  enacted  laws 
with  special  reference  to  that  relation.  '*  I  wonder," 
said  he,  **  that  any  one  should  have  had  the  hardihood 
to  deny  so  plain  a  matter  of  record.  I  should  almost 
as  soon  deny  the  delivery  of  the  ten  commandments  to 
M^«es."  He  also  admitted  that  the  New  Testament 
Ci  :itained  no  precept  prohibitory  of  slavery,  while  at 
the  same  time  he  insisted  that  holding  men  in  bondage 
alJ  obliging  them  to  labor  for  our  benefit  without  their 
contract  or  consent  was  always  a  moral  wrong.  Mr. 
Campbell  was  much  gratified  with  a  notice  condemning 
his  persecution  from  the  pen  of  Dr.  Baily,  the  talented 
abolitionist  editor  of  the  National  Era,"  at  Washing- 
ton, and  especially  pleased  with  a  kind  letter  signed  by 
a  number  of  his  fellow-laborers  on  the  Western  Re- 
serve who  were  abolitionists,  in  which,  without  entering 
upon  any  discussion  as  to  Mr.  Campbells  position, 
they  said : 

"  We  regret  the  course  of  Mr.  Robertson.  We  regret  the 
endorsement  of  his  conduct  in  the  affair  by  the  '  Scotch  Anti- 


TRIBUTES  OF  APPROVAL, 


577 


slavery  Society."  We  regret  that  in  such  an  age  as  this,  in 
such  a  land  as  Scotland,  in  such  cities  as  Edinburgh  and 
Glasgow,  men  making  such  pretensions  to  philanthropy, 
and  standing  forth  as  advocates  of  righteousness,  should  be 
induced  to  furnish  so  severe  a  satire  as  is  afforded  in  the 
impartial  history  of  their  course  toward  you — beginning  with 
a  disguised  hostility  under  the  mask  of  friendship,  and  end- 
ing in  the  illegal  imprisonment  of  an  unoffending  man.  We 
reprobate  their  whole  course.  We  look  witii  indignation 
upon  their  entire  proceedings,  so  discreditable  and  disgrace- 
ful to  the  age,  to  the  country,  and  to  the  cause  to  which  they 
are  professedly  devoted.  We  approve  and  admire  your  firm 
and  patient  endurance  of  wrong,  and  offer  you  now,  most 
cheerfully  and  heartily,  this  public  expression  of  our  sympa- 
thy with  you  and  yours,  and  our  full  confidence  in  your 
manly  devotion  to  truth." 

Among  various  other  communications  of  this  kind 
was  one  from  a  committee  of  brethren  in  Missouri,  from 
which  the  following  is  an  extract : 

"  We  exceedingly  regret  the  course  which  the  Anti-slavery 
Society  thought  proper  to  pursue  toward  you  in  Scotland, 
and  hope  that  after  passion  and  excitement  have  subsided 
they,  themselves,  will  regret  it.  We  regret  it  on  their  ac- 
count, they  being  considered  the  most  enlightened  people  in 
Europe  ;  and  we  regret  it  because  you  were  the  bearer  of  our 
liberality  to  the  poor,  and  the  messenger  of"  our  churches  to 
carry  the  glad  tidings  of  great  joy  to  the  European  nations. 
So  far  from  feeling  a  spirit  of  anger  or  revenge  toward  them, 
we  commiserate  and  forgive  them.  And  so  far  from  your 
imprisonment  derogating  from  your  merit,  in  our  opinion  it 
has  greatly  enhanced  it.  They  have  certainly  mistaken  the 
character  of  our  American  population  if  they  imagine  that 
such  a  course  toward  you  would  destroy  your  reputation  or 
cure  the  evils  of  slavery.  Their  judges-  are  just  and  upright 
men,  and  have  rendered  themselves  noble  and  illustrious  in 
the  eyes  of  all  impartial  and  honest  men." 
VOL.  n.— 2  M  49 


578       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


It  was  a  pleasing  feature  of  these  expressions  of  feel- 
ing, as  well  as  of  those  made  by  the  students  before  Mr. 
Campbell's  return,  that  while  sufficiently  decided  they 
were  moderate  in  tone  and  language.  For  all  these 
testimonials  Mr.  Campbell  made  a  grateful  public  ac- 
knowledgment, assuring  the  brethren  that  their  sym- 
pathy had  greatly  strengthened  and  refreshed  him,  and 
encouraged  him  to  be  still  more  zealous  in  the  main-  * 
tenance  of  every  item  of  divine  truth  at  all  risks  and 
hazards.  As  to  the  Rev.  James  Robertson  and  his  suit 
against  Mr.  Campbell,  it  may  be  here  observed  that 
after  the  decision  against  him  in  the  full  court  of  the 
Queen's  Bench,  it  was  discovered  that  he  was  not  likely 
to  continue  his  prosecution  for  libel,  but  was  disposed 
to  leave  Mr.  Campbell  under  the  imputation  of  havmg 
escaped  from  the  charge  through  the  informality  of  the 
first  proceedings.  Mr.  Campbell's  friends  there  thought 
it  therefore  due  to  him  to  compel  Mr.  Robertson  to  try 
the  case  on  its  own  merits,  and  accordingly  brought 
suit  against  him  for  false  imprisonment,  Mr.  Camp- 
bell, however,  declaring  beforehand  that  should  dam- 
ages be  awarded  him  he  would  not  accept  of  them,  as 
the  suit  was  not  for  purposes  of  revenge,  but  merely  in 
order  to  have  it  legally  determined  that  the  charge 
against  him  of  libel  w^as  unjust.  The  final  issue  of  the 
case  was,  that  Mr.  Robertson  was  wholly  unable  to 
justify  his  charges,  and  was  condemned  to  pa}'  £2000 
sterling  damages  for  false  imprisonment,  to  avoid  which 
he  thought  proper  to  abscond  ;  so  that  the  ''^meditation- 
of-flight"  warrant  which  he  had  obtained  against  Mr. 
Campbell  in  order  to  his  detention  led  at  last  to  his  own 
actual  flight  from  the  kingdom  in  disgrace. 

In  May  of  this  year,  Mrs.  Campbell  was  again  called 
upon  to  sufl?er  aflliction  in  the  death  of  her  mother,  who 


CHRISTIAN  HOPE. 


579 


had  resided  with  her  for  some  years  at  Bethany  ;  and 
on  the  22d  of  October  of  the  same  year  her  eldest 
daughter,  Margaret,  who  had  married  John  O.  Ewing 
of  Nashville,  was  called  away,  in  the  full  assurance  of 
faith  and  hope,  after  a  decline  of  several  months,  leav- 
ing an  infant  child.  Her  strengthened  faith,  however, 
-and  the  influence  of  Mr.  Campbell's  teaching  and  ex- 
ample, enabled  her  to  bear  these  additional  bereave- 
ments with  Christian  equanimity,  and  she  continued 
gradually  to  regain  her  former  cheerfulness.  Mrs. 
Ewing,  though  of  a  cheerful  and  lively  disposition,  was 
also  thoughtful  and  religious,  and  greatly  esteemed  for 
her  many  amiable  qualities.  Her  father  thus  refers  to 
her  and  to  his  bereavements  in  closing  the  "Harbinger" 
of  that  year : 

But  to  us,  her  survivors — husband,  parents,  children  and 
relatives — there  is  no  compensation  for  one  so  near  and  dear 
to  us  all,  so  gifted  by  nati.n*e  and  grace,  so  devoted  to  the  hap- 
piness of  the  circle  in  which  she  moved,  so  capable  of  bless- 
ing and  of  being  blessed  in  all  the  relations  of  life :  but  the 
clear  and  well-grounded  hope  is  that  she  is  released  from  sin 
and  sorrow  in  the  bosom  of  her  Lord,  in  whose  presence 
there  is  fullness  of  joy  and  at  whose  right  hand  there  are 
pleasures  for  evermore. 

"  How  strange,  and  yet  how  mournfully  pleasing,  the 
thought  that  of  fourteen  children  given  to  me,  nine  of  them 
are  now  present  with  the  Lord !  Three  of  them  died,  never 
having  sinned  in  their  own  persons.  And  as  by  Adam  the 
first  they  died,  by  Adam  the  second  they  shall  live  in  the 
Lord.  Six  of  them  died  in  faith  and  rejoiced  in  the  hope  of 
a  glorious  immortality.  This  to  us,  their  survivors,  is  a 
sovereign  balm,  a  blest  relief.  Though  dead  to  us,  they  live 
with  God.  May  the  kind  Redeemer  raise  us  up  with  them 
in  his  own  time  and  reunite  us  in  the  inheritance  incor- 
ruptible, undefiled  and  that  fadeth  not  away  !" 


580       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


In  the  course  of  the  next  year,  as  the  constitution  of 
the  State  of  Kentucky  was  to  be  remodeled,  Mr.  Camp- 
bell availed  himself  of  the  opportunity  to  employ  his 
influence  in  favor  of  introducing  a  clause  for  the  eman- 
cipation of  slaves.  Coinciding  entirely  with  Mr.  Clay 
in  a  letter  which  the  latter  had  published  on  the  subject, 
he  compared  the  progress  of  Ohio  with  that  of  Ken- 
tucky, and  showed  how  great  a  drawback  slavery  was 
upon  the  prosperity  of  the  State.  Contemplating  the 
subject  in  its  moral  and  religious  bearing  from  a 
Christian  point  of  view,  he.  endeavored  to  enforce  the 
importance  of  taking  advantage  of  the  present  occasion 
to  get  rid  of  an  evil  which  could  only  become  more 
fatal  by  delay.  ''These  suggestions,"  said  he,  "are 
dictated  by  an  attachment  which  is  not  feigned  and  an 
admiration  which  is  not  professed  for  a  people  dear  to 
me  from  many  associations,  and  in  whose  political, 
moral  and  religious  elevation  \  cannot  but  take  the 
greatest  interest."  Mr.  Campbell's  influence,  however, 
as  well  as  that  of  Mr.  Clay,  proved,  in  this  case,  alto- 
gether unavailing. 

In  his  editorial  labors  at  this  period,  Mr.  Campbell 
continued  to  discuss  the  great  religious  questions  with 
which  he  had  previously  been  engaged,  and  especially 
endeavored  to  promote  amongst  the  Reformers  piety 
and  good  works.  A  school  for  female  orphans  was 
about  this  time  established  at  Midway,  Kentucky, 
through  the  eflbrts  of  Dr.  L.  L.  Pinkerton  and  the 
amiable  and  devoted  James  W.  Parish  and  others. 
This  institution,  especially  through  the  eflicient  aid  of 
John  T.  Johnson  and  William  Morton  and  other  warm 
friends  of  the  enterprise,  soon  succeeded  in  obtaining  a 
considerable  endowment,  and  proved  to  be  a  great 
blessing  to  the  community.    Resuming  his  excursions 


CANDID  CRITICISM. 


58. 


abroad  in  behalf  of  the  cause  of  education  and  of  the 
Reformation,  he  visited  Kentucky  at  the  close  of  the 
year  1849,  and  on  his  way  delivered,  by  invitation,  an 
interesting  address  on  the  Anglo-Saxon  language  to  the 
Young  Men's  Mercantile  Library  Association"  of 
Cincinnati.  From  thence  he  proceeded  to  Louisville, 
where  he  spoke  several  times.  On  two  of  these  occa- 
sions he  happened  to  have  the  Rev.  Heman  Humphrey, 
D.D.,  and  former  president  of  Amherst  College,  Mass., 
for  one  of  his  auditors.  This  distinguished  Presby- 
terian doctor,  after  his  return  to  the  East,  published,  in 
the  New  York  Observer,"  an  account  of  his  visit  to 
Kentucky,  in  which  he  gave  the  following  candid  and 
graphic  account  of  Mr.  Campbell  as  a  preacher : 

"  Though  on  the  first  evening  I  went  half  an  hour  before 
the  time,  I  found  the  house  and  aisles  densely  crowded  from 
the  porch  up  to  the  pulpit  stairs.  Very  many,  I  am  sure, 
must  have  gone  away  because  they  could  find  no  room  even 
to  stand  within  hearing  of  the  preacher's  voice. 

"At  length  Dr.  Campbell  made  his  way  up  through  the 
crowd  and  took  his  seat  in  the  pulpit.  He  is  somewhat  above 
middle  stature,  with  broad  shoulders,  a  little  stooping,  and, 
though  stoutly  built,  a  little  spare  and  pale.  He  has  a  high, 
intellectual  forehead,  a  keen,  dark  eye,  somewhat  shaded,  and 
a  well-covered  head  of  gray  hair,  fast  changing  into  the  full 
bloom  of  the  almond  tree.  I  think  he  must  be  rather  over 
than  under  sixty-five  years  of  age.  He  looks  like  a  hard- 
working man,  as  he  has  been  from  his  youth  up.  Very  few 
could  have  endured  so  much  mental  and  physical  labor  as 
has  raised  him  to  the  commanding  situation  which  he  now 
occupies,  and  so  long  sustained  him  in  it.  His  voice  is  not 
strong,  evidently  owing,  in  part,  to  the  indifferent  state  of  his 
health,  but  it  is  clear  and  firmly  modulated.  His  enunciation 
is  distinct,  and,  as  he  uses  no  notes,  his  language  is  remarkably 
pure  and  select.    In  his  delivery  he  has  not  much  action,  and 

49  * 


582       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


but  little  of  that  fervid  outpouring  which  characterizes  Western 
and  Southern  eloquence.  There  is  nothing  vociferous  or  im- 
passioned in  his  manner.  I  think  he  is  the  most  perfectly 
self-possessed,  the  most  perfectly  at  ease  in  the  pulpit,  of  any 
preacher  I  ever  listened  to,  except,  perhaps,  the  celebrated 
Dr.  John  Mason  of  New  York.  No  gentleman  could  be  more 
free  and  unembarrassed  in  his  own  parlor.  At  the  same  time 
there  is  not  the  slightest  apparent  want  of  deference  for  his 
audience. 

"In  laying  out  his  work  his  statements  are  simple,  clear 
and  concise,  his  topics  are  well  and  logically  arranged,  his 
manner  is  calm  and  deliberate,  but  full  of  assurance.  His 
appeals  are  not  very  earnest  nor  indicative  of  deep  feeling; 
but  nevertheless  winning  and  impressive  in  a  high  degree. 
There  were  many  fine  and  truly  eloquent  passages  in  the  twa 
discourses  I  heard,  but  they  seemed  to  cost  him  no  eHbrt, 
and  to  betray  no  consciousness  on  his  part  that  they  were 
fine.  In  listening  to  him  you  feel  that  you  are  in  the  pres- 
ence of  a  great  man.  He  speaks  like  a  '  master  of  assemblies,* 
who  has  entire  confidence  in  his  mastery  of  his  subject  and 
his  powers,  and  who  expects  to  carry  conviction  to  the  minds 
of  his  hearers  without  any  of  those  adventitious  aids  on  which 
ordinaiy  men  find  it  necessary  to  rel)\  On  both  evenings 
when  I  heard  him  he  held  the  great  congregation  for  an 
hour  and  a  half  in  that  profound  stillness  which  shows  that 
his  listeners  are  not  aware  of  the  lapse  of  time. 

"  Dr.  Campbell's  first  discourse  was  an  exceedingly  inter- 
esting eulogy,  if  I  may  so  call  it,  upon  the  Bible,  glancing 
rapidly  at  some  of  the  internal  proofs  of  its  divine  origin, 
dwelling  as  much  as  his  time  would  allow  upon  its  wonder- 
ful history,  biography  and  prophecies,  and  following  the 
sacred  stream  down  through  the  dispensations,  or,  as  he  ex- 
pressed it,  '  the  starlight  and  moonlight  ages'  of  the  patriarchs 
and  of  the  Jewish  commonwealth,  till  the  glorious  Sun  of 
Righteousness  rose  upon  the  world  and  introduced  the  Chris- 
tian era. 

"  The  text  on  the  next  evening  was,  '  Great  is  the  mystery 


POWER  AS  A  PREACHER. 


583 


of  godliness/  etc.  It  was  an  able  and  orthodox  discourse 
throughout.  He  dwelt  chiefly  upon  the  two  clauses  of  the 
text,  *•  justified  in  the  Spirit,  received  up  into  glory  and  I 
cannot  in  justice  refrain  from  acknowledging  that  I  never 
remember  to  have  listened  to  or  to  have  read  a  more  thrilling 
outburst  of  sacred  eloquence  than  when  he  came  to  the  scene 
of  the  coronation  of  Christ,  and  quoted  the  sublime  passage 
from  the  twenty-fourth  Psalm,  beginning,  '  Lift  up  your  heads, 
O  ye  gates,  and  be  ye  lifted  up,  ye  everlasting  doors,  that  the 
King  of  glory  may  come  in  ;*  when  he  represented  all  the 
angels,  principalities  and  powers  of  heaven  as  coming  to- 
gether to  assist,  as  it  were,  in  placing  the  crown  upon  the 
Redeemer's  head." 

This  description  of  Mr.  Campbell  as  a  preacher  is,  in 
the  main,  just  and  accurate.  To  it  may  be  added  some 
remarks  serving  to  explain  still  further  the  secret  of  his 
power  to  rivet  the  attention  and  control  the  minds  of 
men.  Nothing  indeed  was  more  striking  than  his  sin- 
gular ability  to  interest  his  hearers  in  the  subject  of 
which  he  treated.  With  this  his  own  mind  was  occu- 
pied, and,  being  free  from  all  thoughts  of  self,  there  was 
in  his  addresses  an  entire  absence  of  egotism,  and  noth- 
ing in  his  delivery  to  divert  the  attention  from  the  theme 
on  which  he  discoursed.  For  the  first  few  moments, 
indeed,  the  hearer  might  contemplate  his  commanding 
form,  his  perfect  self-possession  and  quiet  dignity  of 
manner,  or  admire  the  clear  and  silvery  tones  of  his 
voice,  but  those  emphatic  tones  soon  filled  the  mind 
with  other  thoughts.  New  revelations  of  truth  ;  themes 
the  most  familiar  invested  with  a  strange  importance,  as 
unexpected  and  yet  obvious  relations  were  developed  in 
a  few  simple  sentences ;  unthought-of  combinations ; 
unforeseen  conclusions  ;  a  range  of  vision  that  seemed  to 
embrace  the  universe  and  to  glance  at  pleasure  into  all 
its  varied  departments, — were,  as  by  some  magic  power 


584       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


presented  to  the  hearer,  and  so  as  wholly  to  engross  his 
perceptions  and  his  understanding.  While  that  voice 
was  heard,  nothing  could  dissolve  the  charm.  Minutes 
became  seconds,  and  hours  were  converted  into  minutes, 
so  that  the  auditor  became  unconscious  of  the  lapse  of 
time,  and  his  attention  during  the  longest  discourse  was 
never  weary.  Without  any  gestures,  either  emphatic 
or  descriptive,  the  speaker  stood  in  the  most  natural 
and  easy  attitude,  resting  upon  his  innate  powers  of 
intellect  and  his  complete  mastery  of  the  subject,  im- 
pressing all  with  the  sense  of  a  superior  presence  and  a 
mighty  mind.  His  enunciation  was  distinct,  his  diction 
chaste  and  simple,  his  sentences  clear  and  forcible. 
The  intonations  of  his  clear  ringing  voice  were  ad- 
mirably adapted  to  the  sentiment,  while  by  his  strong 
and  bold  emphasis  upon  important  words  he  imparted 
to  what  he  said  a  peculiar  force  and  authority. 

On  important  occasions,  and  when  he  had  a  great 
subject  before  him,  his  method  was  often  peculiar. 
After  reading  a  portion  of  Scripture  which  embraced 
his  theme,  he  would  take  up  some  simple  point  seem- 
ingly unconnected  with  it,  and  dwelling  upon  this  in- 
terestingly for  a  few  moments  until  he  had  made  it  per- 
fectly clear  to  the  audience,  he  would  then  leave  it  and 
take  up  another  apparently  equally  unrelated  and  treat 
it  in  a  similar  manner.  Continuing  thus,  he  would 
assume  in  like  manner  a  third,  a  fourth,  or  even  a  fifth 
position,  each  one  of  which  was  in  itself  clearly  defined 
and  forcibly  presented,  yet  whose  relations  to  the  sub- 
ject or  to  each  other  an  ordinary  mind  would  hardly 
perceive.  At  length,  however,  he  would  introduce 
some  other  point  or  principle  of  wider  range,  and  the 
hearer  would  now  with  wonder  and  with  a  conscious- 
ness of  enlarged  insight  begin  to  perceive  an  intimate 


SECRET  OF  POWER. 


585 


and  necessary  relation  between  it  and  the  previous  posi- 
tions, as  one  by  one  he  would  bring  them  in  as  proofs 
or  illustrations  of  the  grand  or  leading  thought  which 
constituted  his  special  theme,  and  which  in  all  its 
grandeur  he  designed  to  impress  upon  the  minds  and 
hearts  of  the  audience.  His  power  was  thus  derived, 
not  from  graceful  gesture,  nor  from  flowery  language, 
nor  from  elaborate  or  glowing  description,  nor  merely 
from  logical  argumentation,  but  from  his  singular  faculty 
of  stating  and  connecting  facts — of  producing  novel 
and  striking  combinations  of  7'elated  truths^  and  of 
evolving  the  grand  fundamental  principles  of  things. 
Seizing  upon  these  by  an  intuitive  sagacity,  he  obtained 
at  once  the  complete  mastery  of  his  subject,  which  he 
was  enabled  to  disengage  with  the  greatest  ease  from 
all  its  complications,  as  the  experienced  woodman,  skill- 
fully placing  his  wedge  in  the  heart  of  the  timber,  rives 
it  through  all  its  knots  and  windings,  or  as  some  Napo- 
leon directs  at  various  distant  points  large  and  isolated 
bodies  of  troops,  whose  destination  cannot  be  determined 
by  ordinary  minds  until  the  unexpected  concentration 
of  the  whole  upon  a  given  point  reveals  the  comprehen- 
sive genius  of  the  warrior. 

Mr.  Campbell's  discourses  w^ere,  however,  b}^  nO' 
means  destitute  of  ornament.  He  had  a  correct  fancy^ 
which  was  rather  fastidious  than  lively.  Hence  he 
never  employed  figures  of  a  homely  character  or  such 
as  were  calculated  to  lower  his  subject.  On  the  con- 
trary, his  comparisons,  which  were  not  very  frequent^ 
were  always  such  as  tended  to  elevate  it,  or  were  at 
least  in  perfect  harmony  with  it.  These  he  usually 
drew  from  the  Scriptures,  and  his  familiarity  with  the 
language  of  the  Bible  enabled  him  to  employ  its  glow- 
ing expressions  and  beautiful  similes  with  great  effect. 


586        MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


It  was  from  it,  indeed,  that  his  discourses  derived  their 
convincing  truths,  their  inspiration  and  their  grandeur. 
Bible  themes,  Bible  thoughts,  Bible  terms,  Bible  facts 
were  his  materials,  and  these  he  wrought  up  with  con- 
summate skill  into  intellectual  and  spiritual  palaces  of 
glorious  beauty,  in  which  every  auditor  desired  to  pro- 
long his  stay.  For  the  embellishment  of  these  he  em- 
ployed Scripture  metaphors  much  more  frequently  than 
comparisons,  but  it  was  upon  analogies  that  he  seemed 
chiefly  to  rely  for  illustration  as  vvtU  as  argument.  These, 
constituting  his  chief  imagery,  were  usually  grand,  far- 
reaching  and  vvidespreading.  Scripture  tacts,  precepts 
and  promises  seemed  to  be  connected  with  them  as 
naturally  as  flowers  and  fruits  with  the  trees  of  the 
orchard.  Uniting  by  their  means  the  present  with  the 
past,  one  dispensation  or  institution  of  religion  with 
another,  and  earth  with  heaven,  he  enlarged  tvery  one's 
conceptions  of  the  plans  of  the  infinite  Creator  in  the 
remedial  system,  and  through  his  varied  and  striking 
associations  of  thought  produced  the  most  profound  and 
indelible  impressions.  And  it  is  in  this  connection  that 
a  peculiar  trait  in  Mr.  Campbell's  character  as  a  man 
may  be  particularly  mentioned — viz.,  the  total  absence 
of  any  disposition  to  self-applause.  On  these  occasions, 
after  holding  for  hours  the  most  crowded  and  intelligent 
audiences  in  rapt  attention,  and  amidst  the  most  un- 
equivocal indications  of  unbounded  admiration,  he  le- 
tained  constantly  the  most  unassuming  gentleness,  and 
seemed  ever  wholly  unconscious  that  he  had  accom- 
plished anything  remarkable  or  performed  more  than  a 
simple  duty.  Preserving  ever  his  humbleness  of  mind, 
he  was  insensible  to  flattery,  and  seemed  constantly  so 
impressed  with  the  great  truths  he  dehvered  that  no 
compliments  could  extract  from  him  more  than  an  ex- 


ADDRESS  TO  CONGRESS 


5^7 


pression  of  grateful  thanksgiving  for  having  been 
allowed  the  privilege  of  presenting  them  to  others. 

After  leaving  Louisville  he  visited  Shelbyville,  New 
Castle  and  Frankfort,  where  he  delivered  discourses,  as 
he  did  also  at  Versailles  and  Midway,  where  he  was 
glad  to  find  the  Orphan  School  commencing  its  career 
under  favorable  auspices.  Happy  in  the  company  of 
the  devoted  John  T.  Johnson,  he  came  to  Georgetown, 
where  he  spoke  three  times,  and  went  from  thence  to 
Lexington  and  delivered  discourses  there  and  in  the 
neighborhood,  and  thence  proceeded  to  Danville  and 
other  points  in  Central  Kentucky.  After  visiting  Madi- 
son county,  he  returned  again  to  Lexington  and  Mid- 
way, and  thence  to  Old  Union,  where  he  spent  a 
pleasant  time  with  the  excellent  J.  A.  Gano,  who  had 
recently  been  bereaved  of  his  beloved  and  only 
daughter,  the  amiable  wife  of  Noah  Spears  who  had 
been  a  student  at  Bethany  College.  From  thence  he 
proceeded  to  Paris,  where  he  met  many  of  his  old  ac- 
quaintances, among  whom  were  the  veterans  John  Smith 
and  John  Rodgers.  Here,  also,  he  found  Aylett  Raines 
still  laboring  and  much  beloved  for  his  work's  sake, 
and  upon  going  to  Mayslick  had  the  pleasure  to  meet 
there  Walter  Scott,  who  agreed  to  accompany  him  to 
Bethany,  for  which  he  sailed  from  Maysville  on  the 
loth  of  February,  reaching  home  in  less  than  two  days. 
During  this  tour  of  fourteen  weeks  he  had  traveled  one 
thousand  six  hundred  miles,  delivered  fifty-tive  public 
discourses  and  obtained  subscriptions  for  the  endowment 
of  the  colle<re  to  the  amount  of  fifteen  thousand  dollars. 

In  the  latter  part  of  May,  1850,  he  made  an  excur- 
sion also  to  Baltimore,  and  while  there  received  a 
pressing  invitation  from  both  Houses  of  Congress  to  de- 
liver to  them  an  address  in  the  Capitol  on  the  2d  of 


588       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL, 


June.  Being  introduced  into  the  House  of  Represent- 
stives  by  Mr.  Phelps  of  Missouri,  he  found  it  full  ta 

overflowing,  and,  after  a  hymn  and  prayer,  addressed 
the  assembly  from  John  iii.  17,  exhibiting  the  divine 
philanthropy  in  contrast  with  patriotism  and  human 
friendship,  reasoning  in  a  grand  and  masterly  manner 
from  creation,  providence,  divine  legislation  and  human 
redemption,  and  holding  the  audience  in  the  most  fixed 
attention  during  the  time  of  the  address,  which  occupied 
an  hour  and  a  half.  After  examining,  on  the  following 
day,  various  matters  of  interest  at  Washington,  he  re- 
turned to  speak  in  Baltimore,  which  he  left  next  morn- 
ing for  home. 

About  this  time  a  difficulty  arose  in  the  American 
and  Foreign  Bible  Society  in  regard  to  a  proposition  to 
translate  f^aTrze^aj  (dapli'zo)  in  the  foreign  versions.  Mr. 
Campbell  felt  a  great  interest  in  this  matter,  and  the 
Society  having  voted  against  it,  a  new  Bible  society 
was  formed,  which  was  called  the  "American  Bible 
Union,"  for  the  purpose  of  procuring  and  circulating 
the  most  faithful  versions  of  the  sacred  Scriptures  in  all 
tongues  throughout  the  world.  This  enterprise,  so  con- 
sonant wath  Mr.  Campbell's  views  and  feelings,  imme- 
diately engaged  his  earnest  co-operation.  He  delivered, 
by  request,  an  address,  in  October,  1850,  to  the  first 
anniversary  meeting  of  the  "Union"  in  New  York, 
showing  the  need  of  an  improved  English  version  of 
the  Bible  ;  and  he  not  only  contributed  liberally  to  the 
funds  of  the  "Union,"  but  used  his  influence  with  great 
effect  in  promoting  its  interests. 

After  delivering  the  above-mentioned  address,  he  paid 
a  visit  to  ex-Consul  Buchannan  in  Canada  West,  return- 
ing through  the  State  of  Ohio ;  and  after  spending  only 
one  week  at  home,  again  set  out,  in  company  with  his 


SUPPORT  OF  THE  GOSPEL. 


58^ 


daughter  Virginia,  upon  a  tour  of  forty  days  in  the 
West.  At  Cincinnati  he  attended  the  anniversary  of 
the  Missionary  Society,  and  then  visited  Madison  and 
many  other  points  in  Indiana  to  which  appointments 
had  been  forwarded.  Everywhere  the  people  mani- 
fested the  greatest  anxiety  to  hear,  and  no  place  could 
be  found  large  enough  to  accommodate  the  assemblies. 
At  Indianapolis,  the  governor  and  the  whole  State  con- 
vention, then  assembled  in  order  to  remodel  the  State 
constitution,  attended  his  meeting,  and  he  was  officially 
invited  next  morning  to  open  the  convention.  Here, 
among  the  members,  he  was  pleaded  to  meet  Robert 
Dale  Owen,  by  whom  he  was  very  kindly  received. 
Accompanied  by  Brother  O'Kane,  he  visited  Bloom- 
ington,  where  he  was  pleased  to  renew  his  acquaintance 
with  his  old  friend,  Dr.  Andrew  Wylie,  and  enjoyed  the 
Christian  hospitality  of  the  excellent  J.  M.  Mathes,then 
editing  the  "  Christian  Record."  At  Bedford  he  spoke 
in  a  Presbyterian  meeting-house,  and  at  Brookeville,  in 
a  Methodist  chapel,  after  which  he  spent  the  night  with 
the  Rev.  Mr.  Potter,  pastor  of  the  Presbyterian  church 
at  Brookville,  a  graduate  of  Princeton  and  a  gentleman 
of  liberal  views. 

He  was  much  gratified  with  this  visit  to  Indiana. 
His  health  and  spirits  were  by  this  time  pretty  well  re- 
stored, and  he  was  delighted  to  find  the  cause  of  the 
Reformation  prospering  everywhere  under  the  labors 
of  able  preachers,  such  as  George  Campbell,  Elders 
Goodwin,  Hoshour,  L.  H.  Jameson,  O'Kane  and  others. 
He  was  also  charmed  with  the  kindness  and  hospitality 
of  the  brotherhood. 

"They  would  not  allow  me,"  said  he,  "to  be  at  any  ex- 
pense from  the  day  I  put  myself  upon  the  soil  till  the  day  I 
left  it.    I  do  not  generally  allow  it  to  be  so  done  to  me ;  but 

50 


590       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


in  this  case  I  was  anticipated  at  every  point,  and  could  not 
have  the  privileges  of  bearing  either  in  whole  or  in  part  my 
traveling  expenses."  Fearful,  however,  that  his  earlv  adopted 
practice  of  preacliiug  the  gospel  without  charge  might  lead 
to  a  neglect  of  duty  on  the  part  of  the  churches  towartl  those 
who  labored  in  the  gospel,  he  adds :  I  do  not  speak  so 
either  because  it  was  so  done  to  me,  or  because  I  desired  it 
to  be  so  done,  but  because  it  ought  to  be  so  done  in  many 
cases  where  it  is  not,  and  because  this  fruit  of  Christian  faith 
is  most  acceptable  to  the  Lonl  and  all  his  people.  Such 
sacrifices  are  imleed  most  honorable  to  the  !)rotherhood,  be- 
cause most  expressive  of  the  estimate  which  they  put  upon 
the  gospel  itself,  and  Upon  those  who  devote  their  lives  to  its 
dissemination  and  success." 

During  his  recent  tours  nothing  was  more  striking 
than  the  change  in  the  deportment  of  the  religious 
parties  toward  him.  Such  was  now  the  decided  tone  of 
public  sentiment  and  the  desire  to  hear  Mr.  Campbell 
that  everywhere  they  freely  opened  their  meeting-houses, 
which  it  would  have  been  extremely  unpopular,  if  not, 
in  some  cases,  unsafe  to  have  refused,  and  were  com- 
pelled to  pay  a  reluctant  tribute  to  the  transcendent 
abilities  of  one  whom  formerly  they  had  maligned  and 
feared. 

About  this  time  Mr.  Campbell  received  earnest  in- 
vitations to  pay  another  visit  to  Great  Britain,  where, 
from  the  abiding  impression  left  upon  the  minds  of  the 
people  by  his  former  labors  there  and  the  removal  of 
prejudice,  the  friends  of  the  Reformation  anticipated 
great  changes  in  religious  society.  With  this  invita- 
tion he  felt  strongly  disposed  to  comply,  but  from  the 
claims  of  the  colleife  and  his  desire  to  obtain  a  com- 
plete  endowment  he  was  compelled  to  postpone  his 
visit,  and  to  devote  much  of  his  J  me  every  season  to 
regions  nearer  home.     His  earnest  desire  righily  to 


BBTHANT  COLLEGE. 


59^ 


appropriate  his  time  may  be  seen  in  the  following 
letter : 

"Bethany,  December  4,  1850. 

Beloved  Brother  Coleman  : 

"  My  very  dear  sir  :  Your  kind  and  very  acceptable 
letter  of  the  2d  ulto.  has  been  hande<l  to  me  by  Brother 
Pendleton.  I  have  recently  returned  from  a  tour  of  forty 
days  to  Ohio,  Kentucky  and  Indiana,  during  which  I  traveled 
some  sixteen  hundred  miles,  and  delivered  some  thirty-eight 
discourses,  besides  as  many  long  conversations.  Fatigued, 
exhausted,  worn-out,  I  feel  like  one  that  has  violated  the  first 
commandment  of  human  nature — self-preservation.  Before 
this,  after  one  week's  stay  at  home,  I  had  been  to  New  York 
and  the  East  twenty-four  days,  traveled  fourteen  hundred  miles, 
and  made  some  eight  discourses — in  all  sixty-four  days,  three 
thousand  miles  and  forty-four  discourses. 

I  am  now  endeavoring  to  write  a  little  for  the  M.  H., 
and  to  lecture  daily  in  the  college,  which  is  now  in  success- 
ful operation.  I  feel  a  strong  desire  to  visit  Richmond  to  see 
my  much-beloved  and  esteemed  brethren  in  Eastern  Virginia. 
But,  alas!  I  cannot,  notwithstanding  their  desire  to  see  me 
and  my  desire  to  see  them,  which,  in  the  absence  of  other 
criteria,  I  hold  to  be  equal.  My  duties  at  college  and  to  the 
'Harbinger,*  in  my  judgment,  sternly  veto  my  leaving  home 
for  a  two  weeks*  tour  to  the  Old  Dominion.  I  never  in  my 
life  before  felt  myself  so  embarrassed  between  two  such  rival 
claims.  Of  the  tw©  sets  of  arguments,  pro  and  con.,  the  latter 
preponderates,  and  I  must  forego  the  double  pleasure  of  pleas- 
ing and  being  pleased  with  such  a  visit  as  I  anticipate  it 
would  be.  All  I  can  say  is,  I  desire  and  intend,  the  Lord 
willing,  to  make  my  first  protracted  visit  to  Richmond.  But 
I  caiuiot  say  at  this  moment  when  it  may  be.  It  will  be  just 
as  soon  as  I  can,  without  censure  at  home  and  abroad,  make  it. 

Bethany  College  has  paramount  claims  on  me  and  on  all 
the  friends  of  the  cause  to  which  I  have  consecrated  my  life. 
To  further  it  abroad  and  build  it  up  at  home,  in  raising  up 
men  for  the  field  when  I  shall  be  absent  from  this  planet, 


592       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


seems  to  me  a  paramount  duty.  We  have  already  in  the  field 
some  of  its  first  fruits,  and  they  are  an  offering  most  accept- 
able to  the  aggregate  of  all  who  hear  them.  We  want  a  thou- 
sand men  in  the  field  of  the  world,  and  another  thousand  in 
the  vineyard  of  the  Lord — preachers  worthy  of  the  gospel 
and  of  the  age,  and  teachers  worthy  of  the  Bible  and  of  the 
Church.  The  brethren  pray  to  the  Lord  and  to  us  to  send 
them  help.  Oh,  that  they  would  help  us  to  help  them  !  .  ,  . 
I  hope  my  dear  Brother  Coleman  may  find  his  way  open  to 
visit  Bethany  before  a  long  time.  I  often  think  of  the  pleas- 
ant days  we  have  spent  together,  and  long  for  such  a  com- 
panionship as  we  have  enjoyed,  I  sympathize  with  you  in 
all  your  trials  and  aflflictions,  but  I  rejoice  that  my  confidence 
and  affection  always  grow,  even  when  you  are  tried  by  rough 
spirits,  whose  zeal  for  their  own  oflJspring  holds  in  abeyance 
the  more  lovely  attributes  which  adorn  our  fallen  humanity^ 
and  with  which  the  Holy  Spirit  beautifies  those  who  cheer- 
fully and  courteously  open  to  him  the  door  of  their  hearts. 
Rest  assured,  my  dear  brother,  that  you  have  a  large  space  in 
the  atTections  of  us  all  at  Bethany,  and  our  prayers  for  your 
health,  happiness  and  usefulness.    Yours,  in  the  one  hope, 

A.  Campbell." 

About  this  time  death  deprived  Mr.  Campbell  of 
the  last  of  his  children  by  his  first  wife,  his  amiable 
daughter  Clarinda,  who  had  become  the  second  wife  of 
Professor  Pendleton  in  July,  1848,  and  died  on  the  loth 
of  January,  1851,  leaving  two  childi^n,  one  of  whom 
died  soon  after  its  mother. 

On  the  1st  of  August  of  this  year  (1851)  he  left 
home,  accompanied  by  Mrs.  Campbell,  to  attend  the 
annual  meetings  of  Ohio.  Meeting  with  Walter  Scott 
at  Wellsville,  he  proceeded  to  New  Lisbon,  where  an 
immense  meeting  was  held  under  the  large  tent  used 
for  such  purposes,  where  Walter  Scott  delivered  three 
eloquent  discourses  to  the  community  to  which,  some 
five-and-twenty  years  before,  he  had  first  practically 


UTILITY  OF  CONVENTIONS. 


593 


presented  the  great  promises  of  the  gospel.  On  the 
Lord's  day  Mr.  Campbell  spoke  in  a  masterly  manner 
from  the  Divine  Oracle  at  the  transfiguration,  and  on 
Monday,  Isaac  Errett,  now  becoming  one  of  the  most 
distinguished  preachers  and  writers  of  the  Reformation, 
gave  an  elegant  address  upon  the  subject  of  obedience, 
and  in  the  evening,  in  town,  spoke  again  with  great 
power  upon  the  trial  of  Christ.  At  this  meeting  fifty- 
two  persons  were  baptized.  Mr.  Campbell  attended 
also  the  meeting  at  Bedford,  where  there  was  a  very 
large  attendance,  some  two  thousand  persons  partaking 
of  the  communion  on  the  Lord's  day.  Here  twenty-five 
persons  were  added  to  the  church.  He  attended  also 
another  meeting  in  a  beautiful  grove  near  Wooster, 
where  he  spoke  daily  for  four  days,  and  where  he  was 
much  pleased  with  the  progress  of  the  cause. 

After  spending  a  short  time  at  home  he  went  to  the 
missionary  meeting  in  Cincinnati.  The  society  having 
lately  sent  the  amiable  and  devoted  Dr.  J.  T.  Barclay 
as  a'  missionary  to  Jerusalem,  Mr.  Campbell  found  an 
increasing  interest  on  the  subject  of  missions  amongst 
the  brethren,  and  an  improvement  in  liberality  which 
he  labored  earnestly  to  promote.  He  had  also  a  very 
happy  meeting  with  the  brotherhood  at  the  annual 
State  convention  assembled  at  Lexington.  He  insisted 
greatly  at  this  period  upon  the  importance  of  such  con- 
ventions, in  order  that  the  churches  might  work  effect- 
ively in  the  great  fields  of  labor  which  were  assigned 
to  them  ;  and  though  some  were  fearful  that  such  organ- 
ized bodies  might  assume  to  exercise  authority  over  the 
churches  or  otherwise  misuse  their  powers,  Mr.  Camp- 
bell steadily  advocated  them  as  essential  to  effective 
action  and  as  not  involving  necessarily  any  such  abuse. 

In  April  of  the  following  year  (1852)  he  attended,  in 

VOL.  n.— 2  X  50  * 


594       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


company  with  Brethren  Challen  and  Petigrew,  a  mem- 
orable convention  of  the  friends  of  the  Bible  Union  at 
Memphis,  Tennessee,  where  he  found  himself  brought 
into  communication  with  a  number  of  eminent  persons, 
some  of  whom  had  been  formerly  much  prejudiced 
against  him,  but  who  were  now  co-operating  with  him 
in  favor  of  pure  versions  of  the  Scriptures.  Among 
these  were  J.  L.  Waller,  of  Kentucky,  and  Dr.  Archi- 
bald McClay,  of  New  York,  who  seemed  quite  to  have 
overcome  their  hostile  feelings. 

It  was,"  said  he,  "an  extraordinary  assembly  of  its 
character,  in  its  aims,  its  subject  and  in  its  success.  If  ever  we 
have  seen  the  hand  of  the  Lord  manifested  in  any  convention, 
in  any  deliberations,  in  any  grand  result,  it  was  displayed  in 
the  occasion,  the  details  and  issues  of  this  memorable  meeting. 
We  cannot  but  anticipate  a  glorious  result.  If  we  were 
sanguine  while  writing  our  address  for  this  convention,  we 
are  much  more  sanguine  now  on  seeing  its  progress,  its 
unanimity  and  its  results." 

The  address  which  Mr.  Campbell  delivered  on  this 
occasion  gives  a  fine  specimen  of  his  argumentative 
powers,  of  his  ability  to  take  extended  views  and  to 
render  things  near  and  remote  tributary  to  his  main 
design.  The  first  paragraph  is  in  itself  a  complete 
illustration  of  his  comprehensive  and  far-reaching  grasp 
of  mind,  as  well  as  of  his  tendency  to  the  use  of  analogy 
Speaking  from  the  text,  God  said,  Let  there  be  light, 
and  light  was,"  he  began  thus  : 

"  This  was  the  first  speech  ever  made  within  our  universe- 
It  is  indeed  the  most  sublime  and  potent  speech  ever  made. 
It  is,  however,  but  the  expression  of  an  intelligent  omnipo- 
tent  volition.  It  was  pregnant  with  all  the  elements  of  a 
material  creation.  It  was  a  beautiful  portraiture  of  its  author, 
prospective  of  all  the  developments  of  Creation,  Providence 
and  Redemption,    It  was  a  Bible  in  miniature,  and  future 


TOUR  IN  MISSOURI. 


595 


glory  in  embryo.  We  therefore  place  it  as  the  motto  of  an 
address  upon  the  greatest  question  and  work  of  our  age» 
Shall  we  have  the  light  of  life  as  God  created  itf^ 

In  August  of  this  year  he  delivered  an  address  to  the 
"  Philo-literary  Society"  of  Jefferson  College,  a  Pres- 
byterian institution  at  Canonsburg,  Pennsylvania.  His 
subject  was,  *'The  Destiny  of  our  Country,"  and  was 
treated  in  a  highly  interesting  and  characteristic  man- 
ner. Immediately  after  a  short  excursion  to  the  annual 
meeting  at  Throopsville,  N.  Y.,  he  gave  also  in  Sep- 
tember of  this  year  (1852)  an  address  to  the  "Wash- 
ington Literary  Society"  of  Washington  College,  on 

Phrenology,  Animal  Magnetism,  Spirit  Rappings, 
etc.,"  in  which  he  sustained  the  exclusive  claims  of  the 
Bible  as  a  divine  revelation,  showing  that  "from  its 
last  Amen  nothing  is  to  be  added  by  any  new  revela- 
tion or  commandment  of  demon,  angel  or  man." 

The  talented  and  educated  preachers  sent  out  from 
Bethany  College  were  at  this  time  giving  a  great  im- 
pulse to  the  cause  of  the  Reformation  throughout  the 
Western  States.  New  colleges,  high  schools  and  fe- 
male seminaries  were  springing  up  under  their  influence 
to  promote  the  cause  of  the  primitive  gospel,  and  the 
churches,  sensible  of  their  indebtedness  to  Mr.  Camp- 
bell's energy  and  foresight  in  thus  providing  aids  for 
want  of  which  the  cause  had  begun  to  languish,  felt 
more  and  more  disposed  to  complete  the  endowment  of 
the  institution.  Such,  however,  was  their  attachment 
to  Mr.  Campbell,  and  such  their  desire  to  obtain  his 
personal  labors  among  them,  that  they  continued  to 
make  a  visit  from  him  a  condition  of  subscription  to  the 
funds  of  the  institution.  Thus  Missouri  promised  to 
endow  a  chair  if  he  would  make  another  tour  through 
the  State.    Having  consented  to  this,  he  left  Bethany 


59^       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


on  the  28th  of  October,  1852,  accompanied  by  Mrs. 
Campbell  as  far  as  St.  Louis,  visiting  on  the  way  sev- 
eral points  in  Illinois,  and  having  several  narrow 
escapes  from  railroad  accidents  and  other  disasters. 
Commencing  at  Hannibal,  he  made  quite  an  extended 
tour  through  Missouri.  At  Hannibal  he  met  with  one 
of  the  most  gifted  speakers  of  the  Reformation,  Dr 
Hopson,  who  was  then  engaged  in  a  female  seminary 
at  Palmyra.  From  Hannibal,  accompanied  by  Brother 
Procter,  an  excellent  speaker  and  graduate  of  Bethany 
College,  he  proceeded  to  Paris,  where  he  was  joined 
by  Thomas  M.  Allen,  who,  with  Brother  Procter,  had 
been  appointed  to  conduct  him  through  the  State,  and 
through  whose  aid  and  influence  much  good  was  done 
and  a  liberal  subscription  obtained  for  the  college. 

Among  the  many  public  laborers  of  whom  he  makes 
kindly  mention  in  his  notes  was  Prince  L.  Hudgens, 
an  eminent  lawyer  and  preacher  in  Savannah,  Missouri, 
exercising  a  widespread  influence.  Here  a  young 
man  who  was  preparing  for  the  Presbyterian  ministry 
came  forward  and  was  immersed.  At  Camden  Point 
he  addressed  the  female  seminary  there,  in  which  there 
were  some  one  hundred  and  forty  young  ladies,  under 
the  care  of  Brother  H.  B.  Todd.  Here  he  was  met  by 
J.  Petigrew,  who  had  been  pastor  of  the  Berean  Bap- 
tist church  in  Pittsburg,  but  who  had  some  time  before 
come  into  the  Reformation,  of  which,  from  his  superior 
education  and  abilities,  he  became  a  popular  and  suc- 
cessful advocate.  At  Liberty  he  met  with  his  devoted 
friend.  Colonel  Doniphan,  and  with  a  graduate  of  Beth- 
any College,  M.  E.  Lard,  who  had  been  sent  to  college 
through  Colonel  Doniphan's  instrumentality^  and  was 
rapidly  becoming  one  of  the  most  distinguished  writers 
and  speakers  in  the  cause.    He  met  also  in  Howard 


EDUCATION  OF  AN  INDIAN, 


597 


with  J.  W.  McGarvey,  another  graduate  of  the  college, 
also  already  noted  for  his  fine  abilities.  At  Columbia 
he  addressed,  by  invitation,  the  young  ladies  of  Chris- 
tian College,  under  the  care  of  the  accomplished  J.  A. 
Williams.  He  visited  also  the  University  of  Missouri, 
over  which  James  Shannon  now  presided,  and  delivered 
here  two  discourses  to  large  assemblies. 

Having  received  a  very  special  invitation  from  the 
members  of  the  Legislature,  then  in  session  at  Jefferson 
City,  to  address  them,  he  spoke  there  twice  to  large 
audiences  in  the  Capitol  on  religious  topics  on  the  Lord's 
day,  and  on  Monday  forenoon  delivered  a  lecture  on 
education,  to  hear  which  the  Legislature  adjourned  its 
session  to  the  afternoon.  In  order  to  make  this  visit  he 
was  obliged  to  disappoint  the  brethren  in  Louisville, 
Missouri,  who  expected  him.  As  they  refused  to  ex- 
cuse him,  he  was  compelled  to  pay  them  a  special  visit 
subsequently,  when  on  a  tour  through  Illinois.  After 
many  difficulties  and  much  exposure,  owing  to  the  state 
of  the  roads  and  the  weather,  he  at  length  reached  St. 
Louis,  on  his  return,  in  the  latter  part  of  December,  and 
after  giving  a  few  lectures  in  this  city,  made  his  way 
through  fields  of  ice  in  the  ^Mississippi  to  the  more  open 
navigation  of  the  Ohio,  and  reached  home  after  an 
absence  of  seventy-six  days  and  a  laborious  journey  of 
twenty-eight  hundred  miles. 

Feeling  much  sympathy  for  the  Indian  race,  he, 
while  on  this  tour,  obtained  a  boy  of  the  Iowa  tribe  from 
among  them,  with  the  consent  of  his  relatives,  in  order 
to  educate  him.  He  became  at  once  a  member  of  Mr. 
Campbell's  family,  and  was  sent  to  school,  enjoying 
every  advantage  of  secular  and  religious  instruction. 
He  seemed  to  have  a  good  capacity  and  kind  disposi- 
tion, and  although  too  much  given  to  sport  to  make  the 


598       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


best  use  of  his  opportunities,  obtained,  in  the  course  of 
some  eight  or  nine  years,  a  pretty  good  knowledge  of 
the  elementary  English  branches,  and  could  read  and 
write  with  readiness.  When  a  young  man  grown,  it 
was  thought  expedient  for  him  to  return  to  the  West  to 
obtain  his  share  of  the  lands  allotted  to  his  tribe  ;  soon 
after  which  he  married  and  settled  in  Nebraska,  and  by 
his  letters  seems  still  to  cherish  in  grateful  remembrance 
the  benefits  he  received  from  Mr.  Campbell. 

Still  intent  on  obtaining  endowment  for  the  college, 
in  May,  1853,  he  set  out  by  way  of  Baltimore  for  Eastern 
Virginia.  After  a  very  pleasant  meeting  at  Tappa- 
hannock  church,  where  there  was  much  good  preach- 
ing by  Brothers  S.  Shelburne,  A.  B.  Walthall,  R.  L. 
Coleman  and  J.  W.  Goss,  and  where  Mr.  Campbell 
himself  spoke  two  or  three  times,- he  went  on  to  Rich- 
mond, where  the  church  was  flourishing  under  the  care, 
at  this  time,  of  R.  L.  Coleman.  Passing  thence,  by 
way  of  Louisa,  to  Caroline  county,  he  was  met  by  the 
excellent  R.  Y.  Henley,  and  on  the  following  day  ad- 
dressed a  large  assembly  at  Antioch  church.  After 
speaking  again  in  King-and-Qiieen  county,  he  set  out 
on  his  return  by  way  of  Philadelphia,  where  he  ad- 
dressed large  audiences  in  the  new  church  building  just 
completed.  Passing  through  Pittsburg,  he  visited,  be- 
fore returning  home,  some  points  in  Ohio,  as  Cleve- 
land, Wyandotte  and  Mount  Vernon.  In  the  latter 
place  there  was  no  building  sufficiently  large  to  accom- 
modate the  crowd,  the  capacious  railroad  depot  even, 
which  had  been  seated  for  the  purpose  and  held  three 
thousand  persons,  being  found  insufficient.  Here  he 
had  the  pleasure  of  meeting  D.  S.  Burnet,  who  aided 
in  the  meeting  and  continued  it  after  his  departure,  with 
a  large  number  of  accessions. 


CHURCH  EDIFICATION. 


599 


In  September,  of  this  year  (1853)  Mr.  Campbell  de- 
livered an  address  before  the  Kentucky  convention  of 
churches,  held  at  Harrodsburg,  upon  the  subject  of 
church  edification.  In  this  address  he  strongly  objected 
to  the  custom  into  which  some  churches  had  fallen,  of 
depending  too  much  upon  itinerant  preachers,  and  neg- 
lecting to  call  forth  and  employ  the  gifts  of  their  own 
members  in  mutual  exhortation  and  instruction.  He 
dwelt  much  upon  the  importance  of  a  proper  eldership 
to  teach  and  exhort  from  house  to  house  and  watch  over 
the  spiritual  interests  of  the  flock.  He  also  urged  the 
diligent  study  of  the  Bible  divided  into  regular  lessons, 
with  suitable  weekly  lectures  from  a  competent  teacher. 
He  was  not  in  favor  of  having  individual  churches  very 
large.  He  regarded  efforts  to  commend  the  truth  to 
men  by  an  imposing  array  of  numbers,  and  especially  by 
means  of  fine  meeting-houses  and  rhetorical  harangues, 
as  savoring  of  a  worldly  spirit  and  pregnant  with  evil. 
He  therefore  preferred  small  churches,  in  which  Chris- 
tian simplicity,  fraternal  intercourse  and  mutual  edifica- 
tion could  be  best  secured. 

"No  persons,"  said  he,  "should  belong  to  any  particular 
congregation  who  cannot  conveniently  meet  with  their  brethren 
every  Lord's  day  ;  and  the  fact  of  their  being  able  to  meet 
every  Lord's  day  with  the  brethren  is  the  rule  which  decides 
to  what  congregation  they  should  belong.  These  small  be- 
ginnings, scattered  over  a  district  of  country,  tend  to  give  a 
larger  increase  of  disciples  annually  than  if  the  same  number 
which  meet  weekly  in  three  or  four  places  met  irregularly  in 
one  place.  The  simplicity,  humility  and  brotherly  kindness 
which  appear  in  these  small  assemblies,  and  the  more  rapid 
progress  which  the  disciples  make  in  Christian  knowledge, 
faith  and  love,  from  more  of  them  being  called  upon  to  take 
a  part  in  the  Christian  worship,  are  greater  auxiliaries  to  the 
«pread  of  the  gospel,  more  powerful  arguments  for  the  truth 


6oo       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


and  recommendations  of  the  excellency  of  the  Christian  insti- 
tution, than  an  immense  pile  of  stone,  brick  or  wood  with 
the  ornaments  of  architecture,  called  a  church  or  meeting- 
house, filled  with  an  assembly  of  carnal  worshipers  in  all  the 
pomp  and  pageantry  of  the  lusts  of  the  eye  and  the  pride  of 
life,  waiting  upon  a  parson  ;  all  of  whom,  save  one  consecrated 
tongue,  are  dumb  in  the  Christian  worship." 

The  temperance  cause,  also,  which  was  attracting 
great  attention  at  this  time,  received  his  earnest  sanction 
and  approval. 

"  We  ought,"  said  he,  we  must,  as  men,  as  philanthropists 
and  as  Christians,  meet  this  monster,  this  insatiate  murderer 
of  our  species,  and  break  the  arm,  the  puissant  arm,  that 
spreads  poverty,  moral  desolation  and  ruin  through  all  ranks 
and  conditions  of  men. 

The  '  Maine  Law,*  as  appears  to  us,  is  the  most  effective, 
perhaps  the  only  effective  remedy  of  this  prolific  and  mani- 
fold evil.  Certainly  it  greatly  transcends  all  other  means  and 
attempts  to  crush  and  annihilate  the  monster."  While  he 
conceived  that  the  whole  subject  of  temperance,  in  its  religious 
bearings,  belonged  to  the  ministry  of  the  Churchy  he  fully 
recognized  the  right  of  the  State  to  guard  its  welfare  by  pro- 
hibiting the  sale  of  ardent  spirits.  "  This,"  said  he,  ''is  the 
most  rational,  plausible  and  efficient  effort  yet  made  in  our 
whole  horizon  beyond  the  direct  influence  of  the  Christian 
ministry.  To  such  of  our  readers,"  said  he,  "  who  reside  in 
the  State  in  which  efibrts  in  this  good  cause  are  being  made, 
we  would  add,  that  the  cause  of  piety  and  humanity  which 
we  plead  demands  the  most  vigorous  and  persevering  efforts 
in  aid  of  this  grand  reform,  while  in  progress,  and  to  be  the 
foremost  in  introducing  it  into  those  States  in  which  no  move, 
at  present,  in  that  direction  has  yet  been  made." 

In  the  fall  he  delivered  an  address  to  the  Christian 
Missionary  Society,  of  which  he  was  still  president,  in 
which  he  dwelt  earnestly  upon  the  importance  of  mis- 
sions both  at  home  and  abroad,  and  urged  a  general 


TOUR  IN  ILLINOIS.  6oi 


co-operation  on  the  part  of  the  brotherhood  for  the  con- 
version of  the  world.  He  did  not  regard  conventions 
or  societies,  composed  of  messengers  of  the  churches, 
as  independent  bodies  or  as  taking  out  of  the  hands  of 
the  churches  the  duties  to  be  performed,  but  considered 
them  as  mere  instrumentalities  employed  by  the  Church 
at  large  for  the  accomplishment  of  important  ends  de- 
manding mutual  assistance,  counsel  and  co-operation. 
Immediately  after  this  address  at  Cincinnati,  he  trav- 
ersed the  State  of  Illinois,  and  fulfilled,  also,  his  former 
engagement  to  visit  the  brethren  at  Louisville,  Missouri. 
Of  this  trip  he  gave  an  account  in  the  '*  Harbinger,"  in 
a  series  of  letters  addressed  to  Mrs.  Campbell,  which 
he  thus  introduces : 

"  If  Paul  to  the  Romans  greets  Priscilla  as  a  helper  in 
Christ — Julia  and  Mary,  who  bestowed  much  labor  on  him 
and  his  companions — Nereus,  too,  and  his  sister — being  fully 
persuaded  that  you  belong  to  that  class,  and  fully  rank  with 
them,  I  am  constrained,  by  the  authority  of  such  examples,  to 
address  to  you,  and  through  you  to  my  readers,  a  few  notes  of 
my  tour  and  labors  in  behalf  of  the  Bible  in  the  college,  and 
of  a  well-educated  Christian  ministry. 

This  is  due  to  you,  my  dear  fellow-helper  in  this  work, 
because  of  your  many  sacrifices  in  ease  and  comfort  in  minis- 
tering to  the  necessities  of  the  saints,  and  to  the  entertainment 
of  many  a  sojourner  and  Christian  pilgrim  in  the  rites  and 
usages  of  Christian  hospitality,  and  because  of  your  often- 
expressed  desire  to  see  the  stanilard  of  ministerial  accom- 
plishments much  higlier  elevated  amongst  us  as  a  people." 

During  this  tour  he  filled  numerous  appointments  in 
Illinois,  and,  being  compelled  to  travel  by  night,  in 
an  open  buggy,  across  the  prairies  amidst  storms,  in 
order  to  reach  his  appointments  in  Missouri,  was  while 
there  taken  seriously  ill,  but,  by  the  skillful  aid  of  Dr. 
B.  W.  Gorin,  was  relieved  in  time  to  meet  his  subse- 

51 


602       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


quent  appointments  in  Illinois.  Throughout  the  State 
he  addressed  immense  audiences,  and  received  liberal 
contributions  for  the  endowment  of  the  chair  of  chem- 
istry in  Bethany  College.  At  Carrollton,  he  spoke  in  a 
Methodist  chapel,  the  largest  house  in  the  village,  and 
formed  the  acquaintance  of  the  Elder  W.  J.  Rutledge. 

"He  is,"  said  Mr.  Campbell,  "a  very  able  and  efficient 
Methodist  teacher,  and  about  to  remove  to  Bloomington.  At 
night  we  heard  a  part  of  his  valedictory  address  to  his  charge. 
It  was  a  very  appropriate  and  able  address.  After  my  morn- 
ing address  in  his  own  house,  he  asked  permission  to  say  a 
few  words  in  aid  of  my  special  mission.  He  made  a  very 
appropriate  and  effective,  though  short,  address.  ...  In 
urging  liberality  in  the  cause  of  education,  he  appealed  to  our 
brotherhood  on  their  own  premises,  exhorting  them  to  carry 
out  their  superior  faith  and  doctrine  by  a  superior  liberality." 

He  received  on  this  tour  able  assistance  from  Brethren 
Jacob  Creath,  Jr.,  D.  P.  Henderson,  A.  P.  Jones  and 
others,  and  returned  much  pleased  with  the  progress  of 
the  cause  and  the  improved  liberality  of  the  churches  in 
behalf  of  their  literary  and  benevolent  institutions. 


CHAPTER  XIX. 


Spiritualism— Death  of  prominent  laborers— Bible  union — Visit  to  Nash* 
ville — "  Campbellism  Examined  "—Revision  of  Acts — Tours. 

ANOTHER  defection  marked,  about  this  period^ 
the  course  of  the  reformatory  movement.  As  the 
former  one  was  in  the  direction  of  materialism,  this 
took  that  of  spiritualism.  Both,  however,  were  alike 
palpable  departures  from  the  fundamental  principles  of 
the  Reformation,  which  peremptorily  inhibited  doctrinal 
speculation,  and  both  were  with  equal  readiness  de- 
tected and  exposed  by  the  simple  teachings  of  the  word 
of  God,  which  proved  no  less  adequate  to  the  prompt 
correction  of  error  than  to  the  inculcation  of  religious 
truth. 

A  young  man  called  Jesse  B.  Ferguson,  who  for 
some  years  had  labored  quite  acceptably  in  the  cause 
of  the  Reformation,  became  at  last  the  regular  preacher 
at  Nashville,  Tennessee,  where  he  published  also  a 
monthly  magazine.  Being  extremely  fluent,  of  popular 
manners  and  considerable  oratorical  power,  he  soon 
acquired  very  great  influence,  and  rose  to  such  a 
height  in  the  estimation  of  his  hearers,  and  especially 
in  his  own,  that  his  head  became  giddy,  and,  being  no 
longer  able  to  preserve  his  religious  equilibrium,  he 
was  precipitated  doctrinally  into  the  regions  of  departed 
spirits,  where  he  immediately  attempted  to  immortalize 
himself  by  new  discoveries.    His  roving  fancy  accord- 

603 


6o4       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL, 


ingly  soon  found  in  these  realms  of  the  dead  what  he 
supposed  to  be  a  vast  field  for  missionary  enterprise, 
and  he  began  to  fill  his  magazine  with  the  doctrine 
that  in  the  state  intermediate  between  death  and  the 
resurrection  those  who  had  died  unrepentant  would 
have  another  opportunity  of  hearing  and  obeying  the 
gospel.  Conceiving  that,  according  to  the  teaching  of 
Peter,  Christ  w^ent  and  preached"  to  such  spirits  in 
prison,"  he  seemed  to  cherish  the  hope  that  he  himself 
might  hereafter  in  those  shadowy  realjns  be  chosen  as 
an  apostle  of  this  post-mortem  gospel. 

These  speculations  no  sooner  appeared  than  Mr. 
Campbell  kindly  and  repeatedly  remonstrated  against 
them  as  unscriptural  and  incompatible  with  the  Reform- 
ation principles.  These  gentle  methods  failing,  how- 
ever, he  found  it  necessary  to  make  a  complete  expo- 
sure of  Mr.  Ferguson's  unwarrantable  proceedings  and 
of  the  flimsy  sophisms  by  which  he  was  endeavorinc^  to 
sustain  his  false  teaching,  and  to  lead  away  disciples 
after  him.  This  exposure  was  by  no  means  a  difficult 
task,  as  Mr.  Ferguson  possessed  no  logical  power,  but 
it  was  a  considerable  time  before  the  people  to  whom 
he  ministered  could  free  themselves  from  the  fascination 
of  his  rhetoric,  so  that,  although  discountenanced  by 
th*e  Reformers  in  general,  he  continued  for  some  time 
to  exercise  at  Nashville  an  unhappy  influence  over  the 
minds  of  many,  and  to  inflict  considerable  injury  on  the 
cause  of  truth. 

On  the  4th  of  January,  1854,  Thomas  Campbell 
terminated  at  Bethany  his  long  life  of  faithful  labor. 
Until  he  was  about  eighty-three  years  of  age  he  had 
continued  his  custom  of  itinerating  among  the  churches, 
which  were  always  happy  to  welcome  the  venerable 
teacher,  who  w^as  universally  recognized  as  the  living 


DEATH  OF  THOMAS  CAMPBELL.  605 

impersonation  of  all  the  Christian  graces.  Upon  re- 
turning from  one  of  these  excursions  in  Ohio  in  the 
summer  of  1846,  during  which  he  had  the  companion- 
ship of  J.  R.  Frame,  he  was  so  greatly  exhausted  with 
heat  and  fatigue  that  he  was  induced  through  the 
solicitation  of  his  friends  and  relatives  to  remain  thence- 
forth at  Bethany.  After  some  two  or  three  years  he 
became  affected  with  a  dimness  of  sight,  which  in  a 
short  time  terminated  in  total  blindness — a  sad  privation 
to  one  so  social  and  so  fond  of  reading,  but  which  he 
bore  with  the  utmost  resignation.  Still  retaining,  to  a 
considerable  extent,  the  vigor  of  his  mental  faculties,  it 
was  his  delight  during  his  blindness  to  converse  with 
his  former  acquaintances,  to  recite  to  them  various 
hymns  and  passages  of  Scripture  with  which  his 
memory  was  stored,  and  to  comment  on  the  sentiments 
they  expressed.  He  w^ould  often,  too,  with  his  usual 
winning  courtesy,  request  his  visitors  or  Mrs.  Camp- 
bell, whose  attentions  were  unwearied,  to  read  to  him 
certain  hymns  and  Scriptures  which  he  desired  to  hear 
or  to  memorize.  On  one  occasion,  during  the  years 
thus  spent  in  ever-during  darkness,  at  the  earnest  in- 
stance of  friends  who  desired  once  more  to  hear  him 
from  the  pulpit,  he  consented  to  deliver  a  farewell 
address.  He  preached,  accordingly,  on  the  ist  of 
June,  1851,  in  Bethany,  to  a  large  audience,  a  last 
discourse  on  the  subject  of  the  two  great  command- 
ments— love  to  God  and  love  to  our  neighbor.  He 
was  at  this  time  in  his  eighty-ninth  year,  and  his  health 
continued  good  until  within  some  three  weeks  of  his 
decease,  when  he  became  troubled  with  an  inflamma- 
tory affection  of  the  mouth,  inducing  loss  of  appetite 
and  great  debility.  Growing  gradually  weaker,  but 
without  acute  pain,  he  at  length  expired  so  gently  that 

51  * 


6o6        MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


it  was  scarcely  possible  to  distinguish  the  moment  when 
he  ceased  to  breathe.  Throughout  his  illness  and  in 
his  death  he  manifested  the  same  calm  confidence  in 
God  and  humble  reliance  on  his  Divine  Redeemer 
which  had  ever  characterized  his  life,  protracted  to 
ninety-one  years,  lacking  about  a  month.  Mr.  Camp- 
bell thus  spoke  of  the  event  in  a  letter  to  the  excellent 
Brother  Dungan,  of  Baltimore  : 

"Bethany,  Virginia,  January  24,  1854. 

"  Brother  Dungan  : 

"My  DEAR  sir;  Health,  peace  and  prosperity  to  thee  and 
thine  !  I  presume  you  may  have  already  heard  that  Father 
Campbell  has  joined  the  Church  above  and  entered  into  rest, 
where  the  wicked  cease  from  troubling  and  the  weary  are 
at  rest.  Yes,  he  has  been  introduced  to  Abraham,  Isaac  and 
Jacob,  and  to  all  the  spirits  of  just  men  made  perfect,  of  which 
I  have  no  more  reason  to  doubt  than  I  have  that  he  has  va- 
cated the  family  and  the  church  at  Bethany.  What  a  balm 
for  all  our  wounds  !  What  a  consolation  for  all  our  bereave- 
ments !  ^  Say  to  the  righteous  that  it  will  be  well  with  him.* 
I  never  knew  a  man,  in  all  my  acquaintance  with  men,  of 
whom  it  could  have  been  said  with  more  assurance  that  he 
^walked  with  GodJ*  Such  was  the  even  tenor  of  his  path, 
not  for  a  few  years,  but  a  period  as  far  back  as  my  memory 
reaches ;  and  that  is  on  the  other  side  of  half  a  century. 
How  many  say,  '  Let  me  die  the  death  of  the  righteous,  and 
let  my  last  days  be  like  his,'  who  nevertheless  do  not  choose 
to  live  his  life  !  .  .  .  Oh  that  we  could  realize  a  little — yea 
much  more — of  the  riches  and  glory  of  the  saints  in  light! 
How  contemptible  the  grandeur  and  glory  of  earth  !  Well 
now  are  the  golden  moments.  Oh  that  we  could  realize  their 
value,  and  lift  our  thoughts  from  things  of  earth  and  time  to 
heaven  and  immortality  !" 

On  the  14th  of  March,  a  little  more  than  two  months 
after  the  death  of  Thomas  Campbell,  the  venerable 
Jacob  Creath,  Sr.,  also  finished  his  course  with  joy. 


A  FLEETING  WORLD. 


607 


Strongly  resembling  the  former  in  his  devotion  to  truth, 
his  courteous  bearing  and  his  social  habits,  he  resembled 
him  also  in  the  bereavement  of  sight,  which  he  patiently 
endured  for  the  last  seven  years  of  his  life,  during 
which,  however,  he  still  preached  occasionally,  and 
took  great  delight  in  attending  meetings  and  visiting 
the  brotherhood. 

Nothing  interested  Mr.  Campbell  more  at  this  period 
than  the  operations  of  the  Bible  Union  in  the  revision  of 
the  Scriptures.  Having  himself  in  part  published  in  the 
''Harbinger"  an  amended  version  of  the  iVcts  of  the 
Apostles  with  a  commentary,  he  was  appointed  by  the 
Bible  Union  to  furnish  a  revision  of  this  portion  of  the 
New  Testament.  He  manifested  also  his  usual  interest 
in  the  great  subject  of  missions,  and  was  accustomed  to 
meet  with  the  A.  C.  M.  society  as  its  president  regularly 
every  year,  delivering  addresses  and  urging  increased 
liberality.  He  published  also  a  series  of  very  interest- 
ing letters  from  Dr.  J.  T.  Barclay,  the  missionary  at 
Jerusalem,  and  constantly  favored  the  extension  of  mis- 
sionary operations  to  other  parts  of  the  world.  Through 
the  efforts  of  the  devoted  Ephraim  A.  Smith,  a  colored 
missionary,  Alexander  Cross,  a  pious  and  devoted 
man,  had  already  been  sent  to  Liberia,  but  had  fallen 
a  victim  to  the  climate  from  over-exertion  soon  after  his 
arrival.  A  mission  at  Jamaica  also  was,  not  long  after, 
established,  which  produced  considerable  fruit.  While 
at  one  of  the  missionary  meetings  at  Cincinnati,  Mr. 
Campbell,  in  a  letter  to  Mrs.  Campbell,  amidst  personal 
items  and  matters  of  business,  thus  expressed  himself  in 
relation  to  the  things  which  were  ever  nearest  his  heart : 

"  There  is  good  health  as  far  as  I  can  learn  in  this  city. 
.  .  .  But  what  a  world  of  shadows  this  is !  Nothing  real- 
fleeting,  fading,  dying  world !    I  am  almost  a  stranger  here 


6o8       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


where  I  used  to  know  almost  all  persons  of  notoriety.  But 
there  is  a  world  of  grand  and  glorious  realities,  and  a  world 
of  sad  and  fearful  and  tremendous  realities.  There  is  only  one 
supreme  Philanthropist,  and  even  he  cannot  save  people  in 
their  sins.  He  only  saves  from  sin.  And  this  salvation 
must  begin  here  or  never.  We  are  saved  from  the  guilt,  the 
shame,  the  pollution,  the  tyranny  of  sin  in  this  world  or  never. 
Oh  that  poor  mortals  would  stop  their  mad  career  in  time ! 
Else  better  for  them  they  had  never  been.  Say  to  my  chil- 
dren, Flee,  flee,  flee  from  the  wrath  to  come,  and  seize  the 
proflered  pardon  before  the  uncertain  moment,  and  yet  cer- 
tain to  come,  overtakes  them.  Labor  not  for  the  food  that 
perishes,  but  for  that  which  endures  to  eternal  life.  .  .  Fare- 
well, my  dear  wife.    Your  affectionate  husband, 

"A.  Campbell." 

During  the  previous  year,  December  30,  1852,  Mr. 
Campbell's  eldest  son,  Alexander,  was  united  in  mar- 
riage with  a  very  amiable  lady.  Miss  Mary  Ann  Purvis, 
of  Louisiana.  Toward  the  close  of  the  following  year, 
from  many  earnest  solicitations  and  from  various  cir- 
cumstances growing  out  of  the  defection  of  J.  B.  Fer- 
guson, Mr.  Campbell  was  induced  to  pay  a  visit  to 
Nashville,  on  which  occasion  he  enjoyed  the  company 
of  A.  E.  Myers,  a  successful  preacher  and  a  graduate 
of  Bethany  College.  The  following  notice  of  his  dis- 
courses, from  the  Methodist  "Christian  Advocate  "  of 
that  city,  is  expressed  in  a  courteous  and  candid  spirit : 

"  The  distinguished  gentleman  whose  name  heads  this 
article  is  now  on  a  visit  to  this  city.  We  had  an  opportu- 
nity of  hearing  him  on  last  Sabbath  morning  at  the  McKen- 
dree  Church,  which  he  occupied  by  the  courtesy  of  the  pastor 
and  trustees.  The  congregations  were  vast,  filling  the  body 
and  galleries  of  the  spacious  house.  He  ascentled  the  pulpit 
at  half-past  ten  o'clock,  and  introduced  the  service  by  reading 
from  tiie  Holy  Scriptures,  singing  awd  prayer.  It  was  mani- 
fest to  those  who  had  seen  Mr.  Campbell  in  former  years 


DISCOURSE  AT  NASHVILLE. 


that  his  physical  man  is  giving  way  under  the  weight  of 
years  and  labor,  and  we  doubted  his  abiUty  to  address  an 
audience  so  large ;  when  he  began  to  speak,  however,  it  was 
evident  that  his  voice  was  still  clear  and  strong  for  one  of  his 
years.  His  subject  was  Faith,  founded  on  the  eleventh  of 
Hebrews,  and  was  listened  to  with  profound  attention.  We 
should  be  pleased  to  give  an  extensive  analysis  of  his  dis- 
course had  we  time  and  space.  A  brief  notice  must  satisfy 
our  readers. 

"  After  a  brief  exordium,  he  stated  as  a  leading  proposition 
that  the  whole  Christian  religion  is  founded  on  faith  ;  faith  in 
the  revelation  made  to  man  in  the  Bible — faith  in  the  doctrine 
given  by  plenary  inspiration.  He  combated  the  sentiment 
that  man,  by  reason  or  by  imagination,  could  acquire  a 
knowledge  of  divine  things  ;  the  plan  of  salvation  was  revealed 
alone  in  the  Bible.  He  next  defined  faith,  which,  in  the  lan- 
guage of  the  Apostle,  is  *  the  substance  of  things  hoped  for,  the 
evidence  of  things  not  seen.'  When  properly  received  and  in- 
creased, it  becomes  to  the  believer  an  assurance  of  the  great 
doctrines  of  faith,  he  having  no  doubt  as  to  their  truth  or  divine 
origin.  This  faith  embraces  Christ  as  the  only  and  all-suffi- 
cient Saviour  and  Mediator.  Here  the  speaker  enlarged  upon 
the  character  and  mission  of  the  Son  of  God,  affirming  that 
Christ  was  the  most  illustrious  being  in  all  the  universe — that 
he  combined  in  himself  the  perfections  of  the  human  and 
divine  natures  ;  as  a  man  he  was  as  perfect  as  Adam,  and  as 
God  he  was  as  perfect  as  the  God  of  Abraham.  Unitarianism 
he  pronounced  in  all  its  forms  as  utterly  at  variance  with  the 
doctrines  of  Christianity. 

"  In  the  incarnation  and  mission  of  the  Son  of  God,  the 
Father  has  made  a  full  and  complete  exhibition  of  his  love. 
God  has  here  done  all  he  could  for  the  redemption  of  our  race, 
and  he  who  will  not  avail  himself  of  the  glorious  plan  of  sal- 
vation, and  will  not  be  saved  by  Christ,  is  out  of  the  reach  of 
God's  mercy.  He  then  propounded  the  question.  What  is 
religion After  various  remarks,  he  showed  that  it  was  the 
grand  principle  which  binds  man  to  God — that  it  had  not  its 
VOL.  ir.— 2  0 


6io 


MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


birth  in  philosophy;  it  did  not  originate  in  the  hUman  imagi- 
nation, but  was  of  God,  wholly  supernatural,  above  nature, 
above  reason. 

The  simple  element  in  religion  is  sacrifice.  Here  he 
dwelt  on  the  efficacy  of  the  atonement,  and  with  strong  em- 
phasis commended  Christ  as  the  Lamb  of  God  who  takes 
away  the  sin  of  the  world — the  Lamb  of  God  in  whom  all  the 
t}'pes  and  sacrifices  and  symbols  of  the  Old  Testament  dis- 
pensation found  their  antitype — the  Lamb  of  God  whose 
blood  cleanses  from  all  sin.  '  Xo  man  can  come  to  God,* 
said  Mr.  Campbell,  '  only  through  faith  in  the  bleeding  Lamb 
of  God.' 

He  concluded  by  striking  a  severe  blow  at  modern  infi- 
delity, and  at  those  mistaken  and  misguided  souls  who  are 
looking  to  other  quarters  than  the  Bible  for  a  knowledge  of 
the  will  of  God  and  the  plan  of  salvation — who  are  consulting 
disembodied  spirits  for  an  answer  to  questions  already  solved 
in  the  word  of  God.  He  said  the  tallest  seraph  in  heaven, 
or  all  the  angels  that  surrounded  the  throne  of  God,  had  not 
the  power  to  reveal  the  scheme  of  man's  redemption  ;  God 
alone  could  make  that  plan  known,  and  this  has  been  already 
done  in  the  book  of  revelation  ;  we  need  no  other.  Had  this 
been  left  to  angels,  there  had  been  silence  in  heaven,  not  only 
for  a  half  hour,  but  for  ever.  .  .  . 

The  discourse  we  regarded  as  able  and  appropriate,  and 
in  the  main  one  which  most  Christians  would  receive  as 
sound  in  its  theology.  At  the  close  of  the  sermon.  Mr.  Camp- 
bell was  introduced  to  Bishop  Soule.  who  was  one  of  his 
auditors.  After  the  usual  salutation.  Bishop  Soule  expressed 
his  gratification  at  the  exalted  character  he  had  ascribed  to 
our  Lord  and  Saviour  Jesus  Christ.  Mr.  Campbell  promptly 
replied,  *  He  is  our  only  hope.*  .  .  .  He  announced  before 
he  concluded  that  he  would  deliver  during  the  week,  in  the 
church  on  Cherry  Street  (the  one  occupied  by  Mr.  J.  B.  Fer- 
guson), a  series  of  lectures  on  *  Neology  and  Spiritualism.* 
In  making  this  announcement  he  struck  the  *  Spirit  Rappers* 
some  heavy  blows.    Success  to  him  in  opposing  this  miser- 


A  TIMELT  REVELATION. 


611 


able  humbug,  which,  Mr.  Campbell  justly  remarked,  comes 
from  infidelity,  or  is  evidence  of  infidelity  in  the  heart  of  him 
who  is  under  its  influence. 

'*  It  is  but  justice  to  say  that  the  two  points  kept  promi- 
nently before  the  audience  in  the  two  discourses  were,  first, 
the  divine  authenticity,  perfection  and  sufficiency  of  the  Holy 
Scriptures  as  a  revelation  from  God  ;  and  second,  the  sac- 
rijicial  death  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  in  whom  we  have 
redemption  through  his  blood,  even  the  forgiveness  of  sin, 
by  faith  in  his  name.  These  two  points  well  established,  he 
will  proceed  to  demolish  the  infidelity  of  German  philoso- 
phers and  spiritualism,  technically  so  called,  which  is  only 
another  phase  of  infidelity." 

In  his  usual  frank  and  fearless  advocacy  of  truth, 
Mr.  Campbell  had  resolved  to  meet  Mr.  Ferguson  in 
the  midst  of  the  community  in  which  he  had  been 
propagating  error,  and  expected  that  the  latter  would 
meet  him  publicly  in  defence  of  his  doctrines.  In  this, 
however,  he  was  entirely  disappointed,  for  this  gentle- 
man, who  had  for  some  time  professed  to  be  in  receipt 
of  communications  from  the  spirit  world,  announced 
that  he  had  orders  to  the  contrary  in  a  special  commu- 
nication from  Dr.  William  E.  Channing,  formerly  of 
Boston,  but  then  a  citizen  of  the  seventh  sphere  in 
Hades. 

In  this  letter,"  said  Mr.  Campbell  in  his  notes,  from 
the  elegant  and  fascinating  orator  and  writer  of  sermons.  Dr. 
W.  E.  Channing,  Mr.  Ferguson  received  a  ^positive  com' 
mand*  not  to  attend  any  of  my  meetings  while  in  Nashville, 
and  also  to  hold  no  nocturnal  spiritual  levees  during  my  so- 
journ in  that  city.  All  of  which,  I  presume,  was  very  punc- 
tually acquiesced  in.  And  thus  I  was  denied  the  pleasure  of 
any  intercourse  or  interview  with  Mr.  Ferguson,  through  the 
solicitude  of  the  late  Dr.  Channing  for  his  personal  and 
spiritual  safety.  He  was,  therefore,  truly  obedient  to  the 
infernal  vision." 


6i2        MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


Mr.  Campbell,  nevertheless,  according  to  arrange- 
ment after  his  introductory  discourses  in  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  church  edifice,  the  use  of  which  had  been 
courteously  granted,  proceeded  to  lecture  during  the 
week,  in  the  evenings,  in  the  Cherry  Street  meeting- 
house, which  Mr.  Ferguson  usually  occupied,  and  to 
contrast  the  character  and  claims  of  the  divine  revela- 
tion with  those  of  spirit  rapping.  While  Mr.  Camp- 
bell was  in  Nashville,  John  T.  Johnson  also  arrived, 
and  with  his  usual  zeal  at  once  commenced  a  series  of 
religious  meetings.  On  Saturday  evening,  Mr.  Camp- 
bell visited  and  addressed  the  students  of  Franklin  Col- 
lege, and  spoke  three  times  in  Nashville  on  the  follow- 
ing Lord's  day  to  large  and  attentive  audiences,  when 
several  intelligent  persons  came  forward  for  baptism. 
On  Monday  he  visited  Murfreesboro',  at  the  request  of 
the  students  and  faculty  of  the  Baptist  University  there, 
and  made  an  address  in  the  evening.  Before  leaving 
Tennessee  he  also  visited  Clarksville  in  company  with 
John  T.  Johnson,  where  he  spoke  twice,  and  on  his 
return  through  Kentucky  spent  six  days  at  Hopkins- 
ville,  where  he  delivered  eight  discourses,  and  a  special 
address  to  the  young  ladies  of  the  flourishing  female 
seminary  there  under  the  care  of  his  cousin  Enos. 
Passing  thence  by  stage  to  Louisville,  he  went  on  to 
Indianapolis,  where  he  had  an  agreeable  interview  with 
the  brethren  and  delivered  tw^o  discourses.  Here,  still 
in  company  with  Brother  Myers,  he  took  the  cars  for 
Wheeling,  and  arrived  at  home  next  day  after  an  ab- 
sence of  thirty  days,  and  improved  in  health  by  his 
journey  of  sixteen  hundred  miles. 

About  this  time  (1855)  there  was  published  a  book  of 
three  hundred  and  sixty-nine  duodecimo  pages,  entitled 
**  Campbellism  Examined,"  by  Elder  J.  B.  Jeter,  of 


BAPTIST  OPPOSITION. 


613 


Richmond,  Virginia.  In  this  work  the  author,  a  Bap- 
tist minister  of  distinction,  proposed  to  give  *'  a  faithful 
delineation"  of  Campbellism,"  a  term  by  which  he 
was  pleased  to  designate  the  Reformation  urged  by  Mr. 
Campbell.  This  was  the  most  respectable  treatise  on 
the  subject  yet  produced  on  the  part  of  the  Baptist  op- 
position, and  as  it  was  written  in  a  courteous  style  and 
in  an  apparently  fair  and  candid  spirit,  it  was  well  cal- 
culated to  answer  the  purpose  for  which  it  was  designed. 
Admitting  that  the  Baptist  and  other  churches  needed 
reformation,  and  that  what  he  termed  '*  Campbellism  " 
had  exercised  an  extensive  influence  on  the  religious 
sentiment  of  the  country,"  the  author  proceeded  to  fur- 
nish from  his  point  of  view  a  sketch  of**  its  rise,  prog- 
ress, modifications  and  influence,  as  well  as  its  distinctive 
principles,"  and  to  defend  against  its  assaults  the  cher- 
ished doctrines  held  by  Baptists.  It  was  received  by 
them  accordingly  with  much  favor,  though  far  from 
being  complete  in  itself  and  equally  far  from  presenting 
a  full  and  accurate  view  of  Mr.  Campbell's  teachings. 
The  work  was  therefore  regarded  b}^  Mr.  Campbell,  in 
a  somewhat  rambling  review  which  he  made  of  it  in 
some  pieces  in  the  *'  Harbinger,"  as  doing  him  great 
injustice,  and  he  proposed  to  Elder  Jeter  a  discussion 
of  the  points  involved,  to  be  published  in  the  "  Relig- 
ious Herald,"  so  that  his  defence  might  be  given  to  the 
Baptist  community.  This,  however,  Mr.  Jeter  declined, 
and  Mr.  Campbell  then  thought  of  writing  a  volume  in 
reply,  which  he  hoped  would  circulate  where  the  "Har- 
binger" did  not ;  but  owing  to  his  pressing  engagements 
in  the  revision  of  Acts  and  other  unavoidable  labors, 
this  was  from  tijne  to  time  postponed. 

It  was  the  connection  of  Mr.  Campbell  and  the  Re- 
formers with  that  portion  of  the  Baptists  who  were  en- 

52 


6l4       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


gaged  in  the  revision  movement  that  had  given  occa- 
sion, as  many  supposed,  to  Dr.  Jeter's  book,  as  well  as 
to  several  other  attacks  upon  him  about  this  time  by  Bap- 
tists, who  seemed  to  fear  that  any  association  with  the 
Reformers  tended  to  promote  the  spread  of  religious 
principles  which  they  conceived  to  be  erroneous,  but 
w^hich  they  seemed  unable  to  oppose  by  any  other 
weapons  than  those  of  misrepresentation  and  perversion. 
These  assaults,  however,  were  by  no  means  relished  by 
some  revision  Baptists,  who  were  in  a  better  position  for 
candid  inquiry  as  to  Mr.  Campbell's  views  and  had 
learned  to  understand  him  better.  Hence  Dr.  Lynd, 
who  stood  deservedly  high  among  them,  while  com- 
mending many  things  in  Dr.  Jeter's  book,  thus  re- 
marked : 

"We  are  somewhat  disappointed  in  the  first  part  of  this 
work  upon  the  inception  of  Campbellism.  The  circum- 
stances and  influences  under  which  the  author  acted  should 
have  occupied  a  larger  space,  and  more  of  the  sentiments  of 
Mr.  Campbell  as  they  consecutively  appeared  from  his  pen 
should  liave  been  given  on  this  point.  But  we  rise  from  the 
reading  of  this  portion  with  the  conviction  that  more  was 
needed  to  enlighten  us  upon  the  inception  of  the  system.  .  .  . 
The  natural  temperament  of  Mr.  Campbell  doubtless  gave 
rise  to  his  extravagant  mode  of  opposing  what  he  supposed 
to  be  wrong,  but  the  state  of  the  churches  and  their  modes  of 
action  at  flie  time  had  much  more  influence.  Few  rnen 
would  have  had  the  moral  courage  to  attack  them  as  he  did. 
There  was  certainly  great  abuse,  by  the  uninformed,  of  what 
was  called  'Christian  experience,'  and  Mr.  Campbell  fixed  his 
attention  upon  its  abuses.  Creeds  were  also  much  abused  in 
many  parts  of  our  country.  About  the  time  he  commenced 
his  reformation,  the  churches  who  adopted  the  Philadelphia 
Confession  of  Faith  obliged  every  candidate,  before  baptism, 
to  read  it  and  receive  it  as  containing  the  truths  of  the  gospel. 


STATEMENT  OF  BELIEF. 


615 


Two  questions  were  uniformly  asked  them — first,  whether 
tliey  had  read  the  confession  of  fiiith  ?  and  second,  whether 
tliey  beheved  tlie  doctrines  taught  in  it?  And  there  were 
many  in  the  churclies  who  would  have  voted  against  the  re- 
ce[)iion  of  the  candidate  if  he  could  not  have  answered  these 
questions  in  the  affirmative.  The  formula  which  is  now 
a<K)jited  by  a  large  body  of  the  churches  shows  clearly  the 
reformation  which  has  been  wrought  upon  this  subject. 
Whatever  we  may  think  of  Mr.  Campbell's  religious  views, 
we  are  certainly  indebted  to  his  extravagance  for  the  removal 
of  many  extravagances  from  our  own  churches.  In  this  por- 
tion of  the  work,  the  chaos  of  Campbellism,  the  writer  does 
not  take  into  view  as  fully  as  he  might  have  done  the  popular 
evils  in  our  own  borders  constituting  the  extreme  on  one  side, 
and  the  extravagance  of  Mr.  Campbell  constituting  the  ex- 
treme on  the  other  side.  It  would  have  added  much  to  the 
value  of  the  work  if  the  evils  existing  in  our  churches  in 
many  parts  of  the  country  at  the  time  had  been  pointed  out, 
as  it  would  have  aided  us  to  comprehend  more  clearly  the 
consecutive  stages  of  the  reformatory  process."  (Mil.  Harb. 
for  1S55,  p.  140.) 

Again,  in  regard  to  Mr.  Campbell  and  his  view^s,  Dr. 
Lynd  thus  spoke  in  a  letter  to  the  editor  of  the  Ten- 
nessee Baptist,"  who  had  been  writing  against  Mr. 
Campbell  just  before  with  great  virulence  : 

Brother  Graves  :  I  feel  myself  called  upon  in  an  edi- 
torial article  in  your  issue  of  March  31st  to  answer  certain 
queries  that  you  have  propounded.  Your  paper  reached  me 
to-day.  Your  inquiries  are  based  upon  the  following  expres- 
sions employed  by  me  in  a  short  review  of 'Jeter  on  Camp- 
bellism 

'  With  his  views  as  formerly  expressed  we  could  not 
sympathize,  but  as  recently  expressed  they  are  in  conformity 
with  our  own  views.'  ...  In  the  remark  above  I  have  refer- 
ence to  his  views  as  set  forth  in  the  following  articles,  pub- 
lished, I  think,  in  1846: 


6l6        MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


"  '  I.  I  believe  all  Scripture  is  given  by  inspiration  of  God, 
is  profitable  for  teaching,  conviction,  instruction  in  righteous- 
ness, that  the  man  of  God  may  be  perfect  and  thoroughly 
accomplished  for  every  good  work. 

"  '  2.  I  believe  in  one  God  as  manifested  in  the  Father,  the 
Son  and  the  Holy  Spirit,  who  are  therefore  one  in  power, 
nature  and  volition. 

"*3.  I  believe  that  every  human  being  participates  in  all 
the  consequences  of  the  fall  of  Adam,  and  is  born  into  the 
world  frail  and  depraved  in  all  his  moral  powers  and  capaci- 
ties. So  that  without  faith  in  Christ  it  is  impossible  for  him, 
while  in  that  state,  to  please  God. 

"'4.  I  believe  the  Word  which  from  the  beginning  was 
with  God,  and  which  was  God,  became  flesh  and  dwelt 
among  us  as  Emanuel,  or'*  God  manifest  in  the  flesh,"  and 
did  make  an  expiation  of  sins  by  the  sacrifice  of  himself, 
which  no  being  could  have  done  that  was  not  possessed  of 
superhuman,  superangelic  and  divine  nature. 

"  '  5.  I  believe  in  the  justification  of  sinners  by  faith  with- 
out the  deeds  of  law  ;  and  of  a  Christian,  not  by  faith  alone, 
but  by  the  obedience  of  faith. 

"  '  6.  I  believe  in  the  operation  of  the  Holy  Spirit  through 
the  Word,  but  not  without  it  in  the  conversion  and  sanctifica- 
tion  of  the  sinner.  .  .  . 

*  7.  I  believe  in  the  right  and  duty  of  exercising  our  own 
judgment  in  the  interpretation  of  the  Holy  Scriptures. 

" '  8.  I  believe  in  the  divine  institution  of  the  evangelical 
ministry,  the  authority  and  perpetuity  of  baptism  and  the 
Lord's  Supper.* 

"  Is  there  a  Baptist  church  in  the  State  of  Tennessee  or  in 
the  world  that  can  show  a  more  sound  confession  of  faith? 
These  are  the  views  I  endorse,  and  so  does  every  evangelical 
man  in  every  denomination  of  Christians. 

"  Further,  1  referred  in  my  remarks  particularly  to  his 
views  expressed  in  his  debate  with  Dr.  Rice,  in  the  following 
language  :  '  You  may  have  heard  me  say  here  (and  the  whole 
country  may  have  read  it  and  heard  it  many  a  time)  that  a 


FUNDAMENTAL  PRINCIPLES. 


617 


seven-fold  immersion  in  the  river  Jordan,  or  any  other  water, 
without  a  previous  change  of  heart,  will  avail  nothing  with- 
out a  genuine  faith  and  penitence  ;  nor  would  the  most  strict 
adherence  to  all  the  forms  and  usages  of  the  most  perfect 
church  order,  the  most  exact  observance  of  all  the  ordinances, 
without  personal  faith,  piety  and  moral  righteousness — without 
a  new  heart,  hallowed  lips  and  a  holy  life,  profit  any  man  in 
reference  to  eternal  salvation.  We  are  represented  because 
of  the  emphasis  laid  upon  some  ordinances  as  though  we 
made  a  Saviour  out  of  rites  and  ceremonies — as  believing  in 
water-regeneration  and  in  the  saving  efficacy  of  immersion, 
and  as  looking  no  farther  than  to  these  '  outward  bodily  acts,* 
all  of  which  is  just  as  far  from  the  truth  and  from  our  views 
as  transubstantiation  or  purgatory.  I  have,  indeed,  no  faith 
in  conversion  by  the  Word  without  the  Spirit,  nor  by  the 
Spirit  without  the  Word.  The  Spirit  is  ever  present  with  the 
Word  in  sanctification  and  conversion.  A  change  of  heart  iS 
essential  to  a  change  of  character,  and  both  are  esse.itial  to 
admission  into  the  kingdom  of  God.  "  Without  holiness  no 
man  would  enjoy  God."  Though  as  scrupulous  as  a  Pharisee 
in  tithing  mint,  anise  and  cummin,  and  rigid  to  the  letter  in 
all  observances,  without  those  moral  excellences,  usually 
called  righteousness  and  holiness,  no  man  can  be  saved  eter- 
nally, for  the  unrig/iteous  shall  not  enter  into  the  kingdom  of 
God.' 

"  Now,  with  these  views  I  concur.  Does  any  Baptist  re- 
pudiate them  }  I  understand  that  the  foregoing  principles  are 
with  him  fundamental  principles,  and  I  suppose  that  all  his 
other  exhibitions  of  Scripture  teaching  must  be  subordinate 
to  these.  What  other  just  rule  can  be  applied  ?  Apart  from 
the  influence  of  this  rule,  it  would  be  easy  to  quote  plain 
passages  from  the  New  Testament  which  would  go  to  show 
that  the  apostles  did  not  in  good  faith  hold  the  fundamental 
doctrines  of  redemption.  This  is  certainly  done  by  the  op- 
posers  of  these  principles.  I  am  no  apologist  for  the  errors 
of  Mr.  Campbell  or  any  other  man,  but  I  do  most  heartily 
endorse  the  principles  stated  in  this  confession.    I  feel  bound 

62  * 


6l8       MEMOIRS  OF  AUEyANDER  CAMPBELL. 


as  far  as  possible  to  explain  his  views  as  published  since  that 
confession  was  made  by  his  fundamental  principles.  If  he  is 
an  honest  man  he  will  believe  nothitig  which  he  does  not 
believe  to  be  in  conformity  with  these  principles. 

I  think  it  is  but  an  act  of  justice,  and  tlie  laws  of  lan- 
guage demand  it,  that  his  views,  as  published  in  tiie  'Chris- 
tian Baptist,*  which  you  quote,  shouKl  be  explained  in  the 
light  of  the  fundamental  principles  whicii  he  lias  soicinnly 
declared  he  holds.  I  believe,  with  Mr.  Campbell,  that  faith 
iS  belief  in  testimony.  The  circumstances  umler  which  it  is 
exercised,  embracing  the  views  of  tiie  sinner  and  his  state  of 
heart,  constitute  the  ditierence  between  the  belief  that  saves  and 
the  belief  that  does  not  save.  And  that  is  taugiit  in  all  theo- 
logical schools,  though  not  always  in  the  same  words.  1  have 
no  sympathy  with  the  doctrine  that  immersion  must  be  ad- 
ministered to  procure  remission  of  sins,  and  yet  1  believe  tlie 
design  of  this  institution  is  not  clearly  understofxl  eiti)er  by 
Baptists  or  Paidobaptists.  No  person  who  believes  the  l>il>le 
can  deny  that  there  is  a  connection  between  baptism  and  sal- 
vation, as  there  is  between  regeneration  and  salvation,  or  be- 
tween faith  and  justification,  or  between  persevering  ob«-di- 
ence  and  salvation.  The  question  to  be  determined  is.  W  hat 
is  that  connection.?  I  believe  that  Mr.  Campbell  has  not 
reached  the  truth  in  this  matter,  and  therefore  I  do  not  en- 
dorse his  views.  Ikit  may  not  Baptists  generally  fall  slu»'i  in 
their  views  of  baptism?  Is  tiiere  not  a  point  of  viev^'  to 
which  all  of  us  may  be  brought  by  honest  and  Cin  isiian-iike 
discussion.  I  believe  we  enjoy  the  love  of  God  in  oui  heiTts 
the  moment  we  believe  in  Christ,  and  that  it  may  be  shed 
abroad  more  clearly  by  the  Holy  Spirit  and  that  the  most  of 
the  spiritual  blessings  we  enjoy  may  be  consequent  upon  our 
baptism  must  be  admitted  by  all  who  hold  tiiat  baptism  is 
'the  answer  of  a  good  conscience  toward  God.*  How  can  a 
believer  fully  enjoy  spiritual  blessings  while  this  answer  of  a 
good  conscience  has  not  been  had.'*  .  .  .  'J'he  quotation  from 
the  *  Christian  Baptist,'  paj^e  293,  rei-)Utliales  merely  the  doc- 
trines of  mystical,  metaphysical  or  spiritual  intkience  inde- 


REVISION  OF  ACTS. 


619 


pendently  of  the  word  of  God.  And  who,  at  the  present  day, 
does  not  repudiate  it?  This  I  understand  Mr.  Campbell 
teaclies.  when  I  compare  the  language  with  the  eight  funda- 
mental articles  of  his  creed. 

"  In  the  long  passage  which  you  have  quoted  from  '  Chris- 
tian Baptism,'  p.  256,  he  states  expressly  that  baptism  is  not  as 
a  procuring  cause,  as  a  meritorious  or  efficient  cause,  but  as 
an  instrumental  cause,  in  which  faith  and  repentance  are 
mafle  fruitful  and  effectual  in  the  changing  of  our  state  and 
spiritual  relation  to  the  divine  persons  whose  names  are 
put  upon  us  in  tlie  very  act.  I  do  not  know  how  much  Mr. 
Campbell  may  mean  by  the  words  '  our  state  and  spiritual  re- 
lations,* but  I  am  certain  there  is  a  sense,  and  an  important 
sense,  too,  in  which  this  is  doubtless  true.  The  quotation 
from  *  Christian  Baptism  '  does  not  show  that  Mr.  Campbell 
denies  the  influence  of  the  Holy  Spirit  in  conversion.  He  is 
speaking  of  the  influence  which,  in  apostolic  times,  was  de- 
nominated '  the  baptism  of  the  Holy  Spirit.'  His  facts  in  re- 
lation to  this  are  correctly  stated.  While  we  difler  from  Mr. 
Campbell,  let  us,  as  Christians,  be  magnanimous,  and  give  to 
his  language  the  fairest  construction  that  can  be  put  upon  it. 
Let  us  examine  it  in  the  light  of  his  published  fundamental 
principles."  (Mil.  Harb.  for  1855,  p.  512.) 

At  the  close  of  spring  (1855)  Mr.  Campbell  suc- 
ceeded in  completing  the  task  of  revision  assigned  to 
him  by  the  Bible  Union,  to  which  for  many  months  he 
had  devoted  every  moment  which  could  be  spared  from 
his  college  and  other  duties,  with  the  exception  of  the 
time  occupied  in  his  trip  to  Nashville.  Such  was  his 
earnestness  and  his  deep  interest  in  the  cause  of  revis- 
ion, that  giving  up  his  agricultural  affairs  into  the  hands 
of  his  eldest  son,  he  had  secluded  himself  in  his  little 
gothic  study,  and  given  almost  his  whole  attention  to 
the  work,  greatly  to  the  injury  of  both  his  mental  and 
bodily  vigor.  To  one  of  such  active  habits,  the  loss  of 
his  accustomed  physical  exercise  alone  was  of  itself 


620       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


a  serious  injury  to  his  bodily  health.  Nor  was  the 
character  of  the  labor  required  less  hurtful  to  his  mental 
powers.  The  close  examination  and  comparison  of 
minute  verbal  details  demanded  in  the  revision  and  in 
the  preparation  of  extended  critical  notes  was  exceed- 
ingly harassing  and  irksome  to  a  mind  accustomed,  like 
that  of  Mr.  Campbell,  to  range  at  pleasure  amidst  the 
grandest  subjects  of  human  thought,  and  to  find  amongst 
these  its  natural  and  healthful  sphere  of  action.  His 
conscientious  and  persevering  endeavors  therefore  to 
perform  his  work  faithfully  w^ere  of  no  small  detriment 
to  his  mental  faculties,  and  the  effects  soon  became 
visible  in  his  public  discourses.  His  mind  seemed  to 
have  been  cramped  like  the  limbs  of  a  prisoner  long 
confined  in  heavy  fetters.  He  appeared  unable  to  take 
that  extensive  and  powerful  grasp  of  the  subject  for 
which  he  had  been  so  conspicuous,  and  his  pulpit 
efforts,  though  still  interesting  and  occasionally  bril- 
liant, ceased  for  some  time  to  manifest  their  former 
unity  and  point.  His  friends  noticed  too,  occasionally, 
a  singular  confounding  of  things  relating  to  the  past, 
and  odd  mistakes  in  regard  to  articles  furnished  by  his 
correspondents  for  the  "  Harbinger,"  of  which  he  still 
retained  the  chief  management.  Nor  were  such  eclipses 
of  memory  wanting,  now  and  then,  in  the  performance 
of  his  college  duties.  These  results,  however,  arising 
more  from  his  recent  undue  labor  than  from  advancing 
age,  became  less  noticed  after  a  time  when  he  resumed 
his  usual  habits  and  experienced  again  the  benefit  of 
traveling  abroad.  The  following  letter,  written  shortly 
before  the  completion  of  his  revision  labors,  expresses 
his  desire  for  a  pleasant  reunion  of  his  friends  at  the 
approaching  college  commencement,  when  he  expected 
to  have  his  toilsome  but  not  unpleasing  task  completed. 


HE  A  VEN  WA  RD  A  SPIRA  TIONS. 


62 1 


and  to  be  at  length  freed  from  his  revision  labors  and  the 
duties  of  the  college  session  : 

"  Bethany,  Virginia,  May  30,  '1855. 
"My  dear  son  Henley:  I  thankfully  received  from  you 
some  days  since  a  very  acceptable  epistle,  for  which  I  return 
you  my  thanks.  I  have  the  pleasure  of  saying  to  you  that  we 
at  Bethany  are  still  moving  forward  in  our  usual  way,  in  or- 
dinary health  and  comfort.  I  have  been  more  oppressed  and 
broken  down  with  hard  labor  this  year  past  than  at  any 
period  in  my  life.  The  labors  bestowed  on  the  New  Version, 
superadded  to  my  former  labors  and  present  obligations,  have 
greatly  oppressed  me  and  cut  short  my  correspondence.  I  am 
'a  debtor  without  hope  to  pay'  to  my  friends  in  private  cor- 
respondence. I  write  you  with  special  reference  to  yourself 
and  lady  and  my  dear  grand-daughter  making  a  visit  to  Bethany 
in  the  latter  part  of  next  month  and  at  the  commencement  on 
the  4th  of  July.  I  have  written  to  Brother  Coleman,  and  will 
now  write  to  Brother  Goss.  also  to  the  same  effect.  We  have 
invited  sundry  brethren  from  Kentucky,  Missouri  and  Ohio, 
to  be  present  with  us  at  said  time,  and  hope  to  see  yourself 
and  lady  also. 

Expecting  to  see  you  at  said  time  and  to  talk  face  to  face, 
1  will  not,  because  I  cannot,  aikl  much  more  at  present.  We 
have  the  great  theme  of  eteniitv  and  immortalitv  pressing 
daily  its  claims  upon  our  supreme  regard,  in  comparison  with 
which  everything  on  earth  sinks  down  almost  to  nothing. 

To  be  an  heir  of  immortality,  a  joint  heir  with  Jesus 
Christ  in  the  enjoyment  of  the  universe,  is  a  hope,  if  well 
founded,  worth  more  to  a  man  than  the  solar  system  of 
worlds,  were  they  all  offered  to  us  with  more  sincerity  than 
Satan  offered  the  kingdoms  of  this  world  and  the  glory  of 
them  to  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  Oh  for  a  faith  and  a  hope 
commensurate  with  the  promises  of  God !  as  broad,  as  high 
and  as  enduring  as  the  throne  on  which  the  victors  shall  sit 
and  reign  and  triumph  with  him  for  ever  I  We  have  reason 
to  fear  that  while  the  many  are  called,  the  chosen  are  still 
few.    Lord,  increase  our  faith,  our  hope,  our  love  and  the 


622       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


fruits  of  our  ritjiiteousiiess,  and  to  him  be  the  glory,  the  honor 
and  the  praise  tor  ever  aiul  ever.  Amen.    Remember  me 
most  atl'ectionatcly  to  \  (>ur  excellent  lady  and  my  grand-chil- 
dren, Thomas  and  Carolnie.    Yours  ever  in  the  one  hope, 
R.  Y.  Henley.  A.  Campbell." 

After  Mr.  Campbell  had  completed  his  revision,  the 
work  was  published  by  the  Bible  Union  in  a  quarto  of 
two  hundred  and  twenty-seven  pages.  The  whole  of 
the  amount  appropriated  for  the  revision  ($1000)  he 
donated  to  the  funds  of  the  Bible  Union,  constituting 
several  of  his  friends  life  directors. 

In  the  month  of  July,  accompanied  by  his  wife  and 
his  daughter  Decima,  he  paid  a  visit  to  Canada,  and 
remained  a  week  at  St.  Catharine's  Springs,  which 
seemed  to  relieve  rheumatic  pains  with  which  he  had 
been  lately  alllicted,  though  he  still  continued  to  suffer 
from  the  debility  induced  by  overtaxing  his  powers. 
He  visited  various  points  in  Canada  and  formed  a 
number  of  interesting  acquaintances.  Passing  to  De- 
troit where  he  sojourned  with  Ricliard  Ilavvley,  he  met 
there  with  Brotlier  and  Sister  Burnet,  of  Cincinnati, 
and  delivered  two  discourses,  after  which  he  returned 
immediately  home,  feeling  unable  to  attend  the  annual 
meeting  at  Warren,  as  he  had  designed. 

In  the  fall  of  this  year,  accompanied  by  Mrs.  Camp- 
bell, he  was  induced  to  make  another  tour  through 
Eastern  Virginia,  wliere  some  overtures  were  made  for 
the  endowment  of  a  chair  in  the  college.  At  Richmond 
he  was  happy  to  meet  most  of  his  old  Virginia  fellow- 
laborers,  and  to  hear  interesting  addresses  from  Brother 
S.  K.  Shepherd,  of  New  V(jrk.  He  delivered  a  dis- 
course himself  on  the  Lord's  day,  and  an  address  on 
education  on  Monday,  preacliing  again  on  Tuesday 
evening.    At  Charlottesville  he  enjoyed  the  hospitality 


REPLY  TO  DR.  JETER, 


623 


of  the  esteemed  laborer,  A.  B.  Walthall,  and  spoke 
several  times,  as  did  also  Dr.  BuUard,  who  accom- 
panied him.  Visiting  Gordonsville,  he  heard  an  excel- 
lent discourse  there  from  Brother  Walthall,  and  went 
on  to  Louisa  C.  H.,  where  he  addressed  the  people; 
and  after  filling  other  appointments  at  Mangohick  and 
Smyrna,  he  spoke  also  at  Rappahannock  and  Acquin- 
ton.  Visiting  afterward  Yorktown  and  Williamsburg, 
he  returned  to  Richmond,  where  he  addressed  at  the 
Athenaeum  a  literary  society  on  the  "True  Basis  of 
Moral  Science."  After  a  trip  to  Caroline,  he  returned 
again  to  Richmond  and  delivered  an  address  before  the 
Young  Men's  Christian  Association.  Everywhere  he 
was  received  with  marked  attention  and  treated  with 
great  kindness  by  all  parties.  Dr.  Burroughs  and  Dr. 
Jeter  called  upon  him,  as  also  Drs.  Ryland  and  Gvvath- 
ney,  and  they  had  pleasant  interviews.  Through  the 
liberality  of  the  brethren  and  the  appeals  of  R.  L. 
Coleman,  who  accompanied  him  during  the  greater 
part  of  his  journey,  a  considerable  amount  was  raised 
for  Bethany  College.  At  Washington,  on  his  way 
home,  he  met  with  the  amiable  J.  T.  Barclay,  who, 
having  returned  from  Jerusalem,  was  at  this  time  pre- 
paring for  the  press  his  interesting  work,  ''The  City 
of  the  Great  King."  After  preaching  in  Washington, 
Mr.  Campbell  spoke  also  at  Baltimore,  where  he  spent 
a  pleasant  evening  with  the  Rev.  J.  H.  Stockton,  for 
whom  he  had  a  high  regard,  and  then  setting  out  on 
the  cars  on  the  31st  of  January,  reached  home  safely 
after  an  absence  of  forty-eight  days. 

As  he  had  been  too  much  occupied  with  the  revision 
of  Acts  and  his  other  engagements  to  fulfill  his  intention 
of  presenting  in  a  distmct  work  a  full  reply  to  Dr. 
Jeter,  who  had  by  tliis  time  published  a  second  volume, 


624       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


a  young  student  from  Missouri,  who  had  recently  grad 
uated  (M.  E.  Lard),  concluded  to  attempt  a  reply  and 
thus  relieve  Mr.  Campbell  from  the  labor.  This  "  Re- 
view of  Campbellism  Examined,"  forming  a  volume  of 
two  hundred  and  ninety-seven  pages,  appeared  in  1857, 
with  a  short  preface  by  Mr.  Campbell,  and  was  re- 
garded generally  by  the  Reformers  as  a  triumphant 
refutation  of  Elder  Jeter's  arguments,  which  it  dissected 
with  unusual  logical  skill.  Some  of  its  expositions  of 
Scripture,  however,  were  considered  more  ingenious 
than  correct,  while  the  tartness  and  severity  of  its  lan- 
guage seemed  to  many  ill-accordant  with  the  spirit  in 
which  religious  discussion  should  be  conducted. 

Continuing  his  labors  as  usual,  Mr.  Campbell  in  the 
following  May  made  an  excursion  to  Kentucky,  where 
he  delivered  an  address,  by  invitation,  before  the  Henry 
Female  Seminary  on  "  Woman  and  her  Mission."  He 
also  attended  four  of  the  annual  meetings  in  Ohio, 
which  he  greatly  enjoyed,  and  in  September  visited 
New  York  to  attend  the  Bible  Union  Anniversary,  and 
filled  also  an  appointment  at  Danbury,  in  Connecticut. 
In  October  he  delivered  an  address  to  a  literary  associ- 
ation in  Cincinnati,  where  he  also  attended  the  anniver- 
sary meetings  of  the  missionary  and  other  societies. 
Meanwhile,  the  cause  was  making  great  advances  in 
all  parts  of  the  country,  and  the  most  gratifying  intelli- 
gence of  progress  was  received  from  Australia,  New 
South  Wales  and  New  Zealand.  These  cheering  re- 
ports appeared  regularly  in  the  "  Harbinger,"  in  which 
Mr.  Campbell  continued  to  discuss  the  important  themes 
of  the  Reforir>ation  and  the  religious  and  educational 
.Tiovements  of  the  times,  assisted  by  his  co-editors,  who 
at  this  time  were  W.  K.  Pendleton,  A.  W.  Campbell, 
R.  Milligan  and  R.  Richardson. 


TOUR  IN  THE  SOUTH. 


625 


About  this  time,  Mr.  Campbell  received  intelligence 
of  the  death  of  his  fellow-laborer,  John  T.  Johnson,  to 
whom  he  was  greatly  attached.  While  upon  a  visit  to 
Missouri,  and  in  the  midst  of  successful  labors,  he  was 
seized  with  pneumonia  and  died  on  the  i8th  of  Decem- 
ber, at  the  residence  of  T.  C.  Bledsoe,  of  Lexington, 
after  a  few  days'  illness.  During  this  illness  he  re- 
ceived the  kindest  attentions,  and  continued  to  exhort 
and  admonish  those  around  him  with  his  usual  simple 
earnestness.  When  asked  whether  he  had  any  doubts 
or  fears  in  reference  to  the  future,  he  replied  in  a  de- 
cided manner,  '*  No,  not  the  least.  I  have  lived  by 
Christianity  and  I  can  die  by  it."  Sending  word  to  his 
children  to  live  godly  lives  and  meet  him  in  heaven, 
and  continuing  at  intervals  to  make  to  those  around 
him  remarks  full  of  hope  and  love,  he  joyfully  yielded 
his  spirit  into  the  hands  of  the  Redeemer,  whom  he 
had  so  faithfully  served. 

I  presume,"  said  Mr.  Campbell,  "  no  laborer  in  word  and 
doctrine  in  the  Valley  of  the  Mississippi  has  labored  more 
ardently,  perseveringly  or  more  successfully  than  has  Elder 
John  T.Johnson  during  the  whole  period  of  his  public  min- 
istry. How  many  hundreds,  if  not  thousands,  of  souls  he  has 
awakened  from  the  stupor  and  death-like  sleep  of  sin,  and  in- 
ducted into  the  kingdom  of  Jesus,  the  King  eternal,  immortal 
and  invisible,  the  living  know  not ;  but  we  have  reason  to 
think  and  hope  that  he  will  have  many  '  for  a  crown  of  joy 
and  rejoicing'  in  the  day  of  the  Lord  Jesus." 

Continuing  his  efforts  to  obtain  a  full  endowment  for 
^the  college,  Mr.  Campbell  left  home  February  26th  on 
a  tour  South. 

The  object  of  this  tour,"  he  states,    was  twofold — first, 
tlie  pleading  of  the  cause  of  original  Christianity,  and  second, 
as  further  subservient  to  it,  the  claims  of  Bethany  College  at 
VOL.  II.— 2  P  53 


626       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


an  institution  of  learning  and  science,  based  on  the  true  phil- 
osophy of  man  as  developed  and  taught  in  the  Holy  Bible  in 
reference  to  his  present  and  future  usefulness  and  happiness 
as  a  citizen  of  the  universe,  and  with  special  reference  to  his 
present  development  and  mission  as  a  citizen  of  the  United 
States  of  North  America  in  the  second  half  of  the  nineteenth 
century." 

At  Indianapolis,  on  the  28th  of  February,  he  ad- 
dressed the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association,  and, 
after  preaching  in  the  Christian  church  on  the  first  of 
March,  set  out  on  the  following  day  for  Cairo,  where 
he  took  passage  on  a  New  Orleans  boat.  His  further 
labors  will  be  sufficiently  indicated  by  the  following  ex- 
tracts and  letters : 

"New  Orleans,  March  18,  1857. 
*'My  dear  wife  :  I  have  been  daily  resolving  to  write  to 
you,  but  Alexander  has  so  often  written,  and  I  have  been 
so  much  engaged,  and  for  some  days  since  my  arrival  here 
so  much  indisposed,  that  I  could  not  think  of  writing  to 
you  till  I  could  say  to  you  that  I  was  better  and  improving, 
which,  I  am  happy  to  say,  is  now  the  fact.  I  have,  though 
quite  feeble,  spoken  in  this  city  some  three  or  four  times.  I 
only  failed  altogether  to  fill  one  appointment,  and  I  think  I 
should'  at  least  not  have  spoken  on  two  occasions  that  I  did 
speak;  one  was  an  address*  to  the  Young  Men's  Christian 
Association.  The  hall  was  very  large,  the  concourse  large, 
and  I  had,  while  very  feeble,  to  speak  ver}'  loud  in  order  to 
be  heard.  This  greatly  prostrated  me,  and  I  had  to  call  for 
medical  aid.  I  am,  indeed,  convalescing,  and  hope,  in  a  few 
days,  to  be  myself  again.  I  must  visit  Baton  Rouge  on  my 
way,  to  which  point  I  start  to-morrow.  The  governor  of 
Louisiana  has  sent  me  an  invitation  to  his  house  while  I  stay 
there.  I  will,  of  course,  accept  it,  and  as  the  Legislature  are 
in  session,  I  may  do  something  there. 

Your  affectionate  husband,  A.  Campbell." 


LETTERS  FROM  THE  SOUTH, 


627 


"New  Orleans,  March  19,  1857. 
" My  DEAR  wife:  I  am  thiiiking  of  leaving  here  in  the 
course  of  the  day.  I  have  had  a  good  night's  sleep,  and  feel 
somewhat  better.  Alexander,  too,  enjoys  fine  health,  and  is 
very  good  company  for  me.  I  could  not  get  along  without 
him.  lie  anticipates  all  that  I  want  and  is  very  much  inter- 
ested in  my  comfort  in  every  particular.  My  visit  here  has 
been,  on  the  whole,  an  advantage  and  profit  to  the  great 
cause  that  I  plead.  But  this  is  a  worldly,  sensual  and  gen- 
erally a  mere  fashionable  theatre.  Still,  there  is  some  salt 
here  that  preserves  the  mass  from  absolute  sensuality.  I  am 
still  more  attached  to  home  the  farther  1  am  from  it.  There 
is  no  place  on  earth  to  me  like  it.  But  we  have  no  continu- 
ing city  here,  and  should  always  act  with  that  conviction. 
We  should  feel  that,  w  herever  we  are  and  whatever  we  do^ 
we  are  on  our  journey  home.  There  is  nothing  beneath  the 
home  of  God  that  can  fill  the  human  heart,  and  that  should 
ever  rule  and  guide  and  comfort  us.  There  are  few  pure, 
single-eyed  and  single-hearted  professors  of  the  faith  and  the 
hope.  It  is  only  here  and  there  we  find  a  whole-hearted 
Christian.  Like  angels*  visits  they  are  few  and  far  between* 
But  I  am  again  called  out  and  must  say  farewell. 

Alexander  Campbell." 

"Baton  Rouge,  March  30,  1857. 
"My  dear  wife:  Having  been  on  the  wing  for  eight 
days  and  without  opportunity  of  writing,  having  the  will  but 
wanting  the  means,  I  have  been  at  length  relieved  from  the 
embarrassment  hitherto  preventing  me.  I  never  have  thought 
more  or  felt  more  of  home  and  its  attractions  than  on  this 
tour. 

"Alexander  has  been  all  attention  to  my  comforts,  and  has 
been  a  great  relief  to  my  cares  on  my  journeyings.  We  are 
now  waiting  for  a  boat  to  descend  to  New  Orleans.  We 
have  been  the  guests  of  the  governor  of  Louisiana,  now  the 
third  day,  and  feel  as  much  at  home  as  I  could  do  anywhere 
from  home.  He  is  a  descendant  of  the  great  Wickliffe,  and 
bears  his  name.    His  wife  is  the  daughter  of  Sister  Dawson,. 


628       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


widow  of  General  Dawson,  whom  I  much  esteemed.  She 
is  now  on  a  visit  here,  and  I  much  enjoy  her  society.  She  is 
as  spiritually-minded  as  any  one  I  have  met  with  on  this  tour, 
so  far  as  I  can  judge.  I  have  had  large  congregations  and 
many  attentive  hearers  on  this  tour  thus  far.  I  am  also  suc- 
ceeding measurably  in  obtaining  subscriptions  for  Bethany 
College.  I  think  my  tour  will  be  of  very  considerable  ad- 
vantage to  the  college  in  obtaining  students,  as  well  as  in 
enlarging  its  endowment. 

"  But  it  is  a  great  sacrifice  to  my  comfort  in  a  great  many 
respects.  I  do  not  think  I  will  ever  again  undertake  so  large 
a  journey  or  expose  myself  to  so  much  labor  and  privation 
as  1  am  now  subjected  to.  Still,  so  long  as  I  can  do  good  at 
home  or  abroad,  it  is  my  duty  to  do  it.  I  miss  your  com- 
pany more  than  any  other  privation  I  have  to  endure.  Still, 
where  and  when  duty  calls,  it  is  my  wish  to  obey  and  to  deny 
myself.  That  same  Eye  that  has  watched  over  us  both,  and 
guided  and  guarded  us  through  life,  will,  I  humbly  trust, 
guard  and  guide  us  to  the  end  of  life's  weary  journey.  .  .  , 

Remember  me  to  my  dear  William  ;  tell  him  I  often 
think  of  him  on  my  journey,  and  hope  that  he  is  growing  in 
knowledge  and  learning  every  day.  I  wrote  to  Decima 
somewhere  on  my  tour,  but  cannot  now  remember  the  date. 
Remember  me  to  her. 

"  I  expect  to  speak  in  Marion,  Alabama,  next  Lord's  day. 
Brother  Myers  has  been  with  us  at  Clieneyville,  where  we 
had  a  fine  meeting,  and  he  will  accompany  us  to  New  Or- 
leans, or  will  meet  us  there  to-morrow  or  next  day,  VVe  had 
a  fine  meeting  there.  One  brother  subscribed  one  thousand 
dollars  10  Bethany  College.  But  I  must  close  this  scrawl. 
Remember  me  kindly  to  Brother  Pendleton  and  family  and 
Brother  Milligan  and  lady.    In  all  affection  and  esteem, 

Your  husband,  A.  Campbeix." 

While  in  New  Orleans  he  assisted  D.  P.  Henderson, 
President  Shannon  and  others  in  the  reorganization  of 
the  church  there,  which  consisted  of  about  forty  mem- 
bers.   At  Baton  Rouge  he  found  a  flourishing  female 


CHRISTIAN  BAPTISM. 


629 


seminary  established  by  Brother  Slosson  and  lady,  and 
had  the  pleasure  of  meeting 'with  many  esteemed  ac- 
quaintances, among  whom  he  mentions  the  intelligent 
and  zealous  Sister  Willis,  of  Bedford,  Ohio.  Subse- 
quently, he  visited  some  points  in  Alabama,  and  at 
Marion  met  Jacob  Creath,  Jr.,  who  had  been  laboring 
successfully  for  some  time  in  several  of  the  Southern 
States,  and  who  had,  as  early  as  October,  1826,  first 
pleaded  for  primitive  Christianity  in  Louisiana.  At 
Columbus,  Mississippi,  he  found  a  large  attendance 
and  many  students  of  Bethany  College  assembled  from 
considerable  distances,  and  was  treated  with  more  than 
usual  courtesy  by  the  ministry  of  different  denomina- 
tions, especially  the  Presbyterian. 

Here,  among  other  addresses,  he  delivered  by  special 
request  one  on  Christian  baptism.  In  this  he  dis- 
cussed, as  he  says — 

"  I.  The  action  of  Christian  baptism.  2.  The  legitimate 
subject  of  Christian  baptism  ;  and  3.  Its  design.  These  are 
logically  and  evangelically  the  attitude  in  which  this  divine 
and  solemn  and  most  significant  institution  is  placed  before 
us  in  the  Christian  Scriptures.  That  a  penitent  believer  is 
the  only  evangelical  subject  of  this  solemn  and  sublime  insti- 
tution was  demonstrated  by  a  broad  appeal  to  the  whole 
Christian  oracles ;  that  immersion  in  water  iiito  and  not  in 
the  name  of  the  Father,  the  Son  and  the  Holy  Spirit  is  the 
one  only  Christian  ordinance  called  baptism,  and  that  a  formal 
remission  of  sins  was  and  is  the  end  and  design  of  it.  We 
exposed  the  calumny  frequently  employed  by  the  opponents 
of  a  return  to  the  ancient  order  of  things,  alias  apostolic 
Christianity,  affirming  that  we  give  to  the  water  of  baptism 
the  virtue  of  the  blood  of  Christ  as  cleansing  the  subject  from 
the  guilt  and  pollution  of  sin.  They  might  as  truthfully 
charge  upon  us  the  doctrine  of  Roman  transubstantiation, 
because  we  quote  the  words  ^  this  is  7ny  body  in  dispensing 

53* 


630       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


the  monumentar  loaf  and  cup  of  Christ's  own  special  institu- 
tion. Neither  wine  nor  water  possesses  any  such  inherent 
purifying  power,  but  these  may  be  instruments  through 
which  to  communicate  or  to  commemorate  the  blessings  of 
pardon,  or  of  a  spiritual  cleansing  from  the  guilt  and  the 
pollution  of  sin,  provided  that  God  has  so  instituted  and  or- 
dained them  ;  and  that  we  have  the  faith  of  implicit  obedience 
to  each  and  every  divine  institution  that  may  have  been  clearly 
propounded  to  us,  and  accredited  to  us  as  of  unquestionable 
divine  authority.'* 

Returning  again  to  Marion,  Alabama,  he  proceeded 
to  Atlanta  in  Georgia,  where  he  was  happy  to  meet 
with  Dr.  Hooke,  who  accompanied  him  to  Augusta, 
where  he  was  kindly  received  at  the  hospitable  man- 
sion of  Mrs.  Tubman,  who  contributed  out  of  her  own 
means  the  entire  endowment  of  one  of  the  chairs  in 
Bethany  College.  Here  he  had  a  good  hearing,  and 
on  the  29th  of  April  set  out  upon  his  return  by  way  of 
Richmond  and  Washington  City,  reaching  home  safely 
after  a  journey  of  six  thousand  miles. 

In  the  fall  of  that  year  (1857),  accompanied  by  his 
wife,  he  made  another  tour  in  Illinois,  after  attending 
the  missionary  meeting  in  Cincinnati,  before  which 
he  delivered  as  usual  the  annual  address.  At  Paris, 
Illinois,  he  addressed  a  large  assembly  in  the  Meth- 
odist Episcopal  meeting-house.  At  the  close  of  his 
address  the  officiating  minister,  Mr.  Crane,  who  was 
a  man  of  liberal  views,  added  some  pertinent  re- 
marks on  the  importance  of  education,  and  handed 
Mr.  Campbell  a  contribution  as  a  token  of  his  in- 
terest and  good-will  in  the  enterprise.  After  filling 
appointments  in  various  parts  of  the  State,  and  meeting 
with  many  friends  and  former  students  of  the  college  in 
this  liberal  and  rapidly-growing  community,  he  traveled 
into  Iowa,  where,  at  Keokuk,  he  was  met  by  Dr.  S. 


VISIT  TO  IOWA. 


631 


Hatch,  of  Canton  University.  After  filling  an  appoint- 
ment here,  he  set  out  for  Montrose,  and  thence  went 
on  to  Fort  Madison,  where  he  sojourned  with  Brother 
Bates,  a  faithful  and  devoted  Christian,  and  one  of  the 
editors  of  the  Christian  Evangelist."  Visiting  Bur- 
lington, Mount  Pleasant,  Monmouth  and  Rock  Island, 
he  reached  Davenport,  where  he  met  with  the  useful 
and  laborious  J.  Hartzel,  formerly  of  Ohio,  but  now 
preaching  for  the  church  in  Davenport.  Here  he  de- 
livered three  discourses,  and  after  filling  several  other 
appointments  and  meeting  with  many  old  acquaintances 
and  friends  scattered  through  the  State,  he  reached 
Chicago  on  his  way  home  on  the  24th  of  November. 
Astonished  at  the  wonderful  enterprise,  progress  and 
business  of  this  city,  his  only  regret  was  that  it  had  as 
yet  no  proper  representation  of  the  primitive  gospel  and 
its  institutions.  From  Chicago  he  returned  directly 
home,  crossing  the  Ohio  through  the  ice,  and  reaching 
Bethany  on  the  28th  of  November,  having  greatly  en- 
joyed the  trip,  and  expecting  to  visit  Iowa  again  at  a 
more  favorable  season,  when  birds  were  singing  and  the 
prairie  flowers  in  bloom. 


CHAPTER  XX. 


Bethany  College— Tours— Declining  years— Letters— Visit  to  James  Foster 
— Last  essays. 

BY  incessant  effort,  Mr.  Campbell  had  at  length 
succeeded  in  obtaining  a  respectable  endowment 
for  several  of  the  professorships  in  Bethany  College. 
The  institution  being  thus  placed  upon  a  tolerably 
secure  footing,  it  was  naturally  expected  that  he  would 
be,  in  a  good  measure,  released  from  his  toils  in  its  be- 
half. It  was,  however,  otherwise  ordered.  About  two 
o'clock  on  the  morning  of  the  loth  of  December,  1857, 
a  ruddy  light  flashing  into  the  sleeping  apartments  of 
some  of  the  students  at  the  Steward's  Inn  apprised 
them  of  the  fact  that  the  college  building,  some  one 
hundred  yards  distant,  was  in  flames.  These  had  al- 
ready taken  such  complete  possession  of  the  interior 
that  entrance  was  dangerous,  and  the  assembled  stu- 
dents, villagers  and  faculty  were  compelled  to  witness 
with  unavailing  regret  its  halls,  its  libraries  and  its 
chemical  and  philosophical  apparatus  reduced  to  ashes. 

This  calamity,  which  many  thought  would  prostrate 
the  institution,  only  aroused  Mr.  Campbell  and  its 
faculty  and  friends  to  fresh  efforts.  Rooms  were  at 
once  fitted  up  at  the  Inn,  and  the  regular  recitations 
were  suspended  for  only  a  single  day.  The  Board  of 
Trustees  met  on  the  14th  of  December,  and  appointed 
a  committee  to  obtain  plans  for  a  new  building,  and  to 

6.^2 


LETTERS  FROM  KENTUCKT. 


receive  proposals  for  its  erection.  They  also  appointed 
Mr.  Campbell  and  Professor  Pendleton  agents  to  solicit 
funds  to  the  amount  of  fifty  thousand  dollars  to  repair 
the  loss.  In  setting  out  upon  this  mission,  Mr.  Camp- 
bell remarked : 

"  Nothing  but  the  absolute  necessity  which  seems  to  be  laid 
upon  me  by  the  burning  of  our  college  building,  libraries, 
apparatus,  etc.,  could  induce  me  at  this  season  and  at  my 
time  of  life,  with  the  many  pressing  demands  calling  for  my 
presence  at  home,  to  undertake  the  arduous  labors  which  are 
now  placed  before  me.  If  I  did  not  feel  that  it  is  the  Lord's 
work,  and  that  he  will  be  my  helper,  I  would  shrink  from  the 
task.  I  sometimes  feel  like  asking  to  be  relieved  from  further 
services,  but  it  seems  I  cannot  hope  to  rest  from  my  labors  till 
I  am  called  also  to  rest  with  my  fathers.  Such  as  they  are, 
or  may  be,  therefore  all  my  days  shall  be  given  to  the  Lord." 

The  first  visit  was  paid  to  the  Eastern  cities.  At 
Washington  City,  Mr.  Campbell  spoke  in  the  Baptist 
church,  the  President  with  some  of  his  Cabinet  and 
many  of  both  Houses  being  present.  While  in  Wash- 
ington he  enjoyed  the  hospitalities  of  Judge  Black  and 
family.  He  spoke  also  in  Baltimore,  Philadelphia  and 
New  York,  and  found  everywhere  a  strong  sympathy 
in  relation  to  the  college.  At  Baltimore,  Professor 
Pendleton  succeeded  in  obtaining  a  large  amount  of 
valuable  apparatus. 

Soon  after  returning  home,  they  set  out  again  to  the 
South  and  West.  Of  this  trip,  the  following  extracts 
from  letters  will  not  only  furnish  a  sufllcient  narrative, 
but  reveal  much  of  the  inner  life,  the  earnest  aspirations 
and  noble  purposes  of  Mr.  Campbell : 

"  Richmond,  Kentucky,  February  4,  1858. 

"My  beloved  wife  :  ...  I  am  still  on  the  wing,  speak- 
ing every  day,  and  traveling  over  sometimes  very  rough  and 
sometimes  good  turnpikes.    We  are  still  receiving  from  four 


634       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


to  five  hundred  dollars  at  the  points  we  visit.  It  is,  however, 
a  very  laborious  effort.  My  health  has  been  and  is  now  as 
good  as  could  be  expected.  ...  I  fear  it  will  keep  us  longer 
than  we  expected  to  raise  fifty  thousand  dollars.  We  have 
not  got  up  half-way  to  it,  but  hope  in  another  week  or  two  to 
rise  still  much  nearer  those  figures.  Were  the  times  such  as 
they  were  a  year  ago,  we  could  expect  much  more.  I  heard 
from  Sister  Pendleton's  letters  to  Mr.  Pendleton  that  yourself 
and  our  dear  daughters  were  all  in  good  health.  While 
laboring  for  the  college  we  preach  and  teach  the  Christian 
religion,  and  we  trust  are  doing  some  permanent  good  in 
that  department  also.  There  is  also  much  need  for  this. 
We  generally  in  all  places  preach  twice  or  thrice,  Mr. 
Pendleton  and  myself  in  turn.  Remember  me  to  my  dear 
daughters  and  sons,  as  I  am  often  thinking  of  them.  Also  to 
James  Campbell  and  family,  to  Brother  Milligan  and  lady, 
to  Dr.  Richardson  and  family,  and  to  Sister  Pendleton. 

I  much  regret  our  absence  from  Bethany,  and  especially 
from  your  dear  self.  But  perhaps  these  bereavements  may 
hereafter  contribute  more  to  our  mutual  happiness.  I  can 
only  say  that  I  forego  more  in  my  absence  from  you  than  any 
other  earthly  privation.  But,  my  dear,  we  must  soon  be  sep- 
arated by  the  unalterable  decree,  and  oh  that  we  may  meet  in 
the  presence  of  our  beloved  Redeemer,  where  there  will  be 
the  fullness  of  joy  and  pleasure  for  evermore  !  Remember 
me  to  Robert  Gibson  and  wife.    I  must  close. 

'•Your  most  affectionate  husband,  A.  Campbell." 

"  Versailles,  Ky.,  February  20,  1858. 
"  My  dearly  beloved  wife  :  I  am  still  able  to  speak 
once  every  day,  which  has  been  the  average  of  my  public 
labors  since  my  entrance  on  the  territory  of  Kentucky.  Our 
congregations  are  large,  attentive  and  much  interested.  Bro- 
ther Pendleton  also  speaks  about  as  often,  and  is  heard  with 
much  attention.  He  is  much  approved  and  improved  in  his 
pulpit  addresses.  .  .  .  We  have  reason  to  think  that  we  will 
increase  our  students  and  our  usefulness  very  considerably  by 
this  tour.    W e  cannot,  indeed,  sow  and  reap  in  the  same 


LETTERS  FROM  KENTUCKY. 


day.  The  loss  of  your  societ}^  is,  with  me,  indeed,  a  great 
privation,  and  would  be,  on  any  other  premises,  a  sacrifice 
not  be  tolerated  or  endured.  But  we  must  deny  ourselves  in 
this  respect,  as  well  as  in  many  others,  in  order  to  our  duty 
and  our  future  happiness.  It  is  not  for  an  earthly  reward 
alone  that  I  submit,  or  that  you  submit,  to  our  absence  from 
each  other.  We  are  both  living  for  the  future  reward  and 
working  for  our  Redeemer's  honor  and  glory.  Be  of  good 
cheer,  therefore,  and  cast  all  your  cares  and  your  hopes  on 
the  Lord,  who  left  heaven  and  came  to  this  wilderness  of  sin 
to  secure  for  us  an  inheritance  beyond  death  and  the  grave. 
We  are  joint  laborers  for  the  Lord  in  our  absence  from  each 
other. 

'*  I  am  to  deliver  an  address  in  this  place  to-morrow  on. 
the  present  kingdom  of  Christ,  its  origin.,  progress  and  end; 
when  and  where  and  by  whom  commenced  ;  its  ultimate  tri- 
umph and  glory. 

On  Monday  morning  at  ten  o'clock,  by  special  request  of 
all  the  denominations  in  town,  I  am  to  address  the  pupils  of 
all  the  schools  male  and  female,  assembled  in  our  meeting- 
house.   So  that  my  labors  are  abundant.  .  .  . 

Ever  your  affectionate  husband,  A.  Campbell." 

"Lancaster,  Ky.,  March  i,  1858. 
"My  dearly  beloved  wife:  I  have  not  heard  from 
home  for  some  ten  days,  and  I  am  very  anxious  to  hear  from 
you  all.  ...  I  will  be,  according  to  appointment,  at  Danville 
on  the  7th  and  Sth  insts.  I  will  then  proceed  to  Harrodsburg 
— thence  to  Shelbyville.  At  both  places  I  will  inquire  for  a 
letter,  and  also  at  Eminence  and  New  Castle  and  Louisville. 
I  have  had  a  bad  cold  for  some  two  or  three  days,  and  am  not 
yet  entirely  free  from  it.  I  will  give  directions  at  these  offices 
to  forward  my  letters  to  Louisville,  and  will  there  and  then 
inform  you  of  my  route.  Mr.  Pendleton  enjoys  good  health, 
and  saves  me  of  much  labor  in  speaking.  He  preaches  for 
the  college,  and  I  for  the  Church. 

From  Louisville  we  will  proceed  to  Nashville,  and  per- 
haps thciice  into  Mississippi.    It  is  a  work  of  great  labor  and 


636        MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL, 


piatience,  but  we  must  not  give  up  till  we  approximate  to 
$50,000,  as  we  intend  to  erect  buildings  much  superior  to  that 
which  was  destroyed.  It  is  a  great  labor,  but  we  labor  in 
hope  of  a  reward  rich  and  protracted  beyond  our  dav  and 
generation.  I  am  more  and  more  convinced  of  the  utility,  and 
of  the  necessity  of  raising  up  men  fit  to  carry  on  the  great 
work  to  which  I  have  devoted  so  much  of  my  life  and  labor. 
May  the  good  Lord  prosper  our  labors  and  cause  tlicm  to  re- 
dound to  iiis  glory  and  the  good  of  multitudes!  \V>  must 
sow  plentifully  if  we  would  reap  plentifully.  I  regard  you  as 
sympathizing  in  all  my  labors  and  trials,  and  I  do  hope  that 
you  will  partake  with  me  in  all  the  gootl  resulting  from  them. 
I  have  you  continually  in  my  heart,  and  that  because  I  know 
you  are  like-minded  with  myself  in  this  grand  work,  which  I 
have  undertaken  not  for  myself,  but  for  the  g(jod  of  humanity 
and  the  glory  of  our  Lord,  who  left  the  courts  of  glory  and 
traversed  the  earth  antl  labored  until  death  for  the  good  of  his 
fellow-men  and  the  glory  of  his  Father  and  our  leather,  his 
God  and  our  God.  You  have  your  labors  and  cares  as  well 
as  myself,  and  I  trust  that  we  will  not  labor  in  vain  nor  lose 
our  reward.  I  need  not  say  to  you,  Pray  for  my  health  and 
protection,  for  this  I  know  you  do,  as  I  often  bear  you  in  my 
heart  before  our  Father  and  our  Redeemer.  We  are  doing 
good  at  home  and  abroad.  And  may  the  Lord  God  multiply 
our  seed  sown  manifold  !  I  trust  you  will  bear  my  absence 
with  all  patience  and  fortitude,  as  you  have  often  done.  I 
need  not  say  to  you.  Be  patient,  for  I  know  you  are,  antl  that 
you  alvvavs  sympathize  with  me  in  all  my  trials  and  labors. 
Mv  time  is  so  much  engrossed  that  it  is  with  dilliculty  that  I 
can,  in  a  whole  week,  find  one  hour  to  myself  at  our  lodgings, 
which  are  numerous,  though  sometimes  far  between.  May 
our  Lord  and  Saviour  ever  comfort  your  heart  and  make  you 
long  useful  in  his  service  ! 

"Yair  affectionate  and  devoted  husband, 

*'A.  Campbell." 

"Steamboat  'Tempest,'  March  27,  1858. 
"My  beloved  wife  :  I  am  now  floating  on  the  bosom  of 


HOPE  OF  ETERNAL  LIFE. 


the  Mississippi  river  on  my  way  to  Nashville.  I  have  been 
writing  in  my  cabin  berth  for  the  '  Harbinger,'  and  when  I 
arrive  at  Nashville,  which  I  presume  will  be  three  days  hence, 
I  will  forward  this  and  other  communications.  I  have  slept 
on  board  already  two  nights.  Brother  Fall's  daughter  is  under 
my  care  from  a  visit  to  Louisville.  I  have  never  thought  more 
of  sweet  home  in  my  former  life,  I  so  much  miss  your  com- 
pany and  that  of  our  children.  But  I  hope  for  the  not  far 
distant  day  when  I  shall  be  again  ^rrounded  with  all  the 
pleasures  of  home,  of  which  you  are  the  centre.  But  duty  is 
always  pleasing,  and  I  feel  that  I  am  in  the  discharge  of  it 
while  laboring  to  promote  the  cause  of  literature,  science  and 
religion.  I  feel  sure  that  I  am  laboring  for  a  justifiable, 
honorable  and  useful  end.  And  this  animates  and  sustains 
me  in  your  absence.  I  have  written  to-day  several  pages  for 
the  *  Harbinger,'  which  I  hope  will  accompany  this  to  Beth- 
any. I  have  missed  the  company  of  Mr.  Pendleton,  and  hope 
to  see  hini  soon  after  my  arrival  at  Nashville.  The  river  is 
very  full,  overflowing  some  of  its  banks,  and  much  drift-wood. 
The  peach  trees  are  expanding  their  blossoms,  and  the  early 
growths  of  shrubs  are  showing  their  early  buds,  and  spring  is 
at  work  to  repair  the  dreary  wastes  and  ruin  of  winter.  But 
when  shall  spring  visit  the  mouldering  urn !  Ah,  when  shall 
day  dav\n  on  the  night  of  the  grave ! 

Immortality  and  eternal  life  without  a  sorrow,  a  fear 
or  a  tear — how  delightful  the  anticipation  !  This  is  the  hope 
that  cheers  and  charms  the  wastes  of  time,  and  meets  all  the 
longings  of  our  heavenward  aspirations. 

^*  But  perhaps  you  are  not  at  home  ;  you  may  be  on  the  way 
with  Mr.  Pendleton  to  take  a  peep  at  the  Southern  sky,  and 
admire  the  verdure  of  the  Valley  of  the  Mississippi.  This 
being  doubtful,  I  still  hail  you  at  the  old  Bethany  mansion,  care- 
ful and  cumbered  with  your  numerous  and  various  domestic 
cares.  If  so,  you  will  be  glad  to  see  that  I  can  yet  make  my 
mark,  and  that  you  are  not  forgotten  by  one  who  owes  so 
much  to  your  ever  kind  and  atlcctionate  attentions.  If  at 
home,  you  will  make  my  return  the  more  welcome.    If  not, 

54 


638        MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


you  will  see  that  I  never  forget  you  amidst  all  the  pressing 
cares  and  pleasing  scenes  through  which  I  pass.  Far  from 
it!    But  I  will  not  dwell  on  this  so  fruitful  theme. 

I  do  not  think  we  can  be  at  home  till  past  the  middle  of 
April,  at  the  earliest  day.  Remember  me  most  affectionately 
to  all  my  dear  children,  and  say  to  them  that  I  never  forget 
them  amidst  all  my  pressing  attentions  and  labors.  Yours 
ever,  A.  CaxMpbell." 

"Nashville,  April  7,  1858. 
My  dear  wife  :  .  .  .  I  have  been  here  for  one  week, 
and  have  had  the  pleasure  of  delivering  several  discourses  to 
large  and  attentive  audiences.  .  .  .  We  expect  to  leave  here 
in  two  or  three  days  for  Mississippi,  and  when  we  have  visited 
Jackson  in  that  State,  we  will  turn  our  face  homeward.  I 
cannot  think  of  the  pleasure  of  returning  home — home,  sweet 
home  ! — without  emotions  to  which  I  can  give  no  adequate 
expression.  I  have  everything  I  could  wish  for  in  the  form 
of  Christian  kindness  and  respect.  But  you  cannot  partici- 
pate with  me.  We  have  enjoyed  the  kindest  hospitality  from 
the  family  of  Brother  Fall,  who  is  now  located  here  in  charge 
of  the  church,  having  given  up  his  school  at  Frankfort,  Ken- 
tucky, and  emigrated  here  to  labor  in  the  gospel.  We  ex- 
pect to  leave  here  to-morrow  evening  in  a  steamer  for  Jack- 
son, Mississippi,  where  we  may  spend  one  week,  and  then 
we  shall  set  our  face  homeward." 

While  Mr.  Campbell  was  in  Louisville  on  this  trip, 
the  editor  of  the  "Louisville  Journal"  remarked  as 
follows  : 

"  Alexander  Campbell. — This  venerable  and  distin- 
guished man  is  now  in  our  city  on  business  connected  with 
his  college  at  Bethany,  so  recently  visited,  as  our  readers 
know,  with  a  very  disastrous  calamity.  We  are  gratified  to 
perceive  that  neither  years  nor  trials — and  his  Atlantean 
shoulders  support  a  mountainous  weight  of  both — have  se- 
riously impaired  his  bodily  strength,  or  dimmed,  much  less 
quenched,  the  marvelous  fire  of  his  spirit.    In  all  cha- 


EULOGY  OF  G.  D.  PRENTICE, 


racteristics  of  manhood  he  is  still  in  the  fullness  of  maturity. 
And  long  may  he  retain  this  rare  possession  of  his  great 
powers ! 

"Alexander  Campbell  is  unquestionably  one  of  the  most  ex- 
traordinary men  of  our  time.  Putting  wholly  out  of  view  his 
tenets,  with  which  we  of  course  have  nothing  to  do,  he  claims, 
by  virtue  of  his  intrinsic  qualities,  as  manifested  in  his  achieve- 
ments, a  place  among  the  very  foremost  spirits  of  the  age.  His 
energy,  self-reliance  and  self-Jidelity^  if  we  may  use  the  ex- 
pression, are  of  the  stamp  that  belongs  only  to  the  world's 
first  leaders  in  thought  or  action.  His  personal  excellence  is 
certainly  without  a  stain  or  a  shadow.  His  intellect,  it  is 
scarcely  too  much  to  say,  is  among  the  clearest,  richest,  pro- 
foundest  ever  vouchsafed  to  man  Indeed,  it  seems  to  us  that 
in  the  faculty  of  abstract  thinking — in,  so  to  say,  the  sphere  of 
pure  thought— he  has  few,  if  any,  living  rivals.  Every  culti- 
vated person  of  the  slightest  metaphysical  turn  who  has  heard 
Alexander  Campbell  in  the  pulpit  or  in  the  social  circle,  must 
have  been  especially  impressed  by  the  wonderful  facility  with 
which  his  faculties  move  in  the  highest  planes  of  thought. 
Ultimate  facts  stand  forth  as  boldly  in  his  consciousness  as 
sensations  do  in  that  of  most  other  men.  He  grasps  and 
handles  the  highest,  subtlest,  most  comprehensive  principles 
as  if  they  were  the  liveliest  impressions  of  the  senses.  No 
poet's  soul  is  more  crowded  with  imagery  than  his  is  with  the 
ripest  forms  of  thought.  Surely  the  life  of  a  man  thus  excel- 
lent and  gifted,  is  a  part  of  tlie  common  treasure  of  society. 
In  his  essential  character,  he  belongs  to  no  sect  or  party,  but 
to  the  world. 

"  We  trust  that  the  mission  on  which  Mr.  Campbell  is  now 
among  us  may  be  entirely  successful,  as  it  most  richly  deserves 
to  be,  and  that,  with  the  speedy  complete  restoration  of  his  in- 
stitution at  Bethany,  he  may  resume  his  labors,  and  prrsecute 
them  with  undiminished  vigor  for  long  and  peaceful  years  to 
come." 

A  sufficient  amount  having  been  secured  to  justify 
the  commi^ncement  of  the  new  college  building,  and  a 


640       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


plan  for  a  very  elegant  structure  having  been  adopted, 
the  cornerstone  was  laid  in  the  summer  of  1858,  on 
which  occasion  Mr.  Campbell  delivered  an  address. 

About  this  period  his  strong  regard  for  the  Baptists 
as  a  people,  which  was  not  a  little  increased  by  his  as- 
sociation with  many  of  them  in  the  work  of  revision, 
led  him  once  more  to  seek  a  friendly  discussion,  in 
hopes  that  a  common  basis  of  agreement  might  be 
found.  He,  therefore,  proposed  to  discuss  the  matter 
orally  with  the  president  of  Georgetown  College,  Ken- 
tucky— Dr.  D.  R.  Campbell.  The  latter  made  a  some- 
what evasive  reply,  preferring  a  written  discussion. 
To  this  Mr.  Campbell  was  willing  to  consent,  if  assured 
that  his  responses  would  be  laid  before  the  Baptists  in 
one  of  their  papers.  Of  this,  however,  he  could  obtain 
no  satisfactory  assurance,  and  the  correspondence  which 
ensued  soon  degenerated  on  Dr.  Campbell's  part  into 
misrepresentation  and  abuse,  so  that  Mr.  Campbell 
finally  refused  to  publish  an}'  more  of  his  letters. 

About  this  period  several  of  those  who  had  been  con- 
spicuous in  the  reformatory  movement  died  within  a  few 
months  of  each  other.  Among  these  were  the  excel- 
lent Samuel  Church,  formerly  of  Pittsburg  ;  the  devoted 
William  Morton  and  E.  A.  Smith,  of  Kentucky  ;  Presi- 
dent James  Shannon  and  the  zealous  Miss  Mary  R. 
Williams,  who,  having  gone  at  her  own  expense  as  a 
missionary  to  the  Holy  Land,  finished  her  course  amidst 
her  useful  labors  at  Jaffa. 

As  the  rebuilding  of  the  college  and  the  completion 
of  the  endowment  still  demanded  additional  means,  Mr. 
Campbell  continued  to  travel  and  address  the  public  in 
various  parts  of  the  country.  In  the  spring  of  1859 
visited  portions  of  Tennessee,  Mississippi,  Louisiana 
and  Alabama.    He  made  an  excursion  also  to  Southern 


TOUR  IN  INDIANA. 


641 


Kentucky,  and  after  preparing  an  address  delivered  be- 
fore the  missionary  society  at  Cincinnati,  he  went  to  Mis- 
souri, and  even  as  far  as  Kansas,  accompanied  by  Mrs. 
Campbell,  and  met  with  considerable  success,  being 
aided  by  T.  M.  Allen  and  Dr.  W.  H.  Hopson. 

It  was  about  this  time  that  Walter  Scott  published  his 
principal  work,  a  volume  of  three  hundred  and  eighty- 
four  pages,  entitled  *'  The  Messiahship,"  which  Mr. 
Campbell  highly  commended  as  a  "very  readable,  in- 
teresting, edifying,  cheering  and  fascinating  volume 
from  his  most  estimable,  companionable  and  amiable 
fellow-laborer  in  the  great  cause  of  Reformation."  ' '  For 
more  than  the  one-third  of  a  century,"  said  he,  we 
have  been  communing,  conferring  and  co-operating  in 
an  effort  to  present  to  our  contemporaries  the  original 
gospel  and  order  of  things  as  we  read  them  in  the  Acts 
of  the  Apostles  and  their  epistolary  communications. 
This  work  contained  many  fine  thoughts  and  interesting 
analyses  of  the  great  themes  of  redemption,  and  con- 
stituted an  earnest  plea  for  the  union  of  Christians  in 
the  simple  primitive  faith. 

In  the  fall  of  i860,  Mr.  Campbell  delivered  his  regu- 
lar address  as  president  before  the  missionary  society  of 
Cincinnati.  In  December  following  he  set  out  with 
Mrs.  Campbell  upon  a  tour  in  Indiana,  during  which 
he  enjoyed  also  the  efficient  aid  and  company  of  Isaac 
Errett.  During  the  trip,  which  extended  over  a  con- 
siderable portion  of  the  State,  they  were  received  with 
the  utmost  kindness,  the  Methodists  and  others,  with 
few  exceptions,  opening  their  capacious  meeting-houses, 
and  giving  the  most  respectful  attention  to  the  numerous 
discourses  delivered,  averaging  at  least  one  each  day 
for  a  period  of  nearly  eight  weeks.  Mr.  CampbelPs 
health  and  vigor  seemed  to  be  somewhat  improved  by 

VOL.  II.— 2  Q  54  * 


642       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL, 


this  trip  of  two  thousand  miles,  as  was  usually  the  case 
with  him  in  cool  weather. 

As  many  desired  to  have  his  numerous  addresses  col- 
lected into  a  volume,  he  about  this  time  arranged  with 
the  publishing  house  of  Challen  &  Son  to  have  them 
printed.  This  work  of  six  hundred  and  forty-seven 
pages,  and  containing  a  tolerably  good  likeness  of  Mr. 
Campbell  as  he  then  appeared,  he  dedicated  to  his  wife 
in  the  following  terms  : 

To  Selina  Huntingdon  Ca^ipbell,  my  dutiful  and 
affectionate  wife,  who  has  greatly  assisted  me  in  my  labors  in 
the  gospel  at  home  and  abroad,////^  Volu7ne  of  Public  Ad- 
dresses,, long  solicited  by  many  friends,  is  DEDICATED  as 
an  humble  token  of  my  esteem  and  affection. 

'*A.  Campbell. 

"Bethany,  Virginia,  1S61." 

During  his  tours  at  this  period,  Mr.  Campbell's  suc- 
cess in  obtaining  donations  for  the  college  was  as  great 
as  could  well  have  been  expected  amidst  the  increasing 
political  discords  and  dangers  which  now  disturbed 
society  and  occupied  almost  exclusively  the  attention  of 
the  people,  so  that  it  was  extremely  difficult  to  interest 
men  in  religious  and  benevolent  objects.  Civil  war, 
indeed,  was  imminent,  and  although  many  still  hoped 
for  the  peaceful  settlement  of  the  disagreement  between 
the  Northern  and  Southern  States,  Mr.  Campbell's 
sagacity  led  him  to  apprehend  the  worst  results.  His 
knowledge  of  human  nature  and  his  enlarged  views 
on  most  subjects  imparted  to  him  a  far-reaching  fore 
knowledge  of  events  which  was  seldom  at  fault.  As 
early  as  the  time  of  General  Harrison's  election  he  had 
anticipated  the  calamities  which  were  now  at  hand. 
While  on  a  visit  to  the  Reserve  ai  that  period,  he  one 
day  asked  John  Rudolph  to  which  of  the  candidates  he 


OPPOSITION  TO  WAR. 


thought  the  vote  of  Ohio  would  be  given.  The  latter  re- 
plied he  thought  it  would  be  given  to  General  Harrison. 
*'  I  hope  it  may  be  so,"  said  Mr.  Campbell.  *'  1  will 
vote  for  him  myself,  as  he  is  a  personal  friend  and  I  ap- 
prove his  policy ;  but  the  time  will  come,"  said  he, 
"Brother  Rudolph,  when  the  controversy  will  no  longer 
be  between  Whigs  and  Democrats,  but  between  North 
and  South.  Heretofore  the  Northern  States  have 
yielded  to  the  demands  of  the  South,  but  they  feel  their 
rapidly-growing  strength,  and  the  period  will  arrive 
when  they  will  refuse  any  longer  their  consent  to  mea- 
sures for  the  protection  of  slavery,  and  this  institution 
the  South  will  never  surrender  without  bloodshed." 
Fearful  of  the  approach  of  the  period  which  he  had  fore- 
seen, though  still  hoping  for  its  longer  postponement, 
he  thought  it  his  duty  to  visit  Eastern  Virginia  at  this 
time,  in  order  to  complete  the  endowment  he  expected 
from  the  churches  in  that  part  of  the  State.  On  this 
journey  also  he  was  accompanied  by  Mrs.  Campbell 
and  by  Isaac  Errett,  but  his  labors  were  suddenly  inter- 
rupted by  the  outbreak  of  actual  war.  After  he  had 
filled  several  of  the  appointments  which  had  been  sent 
on,  news  of  the  attack  on  Fort  Sumter,  on  the  12th  of 
April,  reached  him  while  he  was  holding  a  meeting  at 
Charlottesville,  and  foreseeing  that  the  whole  country 
would  be  speedily  involved  in  the  begun  strife,  and  that 
no  time  was  to  be  lost  in  effecting  his  return  home,  he 
at  once  abandoned  his  tour  and  soufjht  once  more  the 
quiet  shades  of  Bethany,  noticing  on  the  way  ample 
evidence  of  preparation  for  that  bloody  conflict  which 
he  so  much  deprecated,  and  against  which  he  failed  not 
in  the  "  Harbinger"  to  lift  up  his  voice  in  solemn  remon- 
strance, urging  a  resort  to  arbitration  as  the  proper 
method  of  settling  national  difficulties. 


644       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 

About  the  time  of  his  return  to  Bethany  his  beloved 
fellow-laborer,  Walter  Scott,  also  reached  his  home  near 
May  slick,  Kentucky,  from  a  preaching  tour,  greatly 
distressed  on  account  of  the  political  troubles  of  the 
country,  and  suffering  with  what  he  regarded  as  a  se- 
vere cold.  This,  however,  soon  proved  to  be  inflam- 
mation of  the  lungs,  which,  rapidly  increasing  in 
violence,  terminated  in  a  few  days  the  useful  services  of 
this  eminent  and  gifted  laborer,  who  bore  his  illness 
with  patient  resignation,  and,  rejoicing  in  the  hope  he 
had  professed,  expired  on  the  Tuesday  after  the  taking 
of  Fort  Sumter  (April  23,  1861).  His  death  was 
deeply  felt  by  Mr.  Campbell,  who  ever  cherished  for 
him  the  warmest  affection  ;  but  his  regrets  were  softened 
by  the  consciousness  that  his  own  failing  energies  be- 
tokened a  not  far  distant  and  eternal  reunion. 

During  the  continuance  of  the  war,  Mr.  Campbell's 
labors  abroad  were  necessarily  restricted,  but  he  made 
occasionally  short  excursions  from  home,  addressing  the 
public  on  religious  topics.  At  home,  the  sudden  dimin- 
ution in  the  number  of  students  at  the  college  and  the 
departure  of  some  of  the  faculty  threatened  to  occasion 
its  suspension  ;  but  it  having  been  determined  to  main- 
tain as  far  as  possible  the  regular  operations  of  the  insti- 
tution, he  continued  still  to  act  as  president,  and  for  a 
time  to  meet,  as  usual,  his  morning  class,  as  well  as  to 
deliver  the  annual  baccalaureate  address.  As  these 
duties,  however,  which  he  endeavored  to  fulfill  from  his 
strong  desire  to  labor  to  the  last,  were  evidently  too 
great  a  burden  at  his  advanced  age,  he  was  induced  at 
length  to  relinquish  them  to  the  vice-president,  who, 
with  the  remaining  members  of  the  faculty,  continued 
to  preserve  the  order  and  conduct  the  business  of  the 
college,  reserving  merely  to  the  president  the  duty  of 


LIFE  OF  THOMAS  CAMPBELL.  645 

conferring  the  degrees  and  preparing  the  address  for 
the  annual  commencement.  Though  thus  released 
from  much  of  his  former  labor,  he  was  far  from  feeling 
himself  freed  from  that  controlling  sense  of  obligation 
and  responsibility  which  formed  so  striking  a  feature  in 
his  character.  He  still  visited  the  college,  and  some- 
times, through  force  of  habit,  would  prepare  to  go  over 
to  deliver  his  morning  lecture,  until  reminded  that  he 
had  been  relieved  from  the  duty.  Attending  punctually 
at  church,  he  still  felt  that  he  was  expected  to  address 
the  public  if  the  pulpit  was  unoccupied ;  and  his  dis- 
courses, though  discursive  and  marred  by  occasional 
repetitions,  were  still  heard  with  an  interest  which  was 
not  a  little  enhanced  by  his  commanding  and  venerable 
appearance,  with  hair  and  beard  of  silvery  whiteness 
and  a  form  still  tall  and  erect,  though  that  familiar  voice, 
on  which  multitudes  had  so  often  hung  with  delight,  had 
now  become  somewhat  tremulous  and  enfeebled.  In 
the  *'  Harbinger"  he  continued  still  to  write  occasional 
essays,  which,  as  well  as  his  public  addresses,  were 
much  shorter  than  formerly.  He  obtained,  however, 
for  a  time,  the  aid  of  Isaac  Errett  as  a  co-editor,  and  his 
able  articles  added  much  to  the  interest  of  the  work, 
which  was  still  regularly  published,  notwithstanding  its 
diminished  patronage,  which  had  been  largely  in  the 
South,  with  which  communication  was  now  entirely  cut 
off. 

In  1861,  the  first  year  of  the  war  he  published,  in  a 
volume  of  three  hundred  and  sixty-seven  pages,  a  biog- 
raphy of  his  father,  which  he  had  been  latterly  pre- 
paring, but  which  by  no  means  met  public  expectation ; 
for,  though  it  contained  many  interesting  facts  and  doc- 
uments worthy  of  preservation,  it  was  scanty  in  its  de- 
tails and  defective  in  its  arrangement.    At  the  close  of 


646       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


this  year,  December  12,  1861,  his  eldest  sister,  Dorothea, 
wife  of  Joseph  Bryant,  died  at  Indianapolis,  in  her  sixty- 
ninth  year,  and  her  remains  were  conveyed  to  the  family 
cemetery  at  Bethany.  Her  sister,  Mrs.  Chapman,  had 
died  some  years  before,  and  her  brother  Thomas  like- 
wise ;  so  that,  at  this  time,  Mr.  Campbell  had  but  one 
brother,  Archibald,  and  one  sister,  Mrs.  McKeever,  still 
surviving. 

In  1862,  owing  to  the  scarcity  of  paper,  the  "  Har- 
binger" was  reduced  from  sixty  to  forty-eight  pages 
per  number.  During  this  year,  in  September,  he  at- 
tended the  meeting  of  the  New  York  Missionary  Society 
at  Auburn,  and  in  October  he  delivered  his  regular  ad- 
dress before  the  missionary  society  in  Cincinnati.  In 
the  "  Harbinger  "  the  subjects  which  still  seemed  chietiy 
to  interest  him  were  those  connected  with  Christology, 
prophecy,  Christian  union  and  education.  Earnest  as 
ever  in  his  devotion  to  the  cause  of  truth  and  righteous- 
ness, he  thus  speaks  in  his  preface  to  the  Harbinger** 
for  1863  : 

"  Despite  of  all  the  hinderances  and  drawbacks  of  these 
gloomy  and  heart-sickening  times,  which  have  fallen  so 
heavily  on  all  the  enterprises  of  Christian  benevolence  and 
hope,  we  are  still,  though  cast  down,  not  utterly  forsaken,  but 
laboring  on — without  it  is  true,  the  encouragement  and  sup- 
port of  many  who,  in  former  years  of  toil  and  trial,  stood  so 
nobly  by  us,  yet  with  the  sustaining  power  of  an  unfalter- 
ing faith  in  the  help  and  blessing  of  Him  whose  Spirit  has  so 
long  been  our  comforter  and  support,  and  whose  service  still 
calls  us  to  the  duties  of  the  foremost  ranks  in  the  army  of  his 
kingdom." 

On  the  7th  of  April  of  this  year  the  beloved  William 
Hayden  finished  his  course  in  his  sixty-fourth  year. 
For  nearly  two  years  he  had  suffered  with  paralysis, 


HALL  UCINA  TIONS.  647 


and  died  finally  with  little  pain  and  with  great  tran- 
quillit}',  having  to  the  last  his  heart  fixed  upon  the  spread 
of  the  gospel.  On  the  same  day,  Mr.  Campbeirs  young- 
est daughter,  Decima,  was  married  to  J.  Judson  Bar- 
clay, setting  out  immediately  for  the  island  of  Cyprus, 
where  Mr.  Barclay  was  United  States  consul.  In  the  fall 
(October  27,  1863)  his  only  remaining  daughter,  Vir- 
ginia, was  united  in  marriage  with  Mr.  W.  R.  Thomp- 
son, a  lawyer  of  Louisville.  In  the  early  part  of  the 
same  month  he  prepared  his  address  for  the  fifteenth 
anniversary  of  the  General  Missionary  Society  at 
Cincinnati. 

As  he  was  now  frequently  in  receipt  of  long  and  inte- 
resting letters  from  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Barclay,  giving 
minute  descriptions  of  the  eastern  part  of  the  Mediter- 
ranean, and  especially  of  the  island  of  Cyprus,  with  its 
history,  the  customs  of  the  people,  etc.,  and  as  these 
matters  became  frequent  subjects  of  conversation  in  the 
family  circle  at  Bethany,  the  idea  gradually  took  posses- 
sion of  Mr.  Campbell's  mind  that  he  had  himself  visited 
Cyprus  and  the  Holy  Land,  and  he  would  occasionally, 
in  a  pause  of  conversation  with  his  friends,  begin  to  de- 
tail to  them  the  incidents  of  his  supposed  trip  with  the 
utmost  seriousness.  This  hallucination,  in  which  recent 
description  became  inextricably  associated  with  the 
memories  of  his  actual  journeyings  in  Europe  and  else- 
where, continued  to  manifest  itself  occasionally  for 
about  two  years,  when  it  seemed  to  disappear.  During 
these  years  of  decline  he  would  also  occasionally,  when 
partially  awaked  in  the  night,  sit  up  and  ofl?er  fervent 
and  audible  prayer,  as  though  he  was  engaged  in  open- 
ing the  religious  services  of  the  Lord's  day  morning, 
and  would  even  deliver  some  exhortations  quite  con- 
nected and  pertinent.    Here  the  memories,  associations 


648       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL, 


and  habits  of  the  past  seemed  to  possess  for  him 
greater  vividness  than  even  present  impressions,  and 
his  ever-active  mind,  released  from  pressing  Hfelong 
labors,  made  for  itself  imaginar}^  occasions  of  exertion. 
Apart  from  such  hallucinations,  however,  there  seemed 
to  be  nothing  abnormal  in  the  state  of  his  faculties,  men- 
tal or  bodily.  His  sight  and  hearing  were  quite  unim- 
paired, nor  did  his  conversation  manifest  any  unusual 
indications  of  mental  failure  other  than  that  diminished 
vivacity,  that  forgetfulness  of  names,  dates,  etc.,  and 
that  tendency  to  repetition,  common  in  advanced  age. 
In  his  style,  both  in  his  essays  and  discourses,  there 
had  been  for  some  years  an  increasing  tendency  to  a 
multiplication  of  epithets  and  an  undue  compounding 
of  adjectives,  which  detracted  considerably  from  their 
effect.  These  blemishes  were  much  less  observable  in 
his  familiar  letters,  one  or  two  of  which  may  be  here 
given  as  illustrative  of  the  thoughts  and  feelings  with 
which  he  was  still  occupied  in  his  seventy-sixth  year. 
The  first  was  in  reply  to  one  from  Dr.  J.  W.  Cox,  giv- 
ing an  account  of  the  state  of  the  Baptists  in  Kentucky. 
The  second  was  addressed  to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Barclay,  in 
the  island  of  Cyprus. 

"Bethany,  Va.,  March  21,  A.  D.  1864. 

"  My  dear  Brother  Cox :  Your  favor  of  March  7th  lies 
before  me.  I  gratefully  thank  you  for  your  beautiful  auto- 
graph and  photograph. 

*'  I  am  as  busy  as  usual.  Even  Sunday  shines  no  Sabbath 
day  to  me.  Church  and  college  duties  must  be  attended  to, 
though  our  elders  and  professors  favor  me  as  much  as  possi- 
ble. Still,  I  cannot  shuffle  ofi^that  feeling  called  responsibility. 
This  unholy  war  has,  indeed,  reduced  the  number  of  our 
students,  in  common  with  other  colleges  in  Virginia  and 
elsewhere. 

"  I  much  regret  that  our  Baptist  friends  are  so  much  en- 


LETTER  TO  CYPRUS. 


slaved  to  human  traditions  and  experiences  as  passports  into 
church-fellowship.  One  Lord,  one  faith,  one  baptism  ought 
to  suflice.  Facts  and  theories  are  the  poles  apart.  Men  may 
assent  to  theories,  but  they  cannot  believe  them.  Testimony 
is  not  theory.  Assent  to  theory  is  not  faith.  Thinking  is  not 
believing,  nor  believing  thinking.  Testimony  is  essential  to 
faith.  'No  testimony,  no  faith*  is  axiomatic.  Faith  comes  by 
hearing  testimony.  .lence  well-attested  facts  or  events  are 
the  true  and  real  materials  of  faith. 

"  Faith,  hope,  love  are  three,  and  not  two  nor  one.  They 
are,  indeed,  three  distinct  and  distinguishable  powers.  Faith 
is  the  belief  of  testimony,  hope  is  the  fruit  of  promise,  and 
love  the  offspring  of  beauty  seen  and  appreciated.  The  gos- 
pel is  God's  charm  in  the  sinner's  ear,  conscience  and  heart. 
It  quickens  the  soul,  charms  the  ear  and  allures  the  heart  to 
God.  It  is  the  bread  of  life  to  the  hungry,  the  water  of  life 
to  the  thirsty,  and  the  spirit  of  life  to  those  dead  in  trespasses 
and  sins.  It  is,  therefore,  the  power  of  God  to  salvation  to 
every  sinner  who  will  cherish  it  in  his  own  heart  and  life. 

*'  We  are  as  a  nation  and  people  most  sadly  out  of  joint. 
I  do  not  mean  religiously  only,  but  politically,  though  we  en- 
joy perfect  peace  in  our  Western  Virginia.  From  anything 
said  or  done  in  our  community,  we  are  in  perfect  political 
quietude  ;  and  were  it  not  for  our  weekly  news,  we  would  not 
know  that  there  is  a  civil  war  in  Western  Virginia,  or  indeed 
in  Eastern  Virginia. 

"  We  have  comparatively  ver^'  few  Baptists  in  Western 
Virginia  and  Western  Pennsylvania.  Calvinism  and  Armin- 
ianism  in  their  numerous  and  various  moods  and  tenses  are 
the  ecclesiastic  idols  of  the  living  generation  around  us. 

"  The  advocates  of  apostolical  Christianity  are  still  moving 
onward  and  forward  in  the  even  tenor  of  their  way.  Both 
our  college  and  our  church  are  moving  along  in  the  even  tenor 
of  their  way.    Better,  indeed,  than  we  could  have  expected. 

"  Yours,  truly.  A.  Campbell." 

"Bethany,  Va.,  May  6,  1864. 
"  My  dear  son  and  daughter  ;  We  cordially  congratu* 

55 


650        MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


late  you  in  the  reception  of  an  heir  from  the  Lord.  This  is  a 
rich  and  precious  gift  from  the  Lord,  which  the  weahh  of  the 
richest  monarch  on  earth  could  not  purchase,  though  pos- 
sessed of  all  the  gold  of  Ophir.  It  constitutes  you  parents, 
and  lays  upon  you  an  obligation  of  paramount  importance. 
For  such  a  precious  gift  kings  would  sometimes  give  a  king- 
dom. But  all  the  gold  of  Ophir  could  not  purchase  it.  Still, 
it  is  to  be  nourished,  cared  for,  protected  and  brought  up  in 
the  nurture  and  admonition  of  the  Lord.  Many  are  the  duties 
incumbent  upon  us  for  such  a  present  from  the  Lord.  In  the 
reception  of  it  our  heavenly  Father  virtually  says  to  us  :  '  Take 
this  child,  educate  and  train  it  for  me,  and  great  shall  be  your 
reward.'  It  is,  indeed,  withal,  a  pleasing  task.  But  to  secure 
this,  the  Lord  has  wisely,  kindly  and  deeply  planted  in  the 
maternal  and  paternal  heart — but  mure  deeply  in  the  maternal 
than  in  the  paternal  heart — a  paramount  atiection.  Mothers 
have  more  generally  a  deeper  and  a  more  enduring  natural 
aflection  than  fathers.  Because,  we  presume,  they  need  it 
most.  Their  faithful  etlbrts  are,  indeed,  well  rewarded. 
Children  generally  love  their  mothers  more  than  their  fatiiers ; 
and  so,  methinks,  they  ought;  for  a  mother's  aflection  is  gen- 
erally stronger  and  more  enduring  than  a  father's. 

*^  But  there  are  exceptions  to  all  general  rules.  We  have 
all,  if  observant,  seen  some  of  them  in  this  case.  To  love 
and  to  be  loved  is,  in  all  the  relations  of  life,  the  richest  and 
the  greatest  blessing  on  earth  which  we  can  achieve.  W'e 
cannot  buy  it.  We  must  earn  it.  To  be  loved  we  must  love. 
But  to  love  not  only  our  friends,  but  our  enemies,  is  required 
by  the  great  Teacher.  This  is  godlike.  Wiien  we  remember 
this,  we  cannot  but  examine  ourselves.  And,  indeed,  it  is  to 
us  all-important  that  we  should  habitually  examine  ourselves, 
and  say  to  the  Lord,  '  Search  me,  O  Lord  !  and  try  me,  and 
see  if , there  be  any  wicked  way  in  me,  and  show  it  to  me, 
and  lead  me  and  guide  me  in  the  way  everlasting!' 

'*  We  have  peace  and  tranquillity  in  our  position  in  Virginia. 
College  is  in  session,  with  a  considerable  increase  of  students. 
And,  were  it  not  for  our  newspapers,  we  should  not  know 


ATTACHMENT  TO  FRIENDS.  65 1 

that  there  was  any  war  in  our  country ;  for  which  blessing 
we  should  be  most  grateful  to  the  Giver  of  every  good  and 
perfect  gift.  Everything  here  moves  on  in  its  wonted  channel. 
Civil  wars  are  very  uncivil  things,  and  wholly  contraband  to 
both  the  letter  and  spirit  of  the  gospel  of  the  God  of  peace. 

Your  description  of  the  island  of  Cyprus,  published  in 
the  April  number  of  the  '  Harbinger,*  has  been  read  with 
great  interest  and  pleasure,  as  we  learn  from  all  quarters.  It 
is,  indeed,  a  feast  to  us  all ;  when  finished  by  you,  we  shall 
dilate  more  fully  upon  it.  I  am  not  sure,  indeed,  but  that  a 
full  history  of  it  from  your  pen  would  be  a  most  useful  and 
interesting  volume.  .  .  .  Think  of  it,  and  gather  and  keep  all 
documents  of  interest,  .  .  .  and  on  your  return  give  a  history 
of  your  whole  tour.  I  am  constrained,  though  with  reluct- 
ance, to  close  this  scroll  with  an  apology.  All  our  family  at 
home  unite  with  me  in  all  aflection  to  you  and  Decima,  father 
and  mother. 

"  Most  affectionately,  A.  Campbell." 

Nothing  in  Mr.  Campbell  was  more  striking  than  his 
warm  affection  for  his  family  and  his  enduring  attach- 
ment to  his  friends.  Distance  seemed  not  to  remove 
them  from  his  thoughts,  and  however  numerous  his 
special  acquaintances,  time  failed  to  obliterate  their 
images  from  his  memory.  Of  his  singular  tenacity  in 
this  respect  many  touching  illustrations  might  be  given, 
but  the  following  letter,  written  many  years  before, 
while  he  was  alone  on  one  of  his  Western  tours,  may 
best  serve  to  indicate  the  habits  of  his  mind  : 

"  Smithland,  Mouth  of  Cumberland  River,  \ 
February  24,  1 84 1.  ) 
"  My  dear  Selina  :  Through  the  kind  providence  of  Him 
who  never  sleeps,  and  who  has  preserved  me  through  so 
many  paths  and  dangers,  I  am  here  waiting  for  a  boat  to 
ascend  to  Nashville,  two  hundred  miles  from  this  lonely  and 
wicked  place.  I  was  landed  here  at  two  o'clock  this  morn- 
ing, and  found  my  way  in  the  night  to  a  tavern  of  no  very 


652       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


high  fame  for  comfort  or  for  morals.  But  I  hope  to  get  away 
by  the  first  arrival.  Meanwhile  I  have  been  walking  in  the 
woods,  casting  my  mind  over  past  scenes  and  past  times, 
conversing  one  while  with  the  dead,  and  at  another  commun- 
ing with  the  far-distant  living.  I  have  just  been  concluding 
that  we  ought  more  frequently  to  reflect  upon  those  of  our  ac- 
quaintance who  are  gone  before  us,  recall  their  images,  con- 
template their  virtues,  moralize  upon  their  frailties,  and  when- 
ever their  excellences  occur  to  our  memory  endeavor  to  make 
them  our  own.  I  have  placed  myself  amidst  my  domestic 
group  some  twenty  years  ago  and  the  years  succeeding,  and 
have  revived  my  family  circle  with  its  occasional  guests. 
Those  of  them  who  were  the  partners  of  my  cares,  my  joy& 
and  my  labors  were  well  known  to  you — your  excellent  and 
amiable  predecessor,  the  mother  of  my  two  eldest  daughters, 
on  whom  so  many  hopes  and  fears  once  doated — the  excel- 
lent Dr.  HoUiday — our  good  father  and  motlier  Brown,  who 
sometimes  visited  us,  with  my  own  dear  mother  and  my  be- 
loved sisters,  Alicia  and  Nancy — all  now  sleeping  under  the 
green  turf,  for  ever  have  left  our  present  earth.  Where  are 
they  and  how  employed?  Think  they  never  of  those  they 
left  behind?  And  shall  we  never  think  of  them  who  have 
gone  before  ?  Must  we  mutually  and  perpetually  forget  each 
other?  Ah  me!  live  not  their  virtues  in  our  memory? 
Faults  they  had,  but  faults  have  we  !  Many  of  their  failings 
grew  out  of  their  love  and  affection  for  those  whom  they  left 
behind.  If  they  were  too  careful  to  please,  too  anxious  for 
the  future,  too  busy  for  the  present,  was  it  not  more  for  others 
than  for  themselves;  as  much,  at  least,  for  our  happiness  as 
for  their  own  ?  But  they  acknowledged  the  same  God  and 
Saviour,  invoked  his  name,  worshiped  in  his  sanctuary  and 
were  enrolled  amongst  his  children.  They  have  all  often 
bowed  the  knee  with  me,  our  voices  have  often  mingled  in 
the  same  songs  of  praise — oft  have  we  partaken  of  the  same 
commemorative  loaf  and  drunk  together  the  cup  of  blessing. 
But  we  are  here  in  this  state  of  temptations  and  trials  many ; 
their  race  is  run  and  their  sun  is  set  for  ever.   O  Lord,  teach 


VISIT  TO  JAMES  FOSTER. 


US  to  measure  our  days,  to  remember  our  latter  end,  to  dis- 
charge faithfully  our  relative  duties,  and  to  profit  both  by  the 
failings  and  the  virtues  of  those  whom  we  so  much  loved  and 
who  so  much  loved  us.  There  is  nothing  eternally  excellent 
but  the  Christian  virtues,  the  fruits  of  righteousness,  of  faith 
and  hope  and  holy  love,  and  these  are  all  the  avails  of  time 
which  will  be  gathered  into  the  garner  of  heaven. 

"  My  dear  sister  and  beloved  wife,  you  have  many  cares 
and  many  trials ;  bear  them  on  your  spirit  before  the  throne 
of  God  as  you  bear  them  on  your  shoulders,  and  you  will  feel 
either  that  they  grow  lighter  or  that  you  grow  stronger.  Feed 
your  soul  with  the  bread  of  life,  and  drink,  oh  drink  abundantly 
of  its  pure  and  healing  waters.  Meditation  and  prayer  are 
the  strength  of  the  soul.  O  Lord,  give  us  the  spirit  of  grace 
and  supplication,  and  make  thy  presence  to  us  always  most 
delightful.  We  ought  often  to  think  of  the  dead — not  only  of 
our  own  dead,  but  of  the  dead  saints  of  other  times.  Their 
history  affords  us  instruction,  example  and  motive.  Remem- 
ber, says  Paul,  the  end  of  their  conversation — Jesus  Christ 
the  same  yesterday,  to-day  and  for  ever.  ...  In  the  bonds, 
not  only  of  holy  matrimony,  but  of  the  everlasting  covenant, 
I  remain  your  faithful  and  affectionate  husband, 

A.  Campbell." 

It  was  in  entire  harmony  with  this  amiable  trait  in 
his  nature,  of  remembering  absent  friends,  that,  during 
his  latter  years,  when  released  from  the  confining  duties 
of  the  college,  he  often  proposed  to  go  and  see  them, 
and  would  have  undertaken  distant  journeys  for  the  pur- 
pose had  not  his  family  deemed  it  imprudent.  His  de- 
cline, however,  had  been  so  gradual  as  scarcely  to  be 
perceived,  except  at  considerable  intervals,  and  he  still 
retained  much  of  his  usual  activity,  as  well  as  his  erect 
port  and  his  love  of  daily  exercise.  At  length,  in  July, 
1864,  it  was  agreed  that  he  should  pay  a  visit  to  his 
ancient  fellow-laborer,  James  Foster,  whom  he  muclv 
longed  to  see  once  more.    Accompanied  by  Mrs.  Camp- 

55  * 


654       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL, 


bell,  he  went  accordingly  to  Wheeling,  from  whence 
they  took  the  cars  to  Glen  Easton,  where,  procuring 
horses,  they  rode  out  across  the  hills  some  five  or  six 
miles  to  the  simple  dwelling  of  Elder  Foster.  The 
meeting  between  the  two  aged  veterans  in  the  Christian 
w^arfare,  who  had  not  seen  each  other  for  many  years, 
was  quite  affecting.  They  rushed  into  each  other's 
arms  and  embraced  with  tears  of  joyful  recognition. 
After  spending  the  greater  part  of  a  day  and  night  in 
delightful  religious  conversation  and  agreeable  rem- 
iniscences of  the  past,  with  much  regret  they  bade  each 
other  farewell,  without  the  hope  of  again  meeting  on 
earth.* 

Again,  so  late  as  the  spring  of  1865,  accompanied  by 
Mrs.  Campbell,  he  resolved  to  go  and  see  his  daughter 
Virginia  at  Louisville.  While  there  he  spoke  in  the 
Second  Christian  church  very  acceptably,  and  on  the 
following  Lord's  day  delivered  a  discourse  in  the  First 
church,  which  was  then  in  charge  of  D.  P.  Henderson. 
The  presence  of  a  very  large  audience  on  this  occasion 
seemed  to  inspire  him  with  unwonted  vigor.  His  sub- 
ject was  the  commission  given  to  the  apostles,  and  he 
spoke  with  so  much  clearness  and  energy  as  to  surprise 
his  friends,  who  thought  they  had  seldom  heard  him  do 
better.  On  his  return,  while  on  the  Cincinnati  packet, 
two  Presbyterian  preachers  who  were  on  board  came 
and  introduced  themselves  to  him,  and  expressed  a 
strong  desire  that  he  should  deliver  a  discourse  on 
board  the  vessel.  Mrs.  Campbell,  however,  urging  his 
fatigue  and  debility,  had  him  excused.  These  clergy- 
men appeared  very  sociable  and  friendly.  They  had 
been  in  tlie  East,  and  spent  an  evening  with  the  Amer- 


*  James  Foster  survived  Mr.  Campl)eU  about  three  years,  dying,  in  the  ut- 
most peace,  on  the  12th  of  March,  1869. 


CLOSING  SENTENCES. 


ican  Consul  at  Bey  rout,  Mr.  Johnson,  who  had  married 
Miss  Julia  Barclay,  and  of  whose  courtesy  and  kind 
attentions  they  retained  a  grateful  recollection. 

In  the  commencement  of  this  year  (1865)  Mr. 
Campbell  had  relinquished  the  editorship  of  the  Har- 
binger" to  Professor  W.  K.  Pendleton,  furnishing,  how- 
ever, himself  an  occasional  short  essay  upon  themes  in 
which  he  felt  a  particular  interest,  as  The  Power  of 
the  Word  of  God,"  ".Christian  Communion,"  "The 
Fruits  of  the  Holy  Spirit,"  etc.  One  of  these  appeared 
so  late  as  November,  1865,  on  the  subject  of  the  gospel, 
in  which,  after  some  remarks  upon  text-preaching,  he 
says : 

"  We  shall  now  propound  or  declare  the  seven  facts  that 
constitute  the  whole  gospel.  They  are — i.  The  birth  of 
Christ,  God  being  his  father  and  the  Virgin  Mary  his  mother. 
2.  Tlie  life  of  Christ  as  the  oracle  of  God  and  the  beau-ideal 
of  human  perfection.  3.  The  death  of  Christ  as  a  satisfactory 
sacrifice  for  the  sin  of  the  world.  4.  The  burial  of  Christ  as  a 
prisoner  of  the  grave.  5.  The  resurrection  of  Christ ;  '  O 
grave  !  1  will  be  thy  destruction  !*   6.  The  ascension  of  Christ ; 

lie  ascended  up  far  above  all  heavens,  that  he  might  possess 
all  things.*  7.  The  coronation  of  Christ  as  Lord  of  the  uni- 
verse ;  God  his  Father  constituted  him  the  absolute  sovereign 
of  creation." 

In  the  closing  paragraph  of  this  essay  he  says : 

"  The  present  material  universe,  yet  unrevealed  in  all  its 
area,  in  all  its  tenantries,  in  all  its  riches,  beauty  and  grandeur, 
will  be  wholly  regenerated.  Of  this  fact  we  have  full  assur- 
ance, since  He  that  now  sits  upon  the  tiirone  of  the  universe 
has  pledged  his  word  for  it,  saying,  'Behold  I  will  create  all 
things  newV  consequently, '  new  heavens,  new  earth  conse- 
quently, new  tenantries,  new  employments,  new  pleasures, 
new  joys,  new  ecstasies.  There  is  a  fullness  of  joy,  a  fullness 
of  glory  and  a  fullness  of  blessedness  of  which  no  living  man, 


656       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


however  enlightened,  however  enlarged,  however  gifted,  ever 
formed  or  entertained  one  adequate  conception." 

These  vi^ere  Mr.  Campbeirs  last  words  as  a  religious 
writer.  These  were  the  hopeful  utterances,  full  of  an 
abiding  trust,  with  which  he  closed  his  last  essay  in  the 
**  Millennial  Harbinger,"  to  which  he  had  so  largely 
contributed  for  five-and-thirty  consecutive  years.  Grad- 
ually disengaging  himself  from  the  concerns  of  time, 
he  had  long  before  committed  the  management  of  the 
farm  to  his  youngest  son  William,  and  now,  having 
finally  ended  his  editorial  labors,  yet  still  continuing 
to  preach,  awaited,  with  the  most  unfaltering  faith  and 
the  most  cheerful  composure,  the  inevitable  summons. 


CHAPTER  XXI. 


Worldly  estate— Hymn-book — Will — Declining  years— Traits  of  character — 
Success  as  a  Reformer — Last  discourse— Closing  days — Obsequies. 


OR  many  years,  Mr.  Campbell  had  been  quite  easy 


in  his  worldly  circumstances.  The  estate  which 
he  had  received  from  his  father-in-law,  John  Brown, 
soon  after  his  first  marriage,  had  at  once  relieved  him 
from  the  res  angusta  domi  under  which,  in  common 
with  his  father  and  the  family,  he  had  so  long  and  so 
patiently  labored.  Subsequently,  from  those  habits  of 
economy,  which  had  been  formed  from  necessity  and 
were  now  continued  from  choice,  his  uncommon  dili- 
gence in  business  and  the  marked  success  of  Buffalo 
Seminary,  his  resources  were  still  further  increased.  It 
was,  however,  the  extensive  sale  of  his  various  pub- 
lications which  afterward  chiefly  enlarged  his  income, 
enabling  him  to  add  considerably  to  his  farm  at  an  early 
period,  when  land  was  comparatively  low.  In  process 
of  time  he  also  became  possessed  of  unimproved  lands 
in  Ohio  and  Illinois,  chiefly  through  his  attempts  to  aid 
some  of  his  friends,  who  were  afterward  unable  to  re- 
tain the  property.  The  gradual  increase  in  value  of  his 
landed  estate,  with  the  augmenting  income  from  his 
works,  rendered  him  finally  quite  independent,  enabling 
him  to  aid  his  numerous  relatives  and  friends,  and  to 
maintain  his  extensive  household,  as  well  as  to  exercise, 
as  he  loved  to  do,  his  generous  and  unfailing  hospitality. 

VOL.  TT.— 2  R  667 


65S        MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


He  possessed  great  sympathy  for  the  poor  and  unfortu- 
nate, and  was  never  known  to  refuse  to  give  to  any 
worthy  object.  Yet,  as  if  mindful  of  the  narrow  cir- 
cumstances of  his  earlier  life,  he  was  cautious  in  his 
distributions,  and,  preferring  to  retain  control  of  his 
means,  sought,  in  most  cases,  to  aid  his  friends  by 
lending  rather  than  by  giving.  During  his  latter  years, 
however,  his  benevolent  feelings  seemed  to  gain  so 
much  the  preponderance  that  it  was  sometimes  with 
difficulty  he  could  be  restrained  from  giving  lavishly 
and  injudiciously.  The  promotion  of  the  cause  of 
Christ  seemed  to  be,  with  him,  always  the  principal 
consideration ;  next  to  this  was  the  interest  he  felt  in  his 
family,  then  his  regard  for  his  friends,  and,  finally,  his 
love  for  his  adopted  country.  For  the  first  of  these  ob- 
jects he  was  ever  ready  to  sacrifice  his  fortune,  his  per- 
sonal ease  and  comfort,  and  even  his  life,  if  necessar}''. 
With  him  it  was  the  spread  of  the  truth  and  the  salvation 
of  men  first  and  always  ;  and  the  means  placed  at  his 
disposal  were  but  the  more  grateful  to  his  feelings  as 
he  was  enabled  thereby  to  subserve  more  efficiently 
these  noble  ends. 

Amidst  his  closing  years  he  presented  to  the  American 
Christian  Missionary  Society  his  interest  in  the  hymn- 
book  from  which  he  had  long  derived  a  considerable 
portion  of  his  income.*  By  his  will,  carefully  written 
by  himself  and  signed  on  the  iith  of  March,  1862,  and 
to  which  he  added  a  codicil  on  the  31st  of  March,  1864, 

*  Thfe  small  hymn-book  which  he  originally  compiled  was,  about  the  year 
1835,  combined  by  arrangement  with  others  prepared  by  W.  Scott  and  J.  T. 
Johnson,  and  he  became  the  sole  proprietor.  Among  the  hymns  which  it 
contained,  those  commencing  with  the  following  lines  were  composed  by  Mr. 
Campbell  himself :  "  On  Tabor's  top  the  Saviour  stood ;"  "  'Tis  darkness 
here,  but  Jesus  smiles;"  "Upon  the  banks  of  Jordan  stood;"  "Come,  let 
us  iing  the  coming  fate ;"  "Jesus  is  gone  above  the  skies." 


CONDESCENSION. 


659 


he  gave  certain  legacies  to  his  grandchildren  by  his 
first  wife,  and  distributed  the  remainder  of  his  estate  to 
Mrs.  Campbell  and  his  four  surviving  children,  with 
the  exception  of  ten  thousand  dollars  given  to  Bethany 
College,  together  with  his  valuable  library,  and  five  thou- 
sand dollars  appropriated  to  maintain  the  preaching  of 
the  gospel  under  the  direction  of  the  elders  of  the  church 
at  Bethany,  where  for  so  long  a  period  he  had  him- 
self faithfully  and  gratuitously  labored. 

During  the  last  years  of  his  decline,  which  was  as  the 
slow  going  down  of  the  sun  amidst  the  glow  of  a  pleas- 
ant summer  eve,  he  manifested  in  his  whole  deportment 
not  only  his  wonted  amiability,  but  a  more  subdued  and 
quiet  gentleness,  blended  with  the  utmost  courtesy, 
which  proved  how  well  he  had  learned  the  great  lessons 
of  the  Christian  life.   Gratitude  to  God  seemed  to  be  ever 
his  prevailing  sentiment,  and  thanksgiving  the  natural 
language  of  his  heart.    He  sympathized  greatly,  as  he 
had  always  done,  with  children,  and  would  often  say  of 
them:  "Poor  little  pilgrims  I  they  have  the  world's 
journey  to  make  if  they  should  live  long  enough," 
When  the  cries  of  one  of  them  disturbed  the  company, 
he  would  say  :  "I  am  not  partial  to  that  kind  of  music. 
Poor  little  thing  I  pay  attention  to  it.     It  claims  its 
rights.    There  are  rights  of  men,  rights  of  women  and 
baby  rights."     At  meal-times,  if  his  fascinating  table- 
talk  and  the  interest  of  the  company  in  important  themes 
seemed  to  protract  too  long  the  waiting  of  the  younger 
members  of  the  family,  he  would  remark,  with  a  pleas- 
ant smile  in  rising,  "  Gentlemen,  we  must  give  place 
to  the  next  generation     thus  combining  as  usual  with 
his  playfulness  a  momentous  and  solemn  thought.  That 
condescension  to  inferiors  which  had  been  through  life 
one  of  his  most  striking  characteristics  still  shone  forth 


66o       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


in  all  his  daily  intercourse.  The  most  humble  could 
approach  him  with  entire  confidence,  nor  would  he  ever, 
unless  in  the  hastening  crowd,  pass  any  one,  however 
lowly,  without  a  pleasant  notice  or  salutation.  He  had 
the  largest  and  highest  conceptions  of  the  dignity  and 
the  destiny  of  humanity.  His  lofty  ideas  of  God  led 
him  to  take  noble  views  of  man,  who  was  made  in  his 
image,  while  the  unspeakable  mysteries  of  the  atone- 
ment and  of  man's  redemption  through  the  triumphs  of 
the  Son  of  God  ever  filled  him  with  adoring  wonder. 

There  is  more  value,"  he  used  to  say,  **  in  one  human 
being  than  there  is  in  a  million  of  worlds  such  as  we 
inhabit."  Hence  his  love  of  a  government  where  all 
enjoyed  equal  rights,  and  his  dislike  to  clerical  domina- 
tion. **The  true  clergy,"  he  would  say,  *'are  the 
Lord's  lot  or  people.  God  made  men,  the  priests  make 
laymen.  Man  is  the  creature  of  God,  a  layman  is  the 
creature  of  priests."  Hence  it  was,  too,  that  he  pos- 
sessed a  marked  power  of  repressing  all  feelings  of  re- 
taliation or  revenge.  His  high  conceptions  of  man,  and 
his  just  appreciation  of  his  present  lost  condition,  led 
him  to  feel  sympathy  for  the  erring  and  enabled  him  to 
practice  Christian  forgiveness  in  its  largest  sense,  and 
to  manifest  to  the  end  of  life,  amidst  all  his  collisions 
and  conflicts,  an  abiding  and  ever-increasing  philan- 
thropy— a  feeling  which,  with  many,  is  unhappily  im- 
paired or  lost  through  the  influence  of  a  long  and  sad  ex- 
perience of  the  world,  so  that  the  flower  of  human  sym- 
pathy, which  was  so  fair  and  so  fragrant  in  youth,  pro- 
duces in  the  autumn  of  life  but  a  sour  and  acrid  fruit. 
His  sincere  desire  to  conform  strictly  to  the  precepts  of 
Christ,  led  him  at  a  very  early  period  to  form  the  habit 
of  checking  all  feelings  of  resentment,  and  he  was  hence 
enabled  to  preserve  always  the  kindest  relations  with  his 


PHILANTHR  OPT. 


66i 


neighbors,  whose  tempers  and  feelings  in  some  cases 
had  been  far  from  the  most  amiable.  Thus,  while  he 
was  engaged  in  teaching  Buffalo  Seminary,  a  Mr. 

C  d,  who  lived  above  him  on  the  creek,  became 

greatly  offended  because  he  had  refused  for  want  of 
room  to  admit  his  sons  as  pupils.  Having  occasion 
soon  after  to  send  to  this  gentleman,  who  was  of  a 
passionate  and  tyrannical  disposition,  for  some  money 
due  him,  he  became  quite  enraged  and  told  the  messen- 
ger to  say  to  Mr.  Campbell  that  he  must  thenceforth 
keep  his  cattle  at  home,  since  if  he  found  any  of  them 
in  his  fields  he  would  have  them  killed.  Mr.  Campbell 
immediately  summoned  all  his  laborers,  and  forbidding 
them  to  retaliate  in  any  way,  enjoined  upon  them  that 

if  Mr.  C  d's  stock  broke  into  his  fields,  as  they  often 

did  in  their  wanderings  about  the  creek,  they  must  not 
hurt  a  hair  upon  their  hides,  but  return  them  kindly  to 

their  own  pastures.    He  then  informed  Mr.  C  d  of 

what  he  had  done,  lest  he  should  imagine  that  his  threat 
would  induce  retaliation.    In  the  course  of  a  day  or  two 

Mr.  C  d  came  to  see  Mr.  Campbell,  and  making  an 

humble  apology  for  his  conduct,  became  at  once  a 
warm  friend  ;  and  afterward  returning  from  Missouri  in 
impaired  health,  would  often  send  for  him  to  come  and 
read  the  Scriptures  and  pray  with  him  as  he  lingered 
upon  the  bed  of  sickness.  Mr.  Campbell's  undeviating 
kindness  and  forbearance  naturally  gained  the  sincere 
esteem  of  all  around  him,  nor  could  any  one  have  en- 
joyed more  of  the  confidence  and  even  admiration  of 
the  community  in  which  he  lived  for  so  many  years 
than  he  did,  though  differing  from  many  of  them  in 
religious  views. 

The  same  feelings  of  regard  for  man,  connected  with 
his  undoubting  trust  in  the  protection  of  Providence* 

56 


662       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


rendered  him  entirely  opposed  to  carrying  arms  for  self- 
defence,  as  was  often  done  even  by  religious  persona 
while  traveling.  Among  various  striking  incidents  from 
his  own  experience  illustrative  of  his  views  of  this 
matter,  he  used  often  to  relate  a  rencontre  which  he 
had  while  traveling  through  Ohio  on  horseback : 

"  I  stopped,"  said  he,  "  this  side  of  Zanesville  at  a  tavern 
to  breakfast.  After  breakfist  I  observed  a  rough-looking 
man,  who,  having  washed,  ordered  out  his  horse,  and  pres- 
ently, turning  to  me,  inquired  which  way  I  was  traveling,  I 
had  conceived  the  idea  that  the  man  had  arrived  from  the 
West  and  was  going  to  the  East,  and  accordingly  answered 
him  frankly  by  saying  that  I  was  going  westward.  '  Well, 
then,*  said  he,  to  my  surprise  and  mortification,  *  we  will  be 
fellow-travelers,  for  I  am  going  West  too.'  I  did  not  like  this, 
of  course,  but  was  obliged  to  acquiesce,  and  I  regretted  it  still 
more  when,  upon  going  out  to  our  horses,  I  discovered  that 
he  carried,  under  his  overcoat  and  around  his  body,  a  belt  with 
a  brace  of  pistols  and  a  dirk. 

We  rode  on  for  some  time  without  much  conversation, 
when  at  length,  when  we  had  reached  a  lonely  part  of  the 
road  and  he  was  somewhat  in  advance,  he  very  abruptly 
turned  his  horse,  and,  confronting  me,  asked  if  I  thought  it 
right  to  carry  arms  against  robbers.  '  Sir,*  said  I,  '  the  only 
weapon  I  ever  carry  is  this,'  at  the  same  time  pulling  out  of 
my  side-pocket  a  New  Testament  and  holding  it  toward  him. 
He  started  suddenly,  and  recoiled  as  though  I  had  presented 
a  pistol ;  but,  recovering  himself  and  perceiving  what  it  was, 
'  Sir,'  said  he, '  do  you  suppose  that  would  defend  you  against 
robbers?'  'Certainly,'  said  I,  *  much  better  than  I  could  de- 
fend myself.  The  Author  of  this  book  has  promised  to  pre- 
sei-ve  those  that  trust  in  him,  and  I  know  he  is  much  more 
able  to  protect  me.'  He  remained  silent  for  some  time,  hung 
down  his  head  and  seemed  greatly  disconcerted.  At  last  he 
remarked,  in  a  subdued  tone,  *  Well,  sir,  I  am  not  sure  but 
you  are  right,  though,  for  my  part,  I  am  caiTying  arms.  I 


CONVERSATIONAL  POWERS.  663 


have  been  to  the  East  with  a  drove  of  cattle,  and  am  return- 
ing home  and  have  a  good  deal  of  money  with  me,  and  I 
thoiiglit  it  necessary,  as  there  are  so  many  robberies  now,  to 
carry  arms  with  me.  But  I  do  not  know  that  I  should  like 
to  kill  a  man,  and  I  have  been  considering  it  in  my  mind  all 
along.  I  profess  to  belong  to  the  Christian  Church  myself, 
and  I  should  not  like  to  kill  a  man,  even  in  self-defence.'  He 
went  on  to  tell  me  where  he  lived  and  many  things  about  his 
business,  but  I  did  not  like  his  manner  and  did  not  encourage 
much  conversation.  We  traveled  on  till  evening,  when,  as  it 
was  becoming  dusk  and  I  had  not  much  confidence  in  my 
traveling  companion,  I  felt  very  desirous  of  getting  rid  of  him. 
Remembering  that  a  friend  lived  at  a  short  distance  in  the 
vicinity,  I  determined  to  go  and  spend  the  night  with  him, 
and  as  soon,  accordingly,  as  we  fcame  to  the  road  leading  to 
my  friend's  house,  without  having  previously  mentioned  my 
design,  I  suddenly  turned  to  him  and  remarked,  *I  wish  to 
call  to  see  an  acquaintance  in  this  neighborhood,  and  this  rs 
my  road :  I  wish  you  good-night  ;*  and,  giving  my  horse  the 
whip,  was  soon  out  of  sight. 

"After  all,  I  do  not  think  he  had  any  evil  intentions ;  but 
one  thing  is  evident,  that  my  declaration  that  I  was  without 
arms  induced  him  to  throw  aside  reserve  and  communicate 
freely  his  aflairs  to  me.  It  is  the  carrying  of  arms  that  creates 
the  idea  of  the  possession  of  money  and  invites  attack,  but  the 
being  without  arms  has  the  directly  contrary  eflect,  and  I  am 
persuaded  that  many  persons  lose  their  lives  simply  from 
carrying  arms." 

Among  his  other  qualities,  Mr.  Campbell  was  dis- 
tinguished for  his  conversational  powers.  No  one  could 
be  long  in  his  company  without  being  struck  with  some 
unexpected  grouping  of  things  present  with  things  re- 
mote, and  of  isolated  facts  with  some  general  principle. 
He  therefore  soon  engrossed  the  attention  of  those 
around  him,  as  from  the  commonest  topics  he  quickly 
passed  beyond  the  range  of  ordinary  thought,  bringing 


664       MEMOIRS   OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


together  the  most  interesting  relations  of  things,  often 
with  figures  and  illustrations  most  striking  and  appro- 
priate. Hence  few  felt  long  disposed  to  take  much  part 
in  the  conversation,  which  often  resulted  in  a  monologue 
commanding  the  attention  and  delighting  the  minds  of 
all.  He  was  far,  however,  from  manifesting  any  de- 
sire to  monopolize  the  time.  On  the  contrary,  he  would 
pause  to  hear  a  remark  from  the  humblest,  and,  in  this 
respect  more  like  Brougham  than  Macaulay,  continued 
to  talk  only  because  it  was  evidently  desired.  In  his 
power  of  thus  captivating  his  audience  he  resembled 
Coleridge,  but  his  field  of  thought  was  different.  The 
mind  of  Coleridge  was  eminently  subjective  in  its  ten- 
dencies— imaginative,  poetic,  analytical — surprising  by 
its  nice  distinctions,  its  disentangling  of  blended  truths, 
its  far-reaching  insight  into  the  spiritual,  its  power  of 
abstraction,  its  ability  to  resolve  the  complex  into  the 
more  simple,  and  this  again  into  conceptions  yet  more 
and  more  shadowy  and  attenuated.  Mr.  Campbell,  on 
the  other  hand,  was  objective  in  his  mental  bias,  dis- 
posed to  dwell  upon  the  actual  and  the  positive,  the 
realities  of  life  and  of  revelation.  His  groups  consisted 
not  of  fairv  forms  or  of  the  dim  but  entrancinfr  visions 
of  fancy  or  the  remote  and  impalpable  phantasms  of  a 
sublimated  philosophy.  They  were  composed  of  well- 
defined  and  substantial  facts  ;  of  essential  truths  ;  of  the 
immutable  things  of  Nature  and  of  infallible  Revelation, 
contemplated  in  all  their  grandeur,  yet  in  all  their  direct, 
immediate  and  practical  applications  to  the  business  of 
life  and  to  the  duties  of  religion. 

Notwithstanding  his  disposition  to  sallies  of  wit  and 
humor  in  social  intercourse,  Mr.  Campbell  was  one  of 
the  most  reverential  of  men.  Nothing  could  be  more 
solemn,  and  at  the  same  time  more  simple,  than  hi« 


RELIGIOUS  LIFE. 


thanksgivings  and  prayers  in  the  family  and  elsewhere, 
and  his  petitions  possessed  a  breadth,  fullness  and  appo- 
siteness  which  at  once  exalted  the  thoughts  and  tended 
to  sanctify  the  heart.  Never  in  sacred  things  would  he 
tolerate  the  slightest  approach  to  levity,  and  failed  not 
on  all  occasions  to  reprove  profanity  in  the  severest 
terms.  In  church  and  college  discipline,  also,  though 
inclined  to  pity  offenders,  he  was  ever  most  just  and 
strict  in  enforcing  law  as  the  means  designed  for  cor- 
rection and  reformation.  He  would  never  for  a  moment 
compromise  any  principle  of  right,  but  with  decisive  and 
unyielding  firmness,  yet  with  the  utmost  kindness,  would 
always  insist  upon  the  rigid  observance  of  every  regula- 
tion ;  while  in  the  faithful  discharge  of  duty  he  himself 
furnished  a  striking  example  in  his  punctual  attendance 
at  college  in  all  kinds  of  weather  and  in  the  midst  of 
the  most  pressing  engagements. 

In  Mr.  Campbell's  religious  life  the  central  thought 
was  Jesus,  the  Son  of  God.  No  language  can  por- 
tray his  lofty  conceptions  of  the  glory  of  Christ  or  of  the 
grandeur  of  the  spiritual  system  of  which  he  is  the 
Alpha  and  the  Omega.  With  such  deep  convictions  as 
he  possessed  of  the  Divine  Sonship  and  infinite  dignity 
of  Christ  it  was  not  possible  that  his  theology  should 
be  erroneous,  for  since  Christ  was  his  Prophet,  Priest 
and  King,  he  acknowledged  no  other  authority  than  his, 
sought  no  other  sacrifice  or  mediator,  and  hearkened  to 
no  other  teacher.  Such  was  his  sense  of  the  boundless 
love  of  God  in  Christ  that,  though  he  possessed  remark- 
able control  over  his  emotional  nature,  the  simple  men- 
tion of  it  in  his  public  addresses  would  often  so  afiect 
him  that  for  a  moment  or  two  his  feelings  would  stop 
his  utterance  and  render  him  unable  to  proceed.  He 
recognized  all  power  in  heaven  and  in  earth  as  resting 

56  » 


666       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL, 


upon  Christ,  by  whom  he  thought  all  kings  should  reign, 
and  in  whose  name  all  judges  should  administer  justice. 
It  was  his  great  aim.  therefore,  to  bring  men  to  submit 
to  Christ,  and  to  make  the  Church,  his  body,  as  far  as 
practicable  a  just  exponent  of  his  will,  abounding  in 
good  works  and  reproducing  in  every  member  the  life 
of  Christ  on  earth.  Amidst  the  various  errors  of  relig- 
ious society  which,  as  a  Reformer,  it  became  his  d\ity 
to  expose,  his  vigorous  spiritual  life  never  suffered  him 
to  lose  his  own  keen  relish  for  the  bread  of  heaven  and 
for  the  loving  contemplation  and  appreciation  of  truth. 
Hence  he  was  so  far  from  pining  or  starving,  as  many 
do,  among  the  husks  of  religious  controversy,  or  acquir- 
ing a  false  or  morbid  appetite  for  the  discovery  of  others* 
faults,  that  his  inner  man  was  renewed  day  by  day, 
and  he  continued  to  the  end  of  life  to  grow  if  possible 
more  and  more  humble,  patient  and  affectionate,  and 
to  exhibit  in  a  still  higher  degree  the  gentle  graces  of 
the  Spirit.  During  this  period  of  partial  release  from 
the  excessive  toils  of  his  busy  life,  memory  might  well 
cast  a  retrospective  glance  over  the  long  years  of  the 
eventful  past,  and  impartial  judgment  prepare  to  render 
its  award.  It  was  then  that  various  questions  would 
naturally  arise  touching  his  mission  as  a  Reformer,  his 
fidelity  to  the  principles  with  which  he  set  out,  the  past 
results  of  his  labors  and  their  future  effect  upon  the 
world.  To  answer  such  questions  could  not  have  been 
difficult,  nor  in  such  a  retrospect  was  it  strange  that 
emotions  of  gratitude  should  fill  his  heart. 

The  nature  of  the  reformation  which  he  urged  has 
already  been  presented  in  detail  in  the  preceding  pages. 
It  may  be  here  briefly  remarked  in  general  that  it  was 
an  effort  to  heal  the  divisions  of  religious  society  and  to 
escape  from  all  the  corruptions  of  the  gospel  by  a  direct 


DIRECT  I  ox  OF  PROGRESS, 


667 


return  to  the  faith  and  practice  of  the  apostolic  age. 
Beginning  with  the  ministry  of  John  the  Baptist,  and 
contemplating  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  manifested  on  the 
banks  of  the  Jordan  as  the  Son  of  God  and  the  only 
Saviour  of  mankind,  the  development  of  guiding  facts 
and  principles  moved  forward  with  the  evangelic  history 
to  the  sacrifice  of  the  Lamb  of  God  on  Calvary,  and 
thence  to  his  resurrection  and  glorious  ascension  to  the 
heavens  to  appear  in  the  presence  of  God  for  men. 
At  this  point  it  was  some  time  before  his  commission 
to  the  apostles  was  understood,  and  before  the  insti- 
tution of  baptism  was  recovered  in  its  primitive  action 
and  design,  and  still  longer  before  the  latter  was  prac- 
tically and  fully  restored.  Advancing  still  with  the 
progress  of  the  sacred  history,  the  order,  discipline  and 
government  of  the  churches  were  developed  as  these 
were  established  by  the  apostles  under  the  dictation  of 
the  Holy  Spirit,  and  finally  the  co-operation  of  the 
churches  with  each  other  in  order  to  the  conversion  of 
the  world  and  their  own  spiritual  growth,  was  seen. 
The  arrangements  and  instrumentalities  to  be  employed 
for  these  purposes,  as  sanctioned  by  apostolic  precept 
and^  precedent,  were  the  last  subjects  of  consideration  in 
the  reformatory  movement  directed  by  Mr.  Campbell, 
as  they  were  the  last  recorded  matters  of  apostolic  his- 
tory. Beyond  the  sacred  canon  Mr.  Campbell  would 
not  go.  He  utterly  refused  to  take  a  single  step  into 
the  darkness  of  the  succeeding  ages,  in  which  all  the 
purity  of  the  gospel  and  all  the  peace  of  the  Church  had 
been  engulfed. 

The  direction  of  his  progress  was  thus  the  reverse  of 
that  of  Luther,  who,  beginning  with  an  apostate  Church, 
sought  to  correct  one  by  one  the  errors  of  the  ages  that 
were  past.     The  doctrinal  iniquity  of  justification  by 


568        MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 

.luman  merit  first  arrested  his  attention.  He  next  de- 
nounced indulgences  and  questioned  the  papal  power. 
He  alterward  abandoned  the  mass,  and  then  renounced 
the  celibacy  of  the  priest,  and  finally  defied  openly  the 
authority  of  Rome.  It  is  true  that  in  vindication  of  his 
reforms,  which  were  mainly  doctrinal,  he  appealed  to 
the  authority  of  Scripture,  and  for  his  justification 
placed  the  Scriptures  in  the  hands  of  the  people,  but  in 
these  reforms  he  never  fairly  reached  the  apostolic  age, 
nor  did  he  ever  fully  restore  the  gospel  to  the  world, 
either  in  its  simple  faith,  its  sacred  institutions,  its  divine 
promises  or  its  ecclesiastical  organization.  He  nobly 
struggled  backward  through  the  corruption  of  the  ages, 
but  Mr.  Campbell  moved  forward  with  the  divine 
development  of  the  truth  as  it  was  gradually  unfolded 
and  revealed  to  man.  Luther  hence  ended  with  St. 
Augustine,  but  Mr.  Campbell  with  the  last  Amen  of 
the  last  revelation  that  man  is  to  receive  before  the  day 
of  final  account. 

As  to  his  fidelity  to  the  spirit  of  the  reformatory  prin- 
ciples which  he  advocated  and  to  the  sacred  truths  he 
derived  from  the  book  of  God,  nothing  could  be  more 
admirable  or  complete.  The  Word  of  Inspiration  he 
made  his  only  guide,  and,  faithful  to  his  mission, 
claimed  for  himself  no  authority  and  usurped  no  power. 
Confining  himself  entirely  within  the  limits  of  the 
divine  Record,  he  labored  to  rescue  men  from  priestly 
thraldom  and  to  enable  every  one  to  comprehend  and 
realize  his  religious  privileges  and  duties.  Never  was 
there,  through  so  long  a  life  of  incessant  labor  and  op- 
position, a  more  true  and  consistent  advocacy  of  prin- 
ciple, or  a  more  uncompromising  resistance  to  errors 
and  extremes  within,  as  well  as  to  assaults  and  seduc- 
tions from  without.    Like  a  balance-wheel,  he  regulated 


MENTAL  TRAITS. 


669 


the  entire  movement  of  the  Reformation,  and,  on  re- 
peated occasions,  preserved  it  from  the  disasters  w^hich 
were  impending  from  the  ambitions  or  the  rashness  of 
its  friends.  He  was  not  a  person  of  transient  impulse 
or  of  subservient  purpose.  He  was  no  dreamer,  no 
mystic,  no  visionary  theorist,  but  a  man  of  earnest  cha- 
racter devoted  to  a  great  and  worthy  object ;  a  man  of 
high  and  firm  resolve,  of  deep  convictions,  of  practical 
sagacity,  dealing  with  the  highest  interests  of  mankind, 
self-consecrated  to  the  most  sacred  duties,  untiring, 
unfaltering,  declining  rest  and  worldly  honor  and  pro- 
motion, and  esteeming  the  reproach  of  Christ  greater 
riches  than  any  earthly  treasure.* 

*  The  intellectual  and  moral  qualities  of  Mr.  Campbell  will,  of  course,  be 
truly  and  certainly  ascertained  from  the  facts  and  habits  of  his  life.  As  to 
the  claims  of  Phrenology,  he  himself  placed  but  little  reliance  upon  them, 
though  he  thought  its  general  principles  founded  on  facts,  and  he  had  a 
high  regard  for  Spurzheim,  whom  he  thought  an  earnest  and  sincere  explorer 
of  the  truths  of  Nature.  "  I  am  not  one  of  those,"  he  said,  "  who  imagine 
that  any  science,  and  still  less  that  of  the  human  mind  or  of  human  nature, 
can  in  a  few  years,  or  by  one  class  of  contemporary  minds,  be  completely  and 
perfectly  developed  and  matured.  I  am,  therefore,  of  the  opinion  that  the 
science  of  Phrenology  is  but  in  progress,  and  not  yet  perfected."  As  there 
are  many,  however,  who  fully  accredit  the  pretensions  of  craniologists,  it  may 
be  proper  to  present  here  some  of  their  decisions  as  to  Mr.  Campbell's 
mental  character.  The  first  is  from  a  young  Scotch  physician,  a  Dr.  Sim,  an 
enthusiast  in  Phrenology,  who  visited  Bethany  in  1836,  and  remained  some 
time  at  Mr.  Campbell's.  He  was  a  man  of  talent,  and  had  been  a  pupil  of 
Spurzheim  and,  subsequently,  his  demonstrator  of  the  anatomy  of  the  brain 
at  his  lectures  in  Edinburgh.  The  numerical  estimate  is  framed  upon  a  scale 
in  which  20  represents  the  complete  or  highest  development : 

"  SkuU,  thin  ;  frontal  sinuses,  rather  full ;  temperament,  nervo-sanguineous. 
Amativeness,  16;  Philoprogenitiveness,  18;  Concentrativeness,  18;  Con« 
structiveness,  14;  Destructiveness,  17  ;  Combativeness,  16;  Secretiveness, 
15  ;  Firmness,  19;  Self-esteem,  15  ;  Love  of  Approbation,  14;  Cautiousness, 
16;  Conscientiousness,  20 ;  Hope,  12;  Veneration,  13;  Wonder,  10;  Ad 
hesiveness,  13  ;  Acquisitiveness,  16;  Ideality,  18;  Causality,  17;  Comparison, 
20;  Mirthfulness,  15  ;  Tune,  ii  ;  Time,  12  ;  Locality,  20;  First  Individualit}* 
18;  Second  Individuality,  14;  Form,  16;  Color,  12;  Size,  17;  Weight,  18  • 
Method,  20  ;  Language,  18  ;  Eventuality,  14  ;  Imitation,  17  ;  Benevolence,  19." 


670       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


As  it  respects  the  success  attending  his  efforts,  it  had 
been  truly  remarkable.  At  this  time  he  found  himself 
amidst  a  religious  community  variously  estimated  as 
consisting  of  from  four  to  six  hundred  thousand  mem- 

The  following  is  condensed  from  a  "  chart"  given  by  L,  N.  Fowler  of  New 
York,  on  whom  Mr.  Campbell  called  when  on  his  way  to  Europe,  at  the  re- 
quest of  Mrs.  Campbell,  and  without  making  himself  known  to  Mr.  Fowler  : 

"  Vou  are  naturally  very  industrious,  and  fond  of  both  mental  and  physical 
exercise ;  are  seldom  weary ;  can  work  longer  and  easier,  think  harder  and 
have  more  business  on  hand,  without  sinking  under  it,  than  most  men.  Your 
phrenological  developments  are  distinctly  marked,  and  your  character  must 
be  a  positive  one.  You  are  disposed  to  strike  out  a  path  of  your  own,  and 
have  energy  sufficient  to  meet  almost  any  emergency.  You  do  not  shrink  be- 
cause of  opposition,  but  nerve  yourself  the  more  to  meet  it  The  strongest 
trait  of  your  character  is  FIRMNESS,  which  gives  will  and  unyielding  perse- 
verance. You  have  uncommon  presence  of  mind  and  power  of  determina- 
tion in  times  of  danger.  You  have  a  self-directing  mind,  lean  on  no  one, 
and  care  but  little  for  the  opinions  of  men  ;  are  neither  vain,  showy,  affected, 
nor  over -polite  and  ceremonious,  but  very  independent.  You  have  tact  and 
management  when  the  occasion  requires,  yet  generally  are  frank,  open- 
hearted  and  free-spoken.  You  are  sufficiently  cautious  to  be  safe,  but  not  so 
much  so  as  to  be  timid.  You  look  upon  money  as  only  the  means  to  accom- 
plish the  desire  of  other  faculties,  and  not  as  an  end  of  enjoyment.  Y'ou  will 
use,  rather  than  lay  uj),  money.  Your  moral  faculties  are  fuUy  developed, 
excepting  Marvelousness.  The  general  power  of  your  moral  brain,  connected 
with  your  will,  is  greater  than  your  selfish  feelings.  You  are  strong  in  your 
hopes  Hud  anticipations ;  never  look  upon  the  dark  side  ;  no  enterprise,  sanc- 
tioned by  reason,  is  too  great  for  you  to  undertake.  Conscientiousness,  Ven- 
eration and  Benevolence  are  all  distinctly  developed  and  have  an  active  in- 
fluence, yet  not  so  controlling  as  to  modify  your  energy,  ambition  or  desire  for 
information.  Y^'ou  have  fair  imagination  and  sense  of  the  sublime  and  grand, 
but  naturally  prefer  the  true  to  the.  fanciful,  the  philosophical  to  the  poetical. 
Your  language  is  more  forcible  than  flowery,  more  direct  and  pointed  than 
imaginative  and  elegant 

Y'our  intellectual  powers  are  of  the  available  kind.  You  are  decidedly  a 
matter-of-fact  man  ;  a  great  student  of  nature  ;  always  learning  something 
from  both  great  and  small ;  yom"  range  of  observation  is  most  extensive,  and 
what  you  see  and  know  only  increases  your  intellectual  appetite. 

"  Your  argumentative  powers  are  great  You  reason  most  successfully  by 
analogy  and  association.  You  readily  see  the  adaptation  of  principles  and  the 
relation  of  things ;  have  a yw// development  of  Causality,  enabling  you  to  see  the 
relations  of  cause  and  effect,  giving  originality  of  thought  and  ability  to  plan." 


SUCCESS  AS  A  REFORMER, 


671 


bers,  gathered  largely  from  the  more  intelligent  classes 
of  society,  and  possessing  a  greater  uniformity  of  relig- 
ious sentiment  and  a  better  knowledge  of  the  Bible  than 
usually  exist  in  any  religious  party.  Fully  able  to 
sustain  itself  against  all  opposition,  and  rapidly  increas- 
ing in  all  directions,  it  was  engaged  everywhere  in 
active  efforts  for  the  primitive  faith  and  institutions  of 
the  gospel.  Apart  from  these  visible  and  tangible  re- 
sults, there  had  been,  through  the  instrumentality  of  the 
truths  developed  and  diffused  abroad,  an  extensive  and 
wonderful  modification  not  only  of  the  framework,  but 
of  the  spirit  of  religious  society.  Despised  at  first,  then 
hated,  maligned  and  feared,  Mr.  Campbell  had  taught 
the  partyism  of  the  day  to  respect  at  least,  if  not  to  love, 
the  hand  that  smote  it,  and  had  left  upon  the  religious 
and  educational  endeavors  of  the  age  the  impress  of  his 
power.  The  prejudiced  and  the  ignorant  have  some- 
times said  that  he  failed  of  his  purpose  to  overthrow 
sectarianism.  So  might  it  be  said  of  Luther  that  he 
failed  to  overthrow  the  papacy,  and  in  the  same  spirit 
of  depreciation  it  might  be  said  that  neither  Wicklifle  nor 
Wesley  nor  Chalmers,  nor  any  of  the  great  reformers 
of  the  world,  accomplished  anything  of  importance.  A 
new  star  added  to  the  firmament,  even  though  it  be  of 
the  first  magnitude,  cannot  change  night  into  day,  but 
it  may  serve  to  guide  the  wise  to  the  Babe  of  Bethlehem. 
In  the  slow  progress  of  human  affairs  time  must  be 
allowed  for  the  operation  of  great  principles  and  for  the 
building  up  of  mighty  structures.  Thus  far  the  results 
of  Mr.  Campbell's  labors  have  been,  it  must  be  con- 
fessed, most  extensive  and  remarkable.  As  to  the 
future — it  has  as  yet  no  fiistory. 

The  objects  proposed  by  Mr.  Campbell  were,  like 
his  own  mind,  vast  and  comprehensive,  being  nothing 


672       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL, 


less  than  the  uUimate  and  complete  overthrow  not  only 
of  all  false  religion,  but  of  infidelity,  through  the  mighty 
power  of  the  gospel  of  Christ,  disengaged  from  all  its 
corruptions  and  thoroughly  carried  out  into  practice  in 
all  its  various  applications  to  the  salvation  of  men.  The 
simplicity  of  the  primitive  faith  and  institutions,  and  the 
far-reaching  principles  of  Christian  union  and  fraternity 
developed  by  him  were  indeed  too  far  in  advance  of 
the  attainments  of  the  religious  world  to  be  at  first  prop- 
erly comprehended  or  appreciated.  It  could  only  be 
in  the  gradual  progress  of  the  revolution  that  their 
character  could  be  perceived  and  to  some  extent  under- 
stood. And  this  enlightenment  must  be  progressive. 
Time,  as  it  sheds  its  advancing  sunlight  upon  the  future 
pathway  of  mankind,  reveals  also  more  clearly,  from 
the  higher  point  attained,  the  road  which  had  been  un- 
wittingly traversed  in  the  dimness  of  the  early  dawning, 
and  the  things  of  the  past  are  more  clearly  and  fully 
comprehended  in  the  knowledge  of  the  present.  The 
better  views  now  obtaining  as  to  the  proper  limits  of 
religious  thought,  involving  the  essential  distinction  be- 
tween faith  and  opinion ;  the  diminished  power  of  the 
priesthood  ;  the  overthrow  of  national  religious  estab- 
lishments ;  the  circulation  of  pure  versions  of  the  Scrip- 
ture, and  the  advancing  knowledge  of  their  teachings, 
together  with  the  unwonted  activities  of  the  Church  in 
Christian  enterprise  and  in  promoting  the  spirit  of 
Christian  union  and  fraternity,  are  all  indications  of  the 
happy  change  that  is  gradually  taking  place,  and  serve 
to  place  in  a  brighter  light  the  nature  and  the  tendencies 
of  the  lifelong  labors  of  Mr.  Campbell.  And  the 
period  will  doubtless  arrive  when  the  influence  of  these 
labors  will  be  fully  seen  and  acknowledged,  and  his 
prediction  in  the  "  Christian  Baptist"  (vol.  v.,  p.  88 > 


I 

FAILING  HEALTH. 


be  fully,  as  it  is  already  in  part,  verified;  '*The  time 
must  come,  if  there  be  any  truth  in  prophecy  or  any 
knowledge  of  it  in  the  world,  and  that  before  many 
years,  too,  when  those  who  have  been  forward  in  re- 
forming modern  Popery  will  be  as  much  esteemed  as 
those  who  reformed  ancient  Popery." 

When  Mr.  Campbeirs  last  essay,  referred  to  in  the 
preceding  chapter,  appeared  in  the  Harbinger,"  he 
was  quite  unwell,  and  for  some  weeks  was  confined  to 
the  house.  After  he  had  to  some  extent  recovered,  he 
came  over  again  to  meeting  and  entered  the  pulpit. 
The  manifest  languor  which  had  for  many  months  at- 
tended his  ministrations  seemed  for  the  time  to  have 
disappeared.  His  voice  had  resumed  much  of  its 
former  force  and  clearness,  and  his  mind  seemed  un- 
usually alert  and  vigorous.  Taking  up  the  first  chap- 
ter of  Ephesians,  he  delivered  one  of  the  most  interest- 
ing and  animated  discourses  of  his  life,  dwelling  in  the 
most  eloquent  terms  upon  the  spiritual  blessings  in 
heavenly  places  in  Christ,"  and  upon  the  glorious  termi- 
nation of  the  divine  purposes,  when  in  the  dispensation 
of  the  fullness  of  times,  God  would  gather  together  in 
one  all  things  in  Christ,  upon  whose  surpassing  glory 
he  expatiated  with  that  peculiar  delight  which,  in  him, 
this  theme  constantly  inspired.  Such  was  the  con- 
nection of  his  trains  of  thought,  the  grandeur  of  his  con- 
ceptions and  the  unity  of  the  whole  that  he  seemed  to 
have  had  restored  to  him  for  the  occasion  almost  the  en- 
tire vigor  of  his  earlier  days,  nor  was  it  unfitting  that  one 
who  had  so  long  held  the  highest  rank  as  a  preacher 
should  thus  terminate  his  ministerial  labors,  for  this 
proved  to  be  his  last  discourse. 

Soon  afterward  his  cold  was  renewed,  and  during  the 
month  of  January  he  was  confined  to  the  house.  Im- 

VOL.  11.-2  S  57 


674       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL, 


proving  somewhat,  and  his  presence  being  much  de 
sired  at  the  ordination  of  two  additional  elders  of  the 
church  at  Bethany  on  the  iith  of  February,  he  came 
over  in  a  buggy  and  assisted  in  tlie  ceremony,  presiding 
subsequently  at  the  Lord's  Table  and  making  a  few 
very  appropriate  remarks.  He  had  even  entered  the 
pulpit,  when  he  first  came  in,  to  deliver  a  discourse,  but 
his  voice  seemed  so  feeble  when  he  attempted  to  read 
out  the  opening  hymn,  that  Elder  Pendleton  dissuaded 
him  from  attempting  it,  and  called  Dr.  Richardson  for- 
ward to  address  the  congregation.  He  spoke  from  the 
third  chapter  of  Second  Peter  upon  the  final  dissolution 
of  the  material  system  and  the  divine  promise  of  "  a 
new  heavens  and  a  new  earth,  wherein  dwelleth  right- 
eousness." Mr.  Campbell  paid  marked  attention,  and 
seemed  much  interested  in  the  sublime  revelations  of 
this  chapter,  the  subject  of  which  proved  to  have  been 
not  inappropriate,  as  this  was  the  hist  occasion  on  which 
he  was  able  to  meet  with  the  Church  on  earth. 

From  this  time  his  weakness  continued  to  increase 
gradually.  He  had  some  cough,  some  oppression  and 
slight,  irregular  pains  in  the  chest,  a  frequent  and 
feverish  pulse.  At  times,  the  presence  of  particular 
friends  and  the  introduction  of  subjects  in  which  he  took 
a  special  interest  would  rouse  him  to  much  of  his  usual 
vivacity.  He  still  continued  to  sit  up  and  walk  about 
during  the  day,  and  to  take  pleavsure  in  the  company  of 
friends  who  called  to  see  him  or  who  were  aL  the  time 
his  guests.  Among  these  were  Joseph  Bryant,  vigorous 
yet  in  advanced  age,  and  John  Tafle,  his  former  com- 
panion in  travel,  who  had  been  himself  confined  some 
days  by  illness.  His  daughter  Decima  and  Iip''  hus- 
band, J.  J.  Barclay,  who  had  shortly  before  returned 
from  Cyprus,  were  also  present,  as  well  as  his  daughter 


UNDOUBTING  CONFIDENCE. 


675 


Virginia,  who  had  arrived  from  Louisville  during  his 
illness.  When,  in  conversation,  Dr.  Richardson  spoke 
to  him  of  the  proposed  meeting  of  the  Baptists  and  Re- 
formers at  Richmond,  Va.,  to  confer  upon  the  subject 
of  union,  he  expressed  great  satisfaction  in  hearing  of  it. 
**  There  was  never  any  sufficient  reason,"  said  he,  for 
a  separation  between  us  and  the  Baptists.  We  ought  to 
have  remained  one  people,  and  to  have  labored  together 
to  restore  the  primitive  faith  and  practice."  He  hoped 
that  much  good  would  result  from  the  proposed  meet- 
mg,  and  spoke  with  animation  of  the  glorious  results 
which  would  ensue  if  the  divisions  of  religious  society- 
were  healed  and  the  people  of  God  were  striving 
unitedly  for  the  conversion  of  the  world. 

His  vivacity  was,  however,  fitful  and  transient.  A 
slow  and  settled  fever  consumed  him,  and  he  continued 
to  grow  weaker.  His  mouth  was  often  parched,  and 
he  would  express  aloud  his  gratitude  to  God  for  the  cold 
water  of  which  he  drank  freely,  and  which,  to  his  sur- 
prise, he  relished  more  than  at  any  period  of  his  life. 
It  was  beautiful  to  see  how  gentle  and  calm  and  uncom- 
plaining he  was,  what  placidity  and  cheerfulness  he 
maintained  amidst  his  discomfort,  and  what  serene 
resignation  he  manifested  in  view  of  the  end,  of  whose 
approach  he  was  perfectly  conscious. 

"  It  seemed,"  said  Professor  Pendleton,  who  was  much 
with  him,  '*  that  the  ideas  of  immortality  were  struggling 
with  the  agonies  of  death.  Relaxing  from  the  struggles  of 
physical  pain,  a  placid  smile  would  play  over  his  countenance, 
and  then  he  would  murmur,  as  if  in  soliloquy, '  I  will  ransom 
them  from  the  hand  of  the  grave  ;  I  will  redeem  them  from 
death  ;  O  death,  I  will  be  thy  plague !  O  grave,  I  will  be  thy 
destruction  !  repentance  shc-ill  be  hid  from  mine  eyes.'  He 
would  frequently  exclaim,  'What  shall  I  do?  what  shall  I  do? 


676       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL, 


Whither  shall  I  fly,  but  to  Thee?'  .  .  .  The  Scriptures  proved 
his  unfailing  consolation.  He  quoted  them  with  great  point 
when  he  seemed  to  know  or  notice  but  little  else.  A  few 
days  before  his  death,  upon  some  allusion  to  the  creation,  he 
quoted  the  first  verse  of  the  first  chapter  of  Genesis  in 
Hebrew,  and  then  the  first  verse  of  the  first  chapter  of  John 
in  Greek.  His  mind  delighted  to  dwell  upon  the  glorious 
character  of  Christ.  He  would  look  around  upon  tlie  friends 
about  his  bedside  and  ask,  'What  think  ye  of  Christ? — his 
divine  nature,  his  glorious  mission,  his  kingly  office — the 
Sovereign  Ruler?'  " 

Such  touching  expressions  of  his  hope  in  God  and 
his  undoubting  confidence  in  the  divine  promises  were 
very  frequent.  Dr.  Richardson  oflering  him  a  glass 
of  water,  and  speaking  of  the  wisdom  and  goodness  of 
God  in  bestowing  upon  man  so  great  a  blessing,  he 
earnestly  exclaimed,  '*Hovv  wonderful  are  thy  works!" 
The  doctor  added,  **  In  wisdom  hast  thou  made  them 
all."  '*  In  wisdom  wonderful  hast  thou  made  them  all,** 
he  repeated,  with  emphasis;  and  then  passing  by  asso- 
ciation to  the  cherished  idea  of  his  Redeemer,  he  con- 
tinued, *'  HIS  name  shall  be  called  Wonderful, 
Counselor^  The  Mighty  God,  The  Everlasting  Father y 
The  Prince  of  Peace,  Of  the  increase  of  his  govern- 
ment and  power  there  shall  be  no  end,  upon  the  throne 
of  David  and  upon  his  kingdom,  to  order  it  and  to 
establish  it  with  judgment  and  with  justice  from  hence- 
forth, even  for  ever.  The  zeal  of  the  Lord  of  Hosts 
will  perform  this." 

The  following  minutes  from  a  diary  kept  by  his 
daughter-in-law,  Mrs.  Mary  Ann  Campbell,  who,  with 
many  others,  ministered  most  assiduously  round  the 
sick  couch,  will  give  a  sufliciently-connected  narrative 
of  his  last  days  : 


LAST  ILLNESS,  677 

"  February  25th. — He  had  a  bad  night,  resting  very  little  in 
the  latter  part.  .  .  .  This  is  the  first  day  he  has  not  been  able 
to  be  diessed  and  sit  up  part  of  the  day.  .  •  .  After  church, 
Professor  W.  K.  P.  and  others  came  over,  and,  as  the  room 
was  full,  father  thought  it  was  for  meeting,  and  spoke  beau- 
tifully, repeating  niany^  very  many^  of  the  choicest  portions 
of  Scripture.  .  .  .  He  exhorted  all  to  read  and  study  the 
Bible,  *  that  Book  of  books,  a  library  writhin  itself,*  with 
system  and  order,  and  to  some  point  always,  just  as  they  ate 
and  attended  to  their  other  duties  daily.  He  spoke  much  on 
many  elevating,  soul-stirring  and  valuable  subjects,  especially 
in  reference  to  the  glories  of  a  future  life,  etc.,  .  .  •  spoke  of 
the  apostles  and  exhorted  all  to  spread  the  Gospel,  .  .  .  Had 
prayers  and  worship  early  in  the  evening  and  late  in  the 
night,  by  father's  request.  All  night  he  talked  of  God's 
goodness  and  power  and  wonderful  works,  and  the  Saviour, 
the  Light  of  the  world,  the  Sun  of  Righteousness,  etc.,  etc. 

'*  26th. —  .  .  Many  persons  called  all  morning  to  see  him 
just  to  shake  hands,  and  he  smiles  so  cheerfully  and  pleas- 
antly, and  tells  all  he  is  so  glad  to  see  them.  Mr.  Bryant, 
Mr.  McKeever,  Miss  Mary  Henderson  and  Dr.  Campbell  re- 
mained nearly  all  day.  Father  remained  wakeful  but  quiet 
most  of  the  evening.  Many  persons  came  over  to  ofler  their 
services  for  the  night.  .  .  .  Father  talked  some  after  dark. 
Through  all  his  sickness  he  never  forgets  to  say  pleasant 
things  to  those  around  him,  and  particularly  to  mother.  He 
misses  her  all  the  time  when  she  is  out  of  the  room,  and  last 
night,  when  she  came  in  from  taking  a  nap,  he  kissed  her  hand, 
and  was  so  glad  to  have  her  beside  him,  and  said :  '  Why, 
mother,  I  was  just  about  to  advertise  you  to  find  out  your 
whereabouts.'  As  he  said  this  his  smile  was  so  natural  and 
cheerful !  Oh  the  beautiful  hymns  and  parts'  of  Scripture  he 
is  constantly  repeating,  and  praising  God  for  all  his  mercies! 

"  Feb.  27th. —  .  .  .  After  seven,  father  had  been  talking 
some,  and  when  mother  leaned  over  him  and  asked  him, 
*  Are  you  in  pain,  dear.?*  he  said,  *  No,  no,  only  sorry  for  you, 
sorry  for  you. ^  .     .  Father  was  better  after  taking  some  tea 

67* 


678       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 


and  toast.  All  day  long  he  has  been  quiet,  not  talking  nuch 
and  dozing  often.  .  .  .  He  rested  badly  first  part  of  the  night 
— was  wakeful  and  restless  and  feverish.  .  .  .  Mr.  Loos  at- 
tended to  worship,  and  father  said  Amen  very  distinctly. 

"  Wednesday,  Feb.  2Sth. — Mother  came  in  and  told  me  how 
beautifully  father  had  just  been  talking  to  her  about  heavenly 
things.  He  seems  weaker  than  ever  before.  .  .  .  Many  per- 
sons came  in  this  evening.  Mr.  Jabez  Hall  and  Willie  and 
I  sat  up.  Father  was  much  better  than  ever  since  his  sickness — 
slept  well,  took  his  medicine  and  nourishment  regularly.  .  .  , 

*^  March  ist,  Thursday. — Father  has  been  much  better,  and 
we  all  have  strong  hopes  that  if  he  continues  to  expectorate 
freely  as  to-day  and  last  night,  he  may  get  up  and  live  some 
time  yet.  .  .  .  He  has  not  talked  much,  but  seems  very 
rational  and  better."  These  hopes  of  amendment,  however, 
were  not  realized,  though  there  was  not  much  change  on 
Friday  and  Saturday,  and  the  diary  proceeds : 

"  Sunday,  4th  March. — About  twelve  o'clock  last  night  he 
began  to  get  restless,  and  his  consciousness  rapidly  failed. 
.  .  .  This  is  a  lovely  morning,  though  a  little  chilly.  He  re- 
mained about  the  same  all  day.  .  .  .  Many  persons  came 
and  went." 

During  the  day  he  continued  gradually  to  sink, 
breathing  with  difficulty  and  with  feeble  pulse,  but  as 
evening  drew  on  his  respiration  became  easier,  and  at 
fifteen  minutes  before  twelve,  just  as  the  Lord's  day, 
in  which  he  had  always  so  greatly  delighted,  was  about 
to  close,  on  the  4th  of  March  1866,  he  gently  expired. 

Not  only  the  laborious  life,  but  the  closing  days,  of 
Alexander  Campbell  bear  a  striking  resemblance  to 
those  of  Wesley.  There  was  the  same  conscientious 
economy  of  time,  the  same  extended  journey ings  and 
the  same  earnest  desire  to  labor  to  the  last ;  and  at  the 
close  the  same  gradual  wearing  out  of  the  system 
under  a  slow  and  settled  fever,  and  the  same  unaffected 


FUNERAL  SERVICES. 


679 


and  simple  trust  in  God.  Nor  were  the  Circumstances 
attending  their  respective  funerals  unlike.  In  Wesley's 
case  great  crowds  attended  to  see  the  corpse  as  it  lay  in 
state  in  the  chapel,  and,  for  fear  of  accident,  it  was 
thought  best  to  hasten  the  time  of  the  funeral,  at  which 
Mr.  Richardson,  who  had  been  one  of  his  preachers 
for  about  thirty  years,  performed  the  services,  during 
which  the  deepest  feeling  was  manifested  by  the 
audience.  In  like  manner,  a  great  concourse  attended 
to  take  a  last  look  at  the  venerable  form  of  Mr.  Camp- 
bell and  to  attend  his  burial.  A  number  came  from 
Louisville,  from  Pittsburg,  Cincinnati  and  other  distant 
parts  of  the  country,  and  multitudes  assembled  from 
the  country  around,  together  with  the  professors  and 
students  of  the  college.  After  singing  the  hymn  com- 
mencing, *'  We've  no  continuing  city  here,"  and  prayer 
by  Professor  Loos,  Dr.  Richardson,  at  the  request  of 
the  family,  delivered  an  address  to  the  deeply -affected 
assembly.  The  procession  was  then  formed  and  moved 
forward  to  the  cemetery.  There,  where  so  many  dear 
ones  had  already  been  interred,  the  body  was  laid  in 
the  grave,  amidst  the  earthly  scenes  which  the  departed 
one  had  so  much  loved,  and  amidst  which  so  many 
of  his  labors  had  been  accomplished.  In  the  selection 
of  his  place  of  burial  in  this  elevated  and  beautiful 
spot  he  had  evinced  his  admiration  of  the  works  of 
God  and  his  delight  in  the  beauties  of  nature.  It  was 
as  though  he  had  said,  in  the  very  words  of  Ossian. 
**  Oh  lay  me,  ye  that  see  the  light,  near  some  rock  of 
my  hills !  Let  the  thick  hazels  be  around,  let  the 
rustling  oak  be  near ;  green  be  the  place  of  my  rest. 
Let  the  sound  of  the  distant  torrent  be  heard."  Yet 
were  such  human  feelings  and  associations  secondary 
ever  with  him  to  the  divine  hope  he  cherished  of  a 


68o       MEMOIRS  OF  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 

better  and  a  brighter  world,  and  to  the  unshaken  confi- 
dence with  which  he  ever  rested  upon  the  promises : 
*'Thy  dead  ones  shall  live,  together  with  my  dead  body 
shall  they  arise.  Awake  and  sing,  ye  that  dwell  in  the 
dust,  for  thy  dew  is  as  the  dew  of  herbs,  and  the  earth 
shall  cast  out  the  dead."  * 'And  God  shall  wipe  away 
all  tears  from  their  eyes ;  and  there  shall  be  no  more 
death,  neither  sorrow  nor  crying,  neither  shall  there  be 
any  more  pain ;  for  the  former  things  are  passed  away.** 


LIST  OF  MR.  CAMPBELL'S  PUBLISHED  WORKS. 

Christtian  Baptist,  from  1823  to  1830.    Seven  volumes. 
Millennial  Harbinger,  from  1830  to  1863.    Thirty-four  volumes. 
Debate  with  Walker,  in  182a 
"         «     McCalla,  in  1823. 
•«         «     Owen,  in  1829. 

**     PuRCELL  (published  by  James,  Cincinnati),  1837. 

"     Rice  (pubUshed  by  J.  II.  Brown  and  by  C.  D.  Roberts). 

**     Skinner  (published  by  Mr.  Skinner). 
Chutsttan  Svsiem  (revision  of  "Christianity  Restored"). 
Christian  Preacher's  Companion,  or  "Infidelity  Refuted  by  Infidels." 
New  Testament — New  Version  with  Notes,  etc    Octavo,  duodecimo 

and  pocket  editions. 
Christian  Hymn-book.    Various  revised  editions. 
Christl^n  Baptism— Its  Antecedents  and  Consequents. 
Like  op  Thomas  Campbell. 
Popular  Lectures  and  Addresses. 

Acts  of  the  Apostles.    Revised  translation,  with  critical  notes,  et& 
[In  an  about  sixty  volumes.] 


INDEX. 


Aberdeen,  ii.  554. 
Ache  son,  i.  79,  222,  238,  263,  311, 403, 
463- 

Ahorey,  i.  30,  46,  49. 

Ainslie,  Peter,  ii.  289. 

Allerton,  Amos,  ii.  260. 

Allen,  Thos.  M.,  ii.  376,  538,  596,  641. 

Alliance,  Evangelical,  ii.  541. 

Altars,  Abraham,  i.  231,  277,  372. 

Applegate,  John,  ii.  259. 

Archer,  George,  L  460. 

Arianism,  i.  153,  269;  ii.  52,  65,  196, 
204,  371. 

Asbury,  Francis,  i.  389  ;  ii.  185. 

Anecdotes,  i.  22,  note^  24,  31,  34,  noU^ 
44,  77,  100,  206,  216,  224,  238,  240, 
250.  275,  308,  362,  364,  372,  430, 
433.  457.  468,  470,  494»  508,  519, 
520,  524,  529;  ii.  64,  84,  108,  120, 
126,  242,  245,  287,  511. 

Association,  Christian,  i.  234,  241, 243, 
311,  329,  365;  ii.  60,  541;  Secret, 

i.  45  ;  ii.  534  ;  Redstone,  i.  436,  458, 
485,  489;  ii.  68,  164;  Stillwater,  i. 
459;  ii.  140,  164,  173,  329;  Long 
Rtin,  ii.  140;  Washington,  ii.  165; 
Monongahela,  ii.  166;  Concord,  ii. 
169  ;  Mahoning,  ii.  44,  69,  100,  163, 
173,  206,  218,  243,  327;  Meherrin, 

ii.  289 ;  Beaver,  ii.  322  ;  Elkhorn, 
ii.  325  ;  Dover,  li.  349,  364,  476. 

Atonement,  ii.  195,  479,  481. 
Atkinson,  Dudley,  ii.  289. 
Autobaptism,  1.  457. 

Ballymena,  L  19 ;  ii.  567. 


Ballantine,  Wm.,  i.  162,  179;  ii.  i2& 

293.  393. 
Baltimore,  ii.  139,  499,  543,  587. 
Bakewell,  Selina  H.,  ii.  33,  176,  243. 
Baptism,  i.  82,  180,  182,  183,  184,  186, 

187,  238,  239,  250,  325,  32S,  344, 

362,  372,  392,  403,  457  ;  ii.  21,  26, 
76 ;  design  of,  ii.  20,  80,  145,  196^ 
197,  212,  216,  502,  504,  629. 

Baptists,  i.  184,  436,  467,  479,  485, 
487  ;  ii.  43,  61, 87,  134,  147,  172,  322, 

363,  398,  440,  471  ;  Scotch,  ii.  396. 
Barclay,  Dr.  J.  T.,  ii.  593,  607,  623. 
Barclay,  J.  Judson,  ii.  647. 

Bay,  Carlingford,  i.  83 ;  Lochindaal^ 
i.  98. 

Beaver,  Anathema,  ii.  323. 

Bethany,  ii.  181,  299,  549.  573- 

Bentley,  Adamson,  L  215  ;  ii.  43,  164, 
207,  218. 

Bereans,  i.  185. 

Bell,  Dr.  T.  S.,  ii.  93,  400. 

Belfast,  i.  57  ;  ii.  309,  565,  567. 

Birch,  John,  ii.  14 ;  Rev,  James 
ii-  73»  85,  501. 

Bible,  reverence  for,  i.  39 ;  suffidency 
of,  i.  39,  143  ;  ii.  28,  58  ;  only  rule  of 
faith,  i.  232,  236,  265,  333,  340 ;  ii. 
12,  478,  486,  495  ;  silence  of,  i.  236, 
259,  351  ;  intelligibility  of,  ii.  12,  27, 
40,  76,  96,  150  ;  study  of  the,  i.  279^ 
441 ;  ii.  27,  96,  121,  436. 

Bowmore,  i.  99,  114. 

Boston,  Thomas,  i.  54. 

Bos  worth,  CyruSy  ii.  256;  Marcus,  U,* 
256,  25& 

681 


682 


INDEX. 


Bonus  Homo,  i.  299,  323. 
Brethren,  Plymouth,  i.  62. 
Broaddus,  A.,  ii.  130,  150,  161,  289, 

349,  447»  476. 
Brown,  John,  i.  357,  461  ;  ii.  34,  163, 

652. 

Brown,  Rev.  J.  H.,  ii,  501,  525. 
Brown,  Rev.  Matthew,  i.  296,  308  ;  ii. 
339. 

Brownfield,  Eld.,  i.  441,  485;  ii.  68, 
166. 

Bruce,  Archibald,  i.  26,  56. 

Brush  Run,  i.  322,  355,  365,  436; 

church,  i.  367,  403,  430,  459,  497  ; 

ii.  69,  166,  167;  members  of,  i.  373, 

note,  393. 

Bryant,  Joseph,  i.  322,  367,  371,  458, 
463  ;  ii.  166,  299  ;  ii.  674. 

Burghers,  i.  54,  55,  56,  58 ;  Theologi- 
cal school,  i.  25  ;  anti,  i.  25,  54,  56, 
58  ;  Oldlight,  i.  56  ;  Newlight,  i.  56. 

Burlington,  Ky.,  i.  488,  494. 

Butler,  James  A.,  ii.  451. 

Bullard,  Chester,  ii.  471,  475,  536, 
623. 

Buffalo  Creek,  i.  241,  247,  322,  396. 
Buffalo  Seminary,  i.  491,  496  :  ii.  48. 
Bullock,  Thomas,  ii.  118,  335. 
Burnett,  D.  S.,  ii.  122,  389,  393,  400, 
543.  598. 

Buchanan,  James,  British  Consul,  i. 
170;  ii.499,  543,  588. 

Call,  Ministerial,  L  23,  102,  380, 
387 ;  ii.  494- 

Calvin,  i.  366,  387  ;  ii.  216. 

Cambridge,  i.  458,  463. 

Cambuslang,  i.  73  ;  iL  595. 

Campbell,  Alexander,  birth-place,  i. 
19;  ancestry,  L  19,  21  ;  age,  L  28, 
note-,  youthful  habits,  i.  31,  34; 
studies,  i.  31,  33,  36,  131,  137,  279, 
441  ;  as  a  teacher,  i.  48,  190,  492  ; 

.  ii.  485  ;  religious  experience,  i.  48  ; 
ii.  Ill  ;  industry,  i.  76,  85,  131,  278, 


317,  441,  461,  492;  ii.  222;  close 
observation,  i.  77,  108 ;  formative 
influences,  i.  35,  48,  64,  75,  166; 
abandons  Presbyterian  ism,  i.  190; 
voyage  to  America,  i.  193,  195 ; 
journey  to  Washington,  i.  206; 
adrpts  principles  of  Declaration 
and  Address,  i.  250,  273  ;  chooses 
the  ministerial  office,  i.  loi,  198, 
275  ;  youthful  essays,  i.  134,  283, 
298;  first  public  discourse,  i.  313; 
first  marriage,  i.  363  ;  ordination,  i. 
390 ;  preaching  tours,  i.  370,  379, 
464;  ii.  91,  107,  168,  330,  389,  399, 
409,  436,  446,  492,  497,  536,  537, 
542,  581,  592,  595,  598,  601,  622, 
624,  625,  630,  633,  640,  643,  654; 
children,  i.  391,  459,  464,  491  ;  ii. 
32,  46,  48,  123,  295,  361,  394,  436^ 
484,  500 ;  baptism,  i.  395  ;  home- 
life,  i.  462  ;  ii.  299  ;  naturalization, 

i.  465  ;  republicanism,  i.  465  ;  iL 
571  ;  views  of  slavery,  i.  501 ;  ii. 
319.  367,  531,  580  ;  debates,  i.  362 ; 

ii.  17,  71,  73,  268,  338,  424,  433» 
501  ;  publications,  ii.  34,  49,  95, 
144,  180,  222,  283,  302,  658,  680 ; 
as  a  preacher,  i.  315  ;  ii.  92,  106, 
109,  119,  120,  581,  583,  609;  sec- 
ond marriage,  ii.  243,  460 ;  political 
experience,  ii.  305,  319;  humility, 
ii.  441,  586,  659;  property',  ii.  657; 
will,  ii.  658  ;  conversational  power, 
ii.  663  ;  phrenology,  ii.  669 ;  last 
discourse,  ii.  673  ;  death,  ii.  678. 

Campbell,  Thomas,  i.  19  ;  marriage, 
i.  20;  education,  i.  21,  25  ;  relig- 
ious experience,  i.  22 ;  ancestry,  i. 
21  ;  licensed,  i.  27  ;  removals,  i.  28, 
30.  79,  365,  458,  463,  487.  496; 
children,  ?.  29,  46,  96  ;  family  train- 
ing, i.  32,  35  ;  as  preacher,  i.  40 ; 
farewell  address,  i.  79  ;  ii.  568 ;  let- 
ters, 80,  85,  88,  480,  489;  ii.  219; 
reunion  w  th  family,  i.  217;  leavei 


INDEX. 


«53 


Seceders,  i.  230 ;  proposes  union 
with  Synod  of  Pittsburg,  i.  325  ; 
organizes  Brush  Run  Church,  i. 
366  ;  labors,  i.  38,  222,  488,  497  ; 
ii.  220,  362,  605  ;  views  of  slavery, 

i,  495  ;  death,  ii.  605. 
Campbell,  Mrs.  June,  i.  20,  36,  96, 

401  ;  Dorothea,  i.  29,  96,  99,  395, 
548;  ii.  646;  Jam,  i.  46,  97,  217, 
363  ;  ii.  646  ;  Nancy,  i.  46,  97,  458  ; 

ii.  646 ;  Thomas,  i.  46,  97 ;  Dr. 
Archibald  IV.,  \.  46,  97,  624,  677 ; 
Alicia,  i.  97,  410,  462. 

Campbell,  Archibald,  i.  21,  88,  465  ; 
ii.  527  ;  Enos  (son),  ii.  612  ;  James^ 
i.  21,  22. 

Campbell,  Mrs.  Margaret,  i.  363,  380, 

395,462;  ii.  71,  168,  176,  179. 
Campbell,  Mrs.  S.  //.,  ii.  243,  295, 

301.  557.  573.  578.  592,  601. 
Campbell,  Dr.  John  C,  ii.  462,  469. 
Campbell,  Thonias  \.  131,  139. 

Campl)ell,  John  (of  Kingsland),  i.  157, 

166,  182. 
Campbell,  Dr.  George,  ii.  144. 
Campbell,  Dr.  D.  R.,  ii.  640. 
Campbell,  Ivie,  ii.  555. 
Canonsburg,  i.  238,  241,  295  ;  ii.  595. 
Carson,  Alexander,  i.  60,  82,  169,  183, 

187  ;  ii.  132. 
Castle,  Carlingford,  \.  84 ;  Shanes,  i. 

19  ;  ii.  567. 
Catholics,  Roman,  i.  21,  42,  49,  96,  99, 

102  ;  ii.  399,  424. 
Challen,  James,  ii.  119,  334,  388,  594. 
Challenges,  ii.  15,  29,  85,  86,  239,  423, 

501. 

Church,  Christian,  \.  259,  407  ;  ii.  58, 
79,  10 1,  352,  493  ;  Congregational, 
i.  62,  64,  70,  167,  179,  184,  189,  384  ; 
Jewish,  i.  259,  407  ;  ii.  79  ;  Seces- 
sion, i.  22,  24,  40,  48,  53,  189  ;  E/>is- 
copal,  \.  24,  50,  59,  64  ;  Presbyterian, 
i.  24.  42,  50.  55.  64.  3^7  ;  ii.  437. 

Church  order,  i.  170,  179  ;  ii.  125,  395. 


Christian  Baptist,  ii.  49,  53,  95,  123, 
131,  150,  222,  226,  250,  285,  291, 
294.  302,  377.  388,  475- 

Church,  Samuel,  i.  486 ;  ii.  128,  64a 

Cincinnati,  ii.  241,  267,  334. 

Clapp,  M.  S.,  ii.  410. 

Clay,  Henry,  ii.  91,  Ii8,  502,  513,  548. 
580. 

Clack,  Spencer  H.,  ii.  148,  286,  321. 

Clarinda,  Essays  of,  i.  283,  531  ;  ii.  46. 

Clergy,  i.  154,  178,  188,  387,  390,431 ; 
ii.  27,  51,  54,  60,  660. 

Clopton,  Abner  W.,  ii.  289,  321. 

Cohen,  S.  IL,  ii.  353. 

Coleman,  R.  L.,  ii.  314,  318,  446, 453, 
498,  536.  574.  591.  598.  623. 

College,  Trinity,  i.  61,  93,  95  ;  Wash- 
ington, i.  295  ;  ii.  595  ;  Jefferson,  i. 
295  ;  ii.  595  ;  of  teachers,  ii.  422, 
537  ;  Bethany,  ii.  464,  469,  485,  491, 
497.  534.  569.  595.  632,  659  ;  Baton^ 
ii.  468. 

Columban,  i.  119. 

Collins,  William,  ii.  259. 

Communion,  i.  71,  179;  ii.  125,  136, 
137.  246,  371.  519. 

Confession, /rzVw/V/W,  i.  398,  403,  404, 
408;  ii.  212,  518,  521;  Baptist^  u 
436;  ii.  129,  140,  165,  614. 

Congress,  discourse  to,  ii.  587. 

Connection,  Christian,  ii.  175,  183, 
185,  218,  370,  474. 

Co-operation,  ii.  493,  497. 

Covenant,  Scottish,  i.  51,  56,  72; 
Bible,  ii.  23. 

Creaths,  ii.  116,  120,  141,  2S7,  324, 
326,  338.  537.  602,  606. 

Crihfield,  Arthur,  ii.  330. 

Dale,  Daytd,  i.  184  ;  ii.  264,  276. 

Davies,  J.,  ii.  545,  569. 

Debates,  i.  362,  492,  498 ;  ii.  13,  17, 

71,  263,  268,  338,  424,  433,  501, 

555. 

Deaths,  ii.  32,  48,  118,  167,394,401, 


684 


INDEX, 


462,  487,  540,  541,  625,  640,  644, 
646 ;  Wickliffe,  556,  579 ;  Thomas 
Campbell,  605,  606. 
Declaration  and  Address,  i.  241,  272, 
412. 

Deism,  ii.  232,  234,  237,  249. 
Depravity,  i.  142. 

Design  of  Baptism,  ii.  20,  80,  145,  196, 
197,  207,  212,  216,  327,  402,  405, 
619,  629. 

Diaries,  religious,  i.  139. 

Discourses,  i.  235,  313,  317,  319,  320, 
322,  323.  335.  353.  355.  365,  369, 
374.  376,  383.  397.  472  ;  ii.  92,  no, 
119,  120,  130,  165,  168,  175,  207, 
210,  220,  244,  261,  336,  456,  581, 
585.  587.  594,  609. 

Divinity  Hal!,  i.  26. 

Divinity,  Doctors  of,  ii.  34,  528. 

Doddridge,  Dr.  Joseph^  i.  35^  ;  ii.  64. 

Doddridge,  Philip,  i,  498,  53OJ  ii. 
304. 

Donations  to  poor,  ii.  569. 
Duncan,  Landon,  ii.  473. 
Dundee,  ii.  554,  558. 
Dungannon,  ii.  294,  567. 
Duval,  Dr.  John,  ii.  289,  35a 
Drummond,  Sir  William,  ii  227. 

Edinburgh,  i.  157  ;  ii.  551. 
Education,  i.  32,  87  ;  ii.  463,  465. 
Elders,  i.  70,  179,  384  ;  ii.  67,  127,  393. 
Elley,  G.  W.,  ii.  286. 
Emigration,  i.  79,  81,  84,  98. 
Emmons,  F.  W.,  ii.  291,  361. 
Errett,  Isaac,  ii.  593,  641,  643,  645. 
Essays,  youthful,  i.  134,  283. 
European  tour,  ii.  542. 
Evangelists,  i.  386  ;  ii.  130,  175,  205, 
351,352. 

Ewing,  Greville,  i.  114,  128,  148,  161, 

i6q,  175,  178,  187,  193. 
Experience,  Christian,  i.  23,  48,  155, 

157.398,  426;  ii.  104,111,113,315, 

360,  614. 


Faith,  Sandeman*s  view  of,  i.  70^ 
177;  trust  or  confidence,  i.  177, 
376,  408,  426;  distinguished  from 
opinion,  i.  265  ;  its  nature  personal, 

i.  411,  420;  ii.  522. 

Fall,  P.  S.,  ii.  94,  120,  125,  140,  168, 

461,  638. 
Feet-washing,  ii.  129. 
Fellowship,  religious,  i.  70,  447, 455 

ii.  136,  137. 
Ferguson,  Jesse  B.,  ii.  603. 
Feelings,  religious,  L  151. 
Findley,  Rev.  Mr.,  i.  356,  490,  525 ; 

ii.  17,  22,  31. 
Flemming,  L.  J.,  iL  335. 
Fishback,  James,  ii.  92,  336,  486,  49a, 

501. 

Forrester,  George,  I  486,  503,  506, 

Forbearance,  ii.  132. 

Foster,  James,  i.  28,  81,  82,  223,  234, 

238,  239,  277,  367,  403,  459  ;  ii.  127, 

167,  652. 

Foundation,  primitive,  i.  408;  iL  135, 

Forewarning,  singular,  i.  105. 

Franklin,  Benjamin,  ii.  84. 

French  language,  i.  31. 

Freedom,  American,  L  210 ;  ii.  571. 

Freedom,  religious,  i.  513. 

Gano,  J.  A.,  ii.  378,  587. 
Gaston,  Joseph,  ii.  174,  205,  209, 
218. 

Gazette,  Nev^r  Harmony,  iL  235. 
General  Assembly,  i.  51,  66. 
Georgetown,  Ky.,  iL  118,  335. 
Glass,  Mrs.,  i.  358. 

Glasgow,  i.  25,  114,  126,  129  ;  iL  555  ; 
University  of,  i.  131,  148;  Cathe- 
dral, i.  163  ;  ii.  557. 

Goss,  J.  W.,  iL  498,  598. 

Gospel,  i.  504 ;  ii.  208,  218,  224,  229^ 
520. 

Greatrake,  Lawrence,  ii.  99,  II& 
Greer,  Nathaniel,  ii.  568. 
Greenock,  i.  114,  126,  127,  191,  194. 


INDEX. 


685 


DANES,  i.  60,  149,  150,  154,  160, 
4,  166,  169,  172,349;  132,551- 

Iv.' ,  B.  F.,  ii.  388,  389,  395- 
!  :  ucination,  ii.  647. 
n    lilton,  Patrick,  i.  50. 

en,  Jasr,  i.  222  ;  Mrs.,  i.  397,  457. 
't\    tzel,  J.,  ii.  253,  631. 
Paibinger,  Millennial,  ii.  203,  396, 

.^99.  540.  645,  655. 
Ha  den,  William,  ii.  248,  297,  646. 
Hv  ry,  John,  ii.  251. 
He-vey,  i.  70,  139,  422. 
U-"  ensburgh,  i.  190. 
\i  iley,  T.  M.,  ii.  289,  319,  446,  536, 

40;  R.  K,  ii.389,  598,621. 
Hr  ishall,  James,  ii.  446,  536,  542, 

59.  563- 
H  '1,  Rowland,  i.  60,  163. 
^  pson.  Dr.  H.,  ii.  596,  641. 

oke,  Dr.,  ii.  536,  630. 

me-life,  ii.  299. 

.lly,  Dr.,  ii.  91. 
i  '  .ly  Spirit,  i.  397;  ii.  35,  105,  123, 

Sf.  349»  354»  356,  374,  434,  488, 

;i3- 

U  idgens,  Thomas,  i.  81,  223,  355. 
'I'lrlbut,  Mr.,  ii.  457. 
:  1  ibbard,  E.  B.,  ii.  258. 

imphrey,  Rev.  1 1.,  ii.  581. 

/mn-book,  ii.  180,  658. 

PRISONMENT  IN  SCOTLAND,  ii.  559. 
dependents,  i.  59 ;   origin,  L  62 ; 
principles,  i.  64,  65 ;  tolerance,  i. 
55  ;  republicanism,  L  66,  70. 
dian  boy,  education  of,  ii.  597. 
dian  outrage,  i.  358. 
adelity,  i.  73  ;  iL  227,  232,  274,  353. 
590,  409. 

lies,  Dr.,  i.  151,  165,  182. 
1,  Wayside,  i.  213. 
;rospection,  i.  77. 
la,  i.  118,  124. 
shmen,  united,  i.  41. 
ay,  i.  99,  107. 


Jackson,  La.,  ii.  457,  459. 

Jefferson,  Thomas,  i.  50a 
Jennings,  O.,  i.  516  ;  ii.  338. 
Jeter,  Elder  J.  B.,  ii.  612,  623. 
Johnson,  Dr.,  i.  86,  119. 
Johnson,  R.  M.,  i.  536  ;  ii.  334,  40a 
Johnson,  John  7!,  i.  536 ;  ii.  379,  395^ 

539,  580,  5S7,  612,  625. 
Jones,  Abner,  ii.  186. 
Jones,  William,  i.  184;  ii.  396. 
Judah,  Mr.,  ii.  314. 
Jura,  i.  115. 

Kingdom  of  heaven,  ii.  141,  214* 
395- 

Kinley,  John,  i.  25. 

Kiss,  the  holy,  ii.  129. 

Knox,  John,  i.  50,  366,  387  ;  ii.  9& 

Laity,  the,  i.  346 ;  ii.  66a 

Latitudinarianism,  i.  265. 

Lard,  M.  E.,  ii.  595,  624. 

Law,  sermon  on  the,  i.  471  ;  ii.  94. 

Letters,  i.  80,  85,  88,  413,  465  ;  ii.  15, 

52,  74,  213,  219,  411,  423,  441,  591, 

607,  621,  626,  633,  648. 
Lexington,  Ky.,  ii.  91,  118,  336,  4861 
Ligori,  Saint,  ii.  431. 
Lisbon,  New,  ii.  173,  210,  328,  592. 
Liverpool,  ii.  294,  545,  567. 
Locke,  on  Toleration,  i.  33,  63,  note; 

on  Human  Understanding,  i.  33; 

ii.  356. 
London,  ii.  547. 

Louisville,  Ky.,  ii.  120^  140,  581,  638L 

Londonderry,  i.  80,  90,  95. 

Lord's  Supper,  i.  69,  70. 

Lough,  Neagh,  i.  19,  30,  83 ;  ii.  567  ; 

Foyle,  i.  81,  91,  95  ;  Finlagan,  i. 

107. 

Lord's  day,  i.  434  ;  ii.  570. 
Luse,  Mathias,  i.  395, 436, 459  ;  ii.  165. 
Luther,  Martin,  i.  50,  366 ;  ii,  40^  43^. 
667. 

Lynd,  Dr.  S.  W.,  ii.  434,  614. 


58 


686 


INDEX, 


Macl^y,  Dr.,  i.  1 68,  note ;  ii.  392,  594- 
Madison,  James,  li.  .510,  313. 
Marriages,  i.  19,  363  ;  ii.  12S,  167,  243, 

410,  462.  608,  f)47. 
Martin,  Corbley,  ii.  164. 
McGarvey.  J.  W.,  ii.  597. 
McGready,  James,  ii.  187,  192. 
McXeely,  Cyrus,  ii.  172,  329. 
McCleaii,  Archibald,  i.  71,  184  ;  ii.  396. 
McCalla,  W.  L.,  ii.  51,  73,  529. 
McElroy.yfl^;;,  i.  2 1 5 ;  ii.  298;  Jas.^  298. 
Macknigliu  Dr.,  i.  433  ;  ii.  144. 
McChesney,  William,  ii.  525,  iwU. 
Macruni,  James,  ii.  567. 
Matthews,  Joseph  and  William,  L 

456  ;  ii.  166. 
Messiahship,  i.  410.  517:  ii.  59,  522, 

665. 

Meeting-houses,  ii.  364. 

Meredith,  Mr.,  ii.  402. 

Methodists,  i.  73,  462  ;  ii.  472,  496, 

53».  534. 

Meetings,  ministers',  ii.  46.  47. 

Middletown,  i.  241,  355,  356,  490,  497. 

Milligan,  k.,  ii.  624. 

Mind,  its  rapid  action,  i.  77. 

Millennium,  ii.  173,  225,  302. 

Mission  to  Jerusalem,  ii.  593  ;  to  Li- 
beria, 607  ;  to  Jamaica,  607. 

Mormonism,  ii.  344. 

Morton,  Wm.,  ii.  267,326, 461,  580,640. 

Moral  culture,  ii,  467. 

Music,  instrumental  in  worship,  iL  366. 

Myers,  A.  E.,  ii.  608,  612. 

Name,  Christian,  ii.  371,  435;  ucta- 

rian,  i.  445. 
Nashville,  ii.  142,  168,  288,  338,  524 ; 

notes  603,  638. 
New  England,  tribute  to,  ii.  418. 
Newry,  i.  21,  22,  30,  44,  S3.  88. 
New  York,  i.  205,  468  ;  ii.  223,  499. 
Noel,  Silas  M.,  ii.  118,  141,  161,  286, 

323- 

Nottingham,  ii.  294. 


Oath,  Burghee.  I  54,  57,  58. 
O'Kane,  Juhn^  iL  401,  474,  589. 
O'Kelley,  James,  ii.  185,  474. 
Opinion,  i.  265,  268,  375  ;  11  12,  i 

372,  519. 
Oracles,  living,  iL  154. 
Order,  Ancient,  iL  125,  129,  135,  . 

173.  223. 
Ordination,  L  331,  380,  382,  386. 
Organization,  Church,  L  386 ;  ii. 

493.  599- 

Orleans,  New,  iL  239,  433,  457,  626, 
Orphan  School,  iL  580,  587. 
Osborne,  Jacob,  >•  494  ;  ii-  164, 

175,  207,  244  ;  Sman,  ii.  298. 
Otey,  Bishop,  ii.  402. 
Owen,  Robert,  ii.  233,  240,  242,  ^3, 

284,  302,  543  ;  Robert  Dale,  ii.  i*^ 

PitDOBAPTiSM,  L  182,  187,  238, 

250.  328. 344.  391.  399. 503 ;  » 

21,  31,  74,  89,  147.  196,  5»5- 
Paisley,  iL  555,  563. 
Palmer,  F.  A'.,  iL  335  ;  Henry,  iL 
Paris,  ii.  385,  401,  502,  549. 
Parish,  James  W.,  ii.  580. 
Paton,  Alexander,  iL  555,  559,  56 » 
Peck.  J.  M.,  ii.  487. 
I'elagianism,  ii.  349. 
I'endieton,  Edmund,  ii.  313  ;  f  'U/. 

B.,  ii.  469  ;  IV.  A'.,  iL  470,  540, 

592.  624.  633,  675. 
Persecution,  i.  62.  430,  435  ;  iL  55 

134,  39^^  56o»  564- 
Petigrew,  Elder,  ii.  594,  596. 
Philadelphia,  L  85,  88,  97,  205,  a 

ii.  497- 

Phillips,  L  470  ;  iL  140,  172. 
Phrenology,  iL  669. 
Pinkerton,  D.  I-  L.,  iL  492,  58a 
Pittsburg,  i.  274,  464*  507  ;  »»•  47.  99 
125. 

Plymouth  Ikethrer\,  L  62  ;  ii.  ^6. 
Presbyterians,  L  24,  42,  5c,  55;  ii- 
189,  501. 


INDEX. 


687 


Pntchard,  Elder,  i.  469,  470;  ii.  173, 
%2<). 

Presbytery,  Associate,  i.  S3  i  ^/  ^^^^t 

i.  54  ;  of  Charturs,  i.  88,  222,  225  ; 
Refof^nied,  i.  53  ;  Constitutiotial  As- 
sociate, i.  56. 

Principles,  fundamental,  ii.  616. 

Procter,  Elder,  ii.  596. 

Protestanism,  i.  50,  210,  352 ;  ii.  12, 

422,  427,  436. 
Providences,  i.  1 13,  138, 176,  220,  380  ; 

ii.  205,  214,  363,  566. 
Punishment,  capital,  ii.  540 ;  future, 

ii.  242,  246. 
Purcell,  Bishop,  ii.  422,  529. 

Raines,  Aylett,  ii.  220,  244,  330, 

3S5,  401,  501.  587- 
Ralston,  Rev.  Samuel,  i.  218,  326; 

ii.  34. 

Redstone  Association,  i.  436,  458,  469, 
479,  4S5,  489;  ii.  69,  99,  140,  166. 

Reformation,  cmnmencemeitt  of,  i.  237, 
366;  principles  of,  i.  251,  349;  ii. 

149,  198,  373.  517- 
Regeneration,  i.  377,  423  ;  ii.  326,  341, 

403.  405. 
Religions,  national,  i.  24,  51,  514. 
Repentance,  i,  445  ;  ii.  208,  349,  350. 
Retaliation,  ii.  660. 

Reserve,  Western,  ii.  45,  100,  140, 

181,  218,  322,  348. 
Rice,  N.  L.,  ii.  501,  528. 
Richards,  John,  ii.  289. 
Richardson,  Nathaniel,  i.  464,  504 ; 

Robert,  i.  504,  508  ;  ii.  296,  326,  394, 

400,  409,  414,  451,  470,  490,  624. 
Rich-Hill,  I  30,  47,  60,  71,  77,  82,  85. 
Rider,  Symonds,  ii.  257. 
Rigdon,  Sidney,  ii.  44,  47,  71,  95,  99, 

r28.  164,  I73.344-' 
Robertson,  Rev.  James,  ii.  553,  557, 

565.  578. 

Rogers,  Satmtel,  ii.  330,  331  ;  yohn, 
ii.  374,  386,  587. 


Romanism,  i.  50,  102,  21G,  352,  514. 
Rowland  Hill,  i.  60,  163. 
Rudolph,  John,  ii.  259. 

Sab  HATH,  i.  432,  517,  528,  533  ;  ii.  86. 
Sandeman,  R.,  i.  70,  177,  222  ;  ii.  132, 
160. 

Skeptics,  ii.  227,  274,  390,  409. 

Schools,  Sunday,  i.  159  ;  ii.  57. 

Scott,  Walter,  i.  502  ;  ii.  48,  59,  84, 
99,  128,  164;  appointed  evangelist, 
ii.  173;  labors  on  Reserve,  ii.  180, 
357,  442 ;  arrangement  of  gospel, 
ii.  208 ;  practical  restoration  of  de- 
sign of  baptism,  ii.  212,  217  ;  ser- 
mons, ii.  209,  210,  220,  356,  587, 
592;  "The  Messiahship,"  641  ; 
death,  644- 

Scripture,  memorizing,  i.  55,  82  ;  suf 
ficiency  of,  i.  39,  143,  156  ;  ii.  495. 

Secession  Church,  i.  22,  24,  40,  46, 
48,  53.  60,  72,  189. 

Secret  associations,  i.  45  ;  ii.  534- 

Sectarianism,  i.  49,  53,  56,  58,  67,  153. 
173,  220,  223,  230,  245,  331,  333. 
353  ;  ii.  27,  40,  55,  98,  1 10,  134, 
143,  192,  213,  227,  240,  321,  325, 
340,  392,  398,  510,  517,  524*  552. 
j  Secrest,  J.,  ii.  174,  175,  205. 

Self-defence,  ii.  662. 

Semple,  R.  B.,  ii.  130,  159,  289,  319, 
349,  362. 

Sermons,  i.  138,  235,  313,  317,  318, 

319,  320,  322,  323,  335,  353,  355. 

368,  369,  374,  376,  383,  397,  472 ; 

ii.  92,  no,  119,  120,  130,  165,  168, 

175,  207,  210,  220,  244,  261,  336, 

456,  581,  585,  594,  609. 
Shannon,  James,  ii.  457,  501,  640, 
Shelburne,  Silas,  ii.  289,  536,  598. 
Sin,  remission  of,  ii.  20,  80,  212,  287, 

326,  405,  522. 
Skinner,  Afr,,  ii.  433,  688. 
Slave-y,  1.  494,  497  ;  ii.  189,  366,  450^ 

531.553,  576. 


688 


INDEX. 


Smith,  Elias,  ii.  i86,  474 ;  John,  ii. 
107,  287,  326,  386,  501,  587  ;  Jo- 
seph, ii.  345  ;  Thomas,  ii.  384 ; 
Ephraim  A.,  ii,  334,  450,  607.  640. 

Society,  Western,  i.  280 ;  Evangelical, 

i.  73  ;  Bible,  ii.  57,  433,  497,  499, 
503>  594*  607;  Missioftary,  ii.  57, 
589,  600 ;  Washington  Moral,  i.  516  ; 

ii.  338. 

Socinianism,  i.  153  ;  ii.  52,65, 134,  196. 

Spears,  Henry,  i.  396,  436  ;  ii.  165. 

Speculation,  i.  123,  254,  351,  412;  il 
153,  202,  355,  371,  610. 

Spiritualism,  ii.  610. 

Stone,  Barton  W.,  ii.  118,  173,  1S6; 
education,  ii.  187 ;  ordination,  ii. 
188;  perplexities,  ii.  189;  labors 
in  Kentucky,  ii.  193  ;  speculative 
views,  ii.  195,  332,  480,  515;  inti- 
macy with  A.  Campbell,  ii.  200,  331, 
336,  516,  538;  love  of  union,  ii. 
371.  374,  386,  395  ;  view  of  atone- 
ment, ii.  195  ;  of  Christ,  ii.  515, 
note  ;  death,  ii.  538. 

Sunday  Mail  Report,  i.  536  ;  ii.  334, 
note. 

Synod,  i.  27,  53,  57,  69,  85,  88,  222, 
225,  325  ;  ii.  14. 

Taffe,  John,  ii.  409,  461,  674. 

Temperance  Society,  ii.  600. 

Tener,  Robert,  i.  25  ;  ii.  292,  393  ; 
Richard,  ii.  293  ;  William,  ii.  294, 
319;  John,  ii.  551  ;  Edward  S.,  ii. 
567. 

Testament,  new  version,  ii.  144,  222, 
361. 

Theology,  natural,  ii.  230,  279. 
Thompson,  \V.  R.,  ii.  647. 
Titles,  religious,  i.  335  ;  ii.  528. 
Tubman,  Mrs.,  ii.  536,  630. 

Under  HILL,  Dr.,  ii.  238,  410. 
Union,  Bible,  ii.  588,  594,  607,  619 ; 
Christian,  i  224,  228,  231,  253,  256, 


258,  401 ;  ii.  244, 370,  372,  382,  5  If. 
519. 

VAEr.EMAN,  J.,  ii.  72,  85,  94,  119,  267, 
324»  374- 

Version,  new,  ii.  1 14 ;  Syriac  or  Pes- 
chito,  ii.  506 ;  revised,  ii.  588,  607 
622. 

Voyages,  i.  80,  84,  90,  96,  195 ;  iL 
544,  570. 

Walker,  John,  i.  60 ;  view  of  bap- 
tism, 61  ;  view  of  communion,  61 ; 
at  Rich-Hill,  82 ;  in  Dublin,  i.  172, 
177,  444;  Re^.,  i.525;  ii.  14,31. 

Wallis,  James,  ii.  397,  546. 

Walthal,  A.  B.,  iL  598,  623. 

War,  ii.  534,  642. 

Wardlaw,  Dr.,  i.  187  ;  ii.  565. 

Warren,  ii.  44,  129,  217,  243  ;  Point. 
i.83. 

Washington,  i.  79,  83,  247,  355,  365  j 
College,  ii.  595  ;  City,  i.  506 ;  Ken- 
tucky, ii.  53,  116. 

Wayland,  Dr.,  ii.  1 12,  576. 

Wellsburg,  i.  247,  356,  361,  459,  461. 
464,  498  ;  church,  i.  468  ;  ii.  69,  loa 

Wesley,  i.  72,  139,  366,  389 ;  ii.  564. 
678.' 

Whitefield,  i.  72  ;  ii.  561. 

Whitaker,  John,  ii.  258. 

Williams,  J.  A.,  ii.  597  ;  Miss  Mary 
R.,  ii.  640  ;  Ebenezer,  ii.  222,  259  ; 
Roger,  his  view  of  communion,  L 
61  ;  persecutions,  i.  63  ;  established 
religious  freedom,  i.  63,  note,  515. 

Winans,  Dr.  M.,  li.  283,  435. 

Woodnorth,  Peter,  ii.  294,  545,  569. 

Worship,  public,  ii.  366  ;  family,  i.  35, 
448;  ii.  301. 

Wylie,  Rev.  Andrew,  i.  527,  532;  il, 
589- 

Yearly  Meetings,  ii.  329. 
Young,  Brigham,  ii.  347. 


Date  Due 


